Re: Internet fraud - identity theft, credit card fraud, etc.

[Guest guest]

and don't answer those emails to begin with. they're looking for valid users.

----- Original Message -----

From: oc9

Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 7:16 AM

Subject: [ ] Internet fraud - identity theft, credit card fraud, etc.

All - (and there are several of you receiving this), you know I don't usually send out this kind of warning, but I received an e-mail today that was just beyond belief.It looks like someone is trying to send YOU money. This can in fact be done with several on-line services (such as PayPal). However, when you click on the link in the message to go to their site, it says you have to set up an account, then it asks for your credit card number, address, name, the security number on your credit card, your social security number, and so on. There appear to be a number of clickable links on the page, but they don't actually DO anything. All you can do is click on the one to submit information. (I tried this without actually putting in any info, and it prompts you for missing information.) There are other variations of this scam, such as supposedly receiving forms from the IRS that you are ordered to fill out and return.DON'T DO IT!One of the rules at our house is that if someone calls you on the phone, you don't give them your credit card number. Ever. It doesn't matter who they say they are, or what charity they say they are calling for.This is the same type of issue, but in this case, they want even more information than that.I investigated the registration of this particular website, and it was set up on July 30th - TODAY. Folks, you don't register a legitimate website and have it up and running the same day with real content. You have to get it set up on a hosting server, you do have to do some testing, and you would reserve the URL ahead of time. This is a hot scam where they are trying to collect as much info as possible from the unsuspecting, and then get out of town.DON'T FALL FOR THIS KIND OF STUFF!I know most of you wouldn't, but there are a few of you that keep sending stuff to the e-mail lists that I manage (or to me personally) that could have been shot down in 60 seconds by checking out the story.Iris