January 09, 2004

Watch out for "Brand Spoofing" Email Messages!

Brand Spoofing is new form of identity theft. It works like this. You get an email message from a company (like Amazon.com, Ebay, Earthlink or AOL) that looks very real but is NOT. The message states that there is something wrong with your account or something needs to be verified. Don't fall for it.

In the email you directed to click a button which launches your web browser and takes you to another very real looking web site but it is NOT real either. There you find a form for entering your personal info like passwords, credit card numbers, you name it. If you follow directions, they have all your information and can use it fraudulently.

Beware of these emails! Real companies do not solicit information in this way.