Manoa woman victimized
as ID thieves go ‘phishing’
A 35-year-old Manoa woman had a brush with identity theft last week after falling prey to the latest online scam, known as "phishing."
The victim said that she received an e-mail last Friday from what she thought was eBay, asking her to verify her account information. She said because she had gone through a similar verification process with eBay a few months ago, she did not think twice about giving out her personal information.
"It said, 'Please verify your information within five days, or you will not be able to continue to keep using eBay,'" said the victim, who asked not to be identified. "So I did ... but the next day there was an e-mail warning from the real eBay people saying that a fake e-mail asking for information was being sent out in their name.
"By then I didn't know what was real and what wasn't."
According to financial fraud experts, phishing attacks use "spoofed" e-mails and fraudulent Web sites designed to fool recipients into giving out personal financial data, such as credit card and bank account numbers.
Earlier this week, Honolulu police and CrimeStoppers warned that phishing attacks were rising nationwide. Since November there has been a 4,000 percent increase in reported phishing attacks, causing an estimated $1.5 billion in annual financial losses, officials said. Local and federal law enforcement officials said the five most targeted businesses are Citibank, eBay, Paypal, U.S. Bank and Barclays.
The Manoa victim forwarded her fake e-mail to eBay, and company officials confirmed that it did not originate from them. But by the time she checked her credit card account on Wednesday, she found that someone had already tried to use her personal information.
"Sure enough, there was a transaction for $100 that I did not do," she said. "Luckily, I caught it in time and it did not go through.
"I was really lucky. I canceled my credit card, I changed my account at my bank. ... I'm too embarrassed that it happened to me."
She said she hopes that publicizing her case will raise people's awareness.
"I'm lucky that nothing more happened," she said. "I feel violated."
Tips to avoid Phishing Scams
>> Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information.
>> Phishers typically include upsetting or exciting -- but false -- statements in their e-mails.
>> They typically ask for information such as user names, passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.
>> Phisher e-mails are typically not personalized, while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are.
>> Don't use the links in an e-mail to get to any Web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic. Instead, call the company on the telephone or log onto the Web site directly.
>> Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that ask for personal financial information.
>> Only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure Web site or the telephone.
Source: The Anti-Phishing Working Group: www.antiphishing.org
