The following alerts are circulated to help students, faculty and staff protect against identity theft.

Keep Up With The Latest Phishing Scams (June, 2005)

How Not To Get Hooked By A Phishing Scam (March, 2005)

Top Ten Tips For Finding A Phish (November, 2004)

Email Scams/Phishing (October, 2004)

Identity Theft (August, 2004)

Keep Up With The Latest Phishing Scams (June, 2005)

Search archives of phishing scams and read about phishing scams going on all over the world at the millersmiles web site.

How Not To Get Hooked By A Phishing Scam (March, 2005)

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), phishers send an email or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you deal with – for example, your Internet service provider (ISP), bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message usually says that you need to “update” or “validate” your account information. It might threaten some dire consequence if you don’t respond. The message directs you to a Web site that looks just like a legitimate organization’s site, but it isn’t. The purpose of the bogus site? To trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.

Read the FTC's complete article and helpful tips to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam.

Top Ten Tips For Finding A Phish (November, 2004)

Short list of simple and helpful online habits for safe computing.  If you receive an email that you think is a "phish", these tips can keep you from taking the bait.

Email scams are on the rise (October, 2004)

Phishers are thieves who try to scam you.  Their email message pretends to send you to a reputable site that asks for your private data so they can steal your money or your identity.  Phishers use fake emails that appear to be from legitimate business practices (e.g. Citibank, e-Bay, AOL) but are actually sent by imposters.  These “spoofed” emails generally warn people that their accounts will be closed or inaccessible unless they verify or update personal information (account #’s, Social Security Number, mother’s maiden name, etc.). 

Never respond to emails that ask for personal information.  Banks or other legitimate businesses will not email you to ask that you verify personal information.  Always check with the organization.

Learn more about email scams and what you can do to protect yourself online by visiting the following links: 

Article from Microsoft.com explains how phishing works and how to protect yourself.	PowerPoint presentation distributed by VISA USA, Inc concerning how Identity Theft occurs, how you can minimize your risk, what to do if you are a victim, etc.
FraudWatch is a free service dedicated to protect consumers against internet fraud and Identity Theft.

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Guard against Identity Theft (August, 2004)
Bad things happen to your good name when Phishers get a hold of your identity. Information Technology Security has received numerous alerts concerning recent Phishing attacks that use "spoofed" e-mails and fraudulent Web sites. These methods allow Phishers to hijack the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers, and credit card companies to convince recipients to respond. VISA has created a PowerPoint presentation that provides useful information concerning how identity theft occurs, how you can minimize your risk, what to do if you are a victim, resolving credit problems, and more (used with permission from VISA USA, Inc.).
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