By Dee DeQuattro, WPRO News
A local woman is warning Rhode Islanders to watch out for scam emails that look they are from their banks after she had quite the scare on Wednesday.
Vicki Antonelli, a Real-estate agent with Remax, was having a typical work day and was showing clients homes for sale when she got an “alert email” from her bank.
“It was from Citibank it looked very legitimate it said it was warning email safety zone, it was a fraud alert saying someone had withdrawn approximately $10,000 from one of my accounts,” Antonelli told the WPRO Morning News with Tara Granahan and Andrew Gobeil. She said it looked very legitimate and some of the information included in the email was her real personal information. “There were several different accounts and the last four digits of every one of those account numbers were my real account numbers,” said Antonelli.
Antonelli took immediate action and called her bank and visited a local branch. She was advised that the email was a scam and not to click on the link provided in the email.
The scam is known as a phishing scam. The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office said Phishing Scams involve “Internet fraudsters who send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal information (credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information) from unsuspecting victims.”
Phishers typically send an email to an individual that impersonates a business, bank, or organization that the person does business with. For instance an internet service provider (ISP), a bank, an online bill pay service, or sometimes even a government agency. The message will direct a person to follow a link to “update,” “validate” or “confirm” account information. “Some phishing emails threaten a dire consequence if you don’t respond,” said Amy Kempe, Public Information Officer for Attorney General Peter Kilmartin.
“The messages direct you to a website that looks just like a legitimate organization’s site. But it isn’t. It’s a bogus site whose sole purpose is 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,” explained Kempe.
The Rhode Island Office of Attorney General issued the following tips to protect against “phishing scams”:
If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply. And don’t click on the link in the message, either. Legitimate companies don’t ask for this information via email. If you are concerned about your account,contact the organization mentioned in the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address yourself. In any case, don’t cut and paste the link from the message into your Internet browser — phishers can make links look like they go to one place, but that actually send you to a different site.
Area codes can mislead. Some scammers send an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and ask you to call a phone number to update your account or access a “refund.” Because they use Voice Over Internet Protocol technology, the area code you call does not reflect where the scammers really are. If you need to reach an organization you do business with, call the number on your financial statements or on the back of your credit card. In any case, delete random emails that ask you to confirm or divulge your financial information.
Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly. Some phishing emails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the Internet without your knowledge.
Anti-virus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files. Anti-virus software scans incoming communications for troublesome files. Look for antivirus software that recognizes current viruses as well as older ones; that can effectively reverse the damage; and that updates automatically. A firewall helps make you invisible on the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized sources. It’s especially important to run a firewall if you have a broadband connection. Operating systems (like Windows or Linux) or browsers (like Internet Explorer or Netscape) also may offer free software “patches” to close holes in the system that hackers or phishers could exploit.
NEVER email personal or financial information.Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. If you initiate a transaction and want to provide your personal or financial information through an organization’s website, look for indicators that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged security icons.
Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges and check your accounts online frequently.
