Subscriber Alert - Bogus websites collecting personal data

July 2003 - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other consumer organizations issued a warning about a growing fraud scheme involving e-mails that lure people to fake websites to collect sensitive personal or financial data.

The scam involves e-mail that links users to sites that are designed to look like legitimate sites and deceive consumers into revealing credit card or bank account numbers and other sensitive data. The e-mail purports to be from the legitimate company and claims that the firm has lost some data and needs to verify the recipient's identity. This scam, which has developed in the past few months, has tricked customers of big retailers such as Best Buy, the Internet payment site Paypal and EarthLink, a major Internet service provider.

Investigators term the fake websites "phisher" sites, saying they are simply a way of "fishing" for information to steal and probably money. They add that the scam could be used for credit card fraud, bank fraud or identity theft, possibly even to create false identities for criminal or terrorist activity. In one case, the scam collected credit card numbers that were sent abroad to criminals who used the stolen credit cards throughout Europe.

Although the scheme has victimized some sophisticated users, legitimate companies will almost never send out e-mail like that seeking to collect sensitive data. Instead, users would be advised to call the company or go to the company's main website, rather than clicking on a link from an e-mail, and logging on with a password before providing key data.

"Consumers must always be very suspicious when asked for personal information, especially when asked by companies or organizations that should already have the information."

For more information on this "phisher" scam, please refer to the alert of the US Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm) and at (www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/coninfo.htm).


Subscriber Alert - Internet Long-Distance Phone Scam

January 2003 - We have heard from some subscribers within the past few months that international long-distance charges appear on their telephone bills but they don't recall ever making those calls. These calls are mostly to countries in the Caribbean or in Africa.

This could be due to an Internet long-distance scam triggered by any of the following:

  • Surfing a website which advertises "Free" or "No Credit Card" service that would require download of a "viewer" or "dialer" program to gain access. Once downloaded, this computer program will close the Internet connection and reconnect via modem dial-up to an international long-distance number. This scam, typically associated with adult websites, is very lucrative for their operators who get a share of the phone charges from these pay-per-call lines and is expected to crop up in other websites featuring games, psychics, gambling, and other services.
  • Responding to an email which advertises a contest, sweepstakes, dating, entertainment and other services. The contact number given is usually an international long-distance pay-per-call phone line from which the scam operators receive a share of the phone charges. They try to keep you connected a long time to increase their take.

    • To minimize the chances of being victimized by these phone scams:

  • Beware of any computer program that enables your modem to redial to the Internet. If you see a dialog box indicating that it's dialing when you didn't command it to, cancel the connection and hang up. Check the number dialed and continue only if it is a local call.
  • Read the contents of online disclosures carefully even if these are lengthy and in "legalese". Do not click on "OK" unless you know exactly what you are agreeing to. Carefully read the fine print before you fill out forms, especially if they ask for your phone number. Likewise, carefully read the fine print before you place a call in response to a sweepstake offer.
  • Be skeptical when surfing the web. Free does not always mean FREE. Think about how the advertisers can earn money when they offer these freebies. No businessman will offer anything without getting something in return.
  • Be cautious about calling unfamiliar telephone numbers. Be especially wary if you are told to enter codes, leave your name, or answer "yes" to prompts. Scam operators use this ruse to bill you the charges. Be skeptical about area codes you don't recognize, especially: 809 (Dominican Republic), 758 (St Lucia), 664 (Montserrat), 245 (Guinea-Bissau), etc. These and dozens of other area codes, mostly for the Caribbean and Africa, connect callers to an international long-distance telephone call. Before making the call, check your directory if the area code is for a domestic or international location.
  • Tell family members they need your permission to call long-distance services. For example, children should be cautious of telephone numbers that require an area code or numbers with more than 10 digits. Talk to your children, recognize that they are obvious targets of international modem dialing scams and tell them the consequences of downloading "viewer" or "dialer" programs from the Internet.

    • For more information on this and similar scams, please refer to alerts of the US Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-call.htm) and the US Federal Communications Commission (www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/ModemScam.html).