CONTACT

Sonja Taysom / Communications Director
Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado
Telephone: 719/636-5076 Ext. 118
Fax 719/636-5078
Email: sonjat@bbbsc.org

The Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, Call For Action, the Federal Trade Commission and Visa USA, today announced a joint education campaign to help consumers “cut the line on phishing scams.’’ According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, phishing scams grew 178 percent from March to April of 2004.

Phishing is an e-mail scam in which fraudsters attempt to convince consumers to reveal personal information – such as their credit or debit account numbers, checking account information, Social Security numbers, and banking account passwords – through official-looking fake Web sites or in a reply e-mail.

Many financial institutions use e-mail to communicate with customers and direct them to their Web sites where customers may be asked to enter personal information as part of registering for a service -- such as online banking or access to account information. However, if the e-mail wasn’t initiated by the consumer, it’s a good idea to go directly to the organization’s Web site by entering the Web site’s address (URL) rather than linking to it from an e-mail.

“Only phonies phish for info,” said Ken Hunter, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Hunter, who spoke at today’s press conference to launch the campaign, advised consumers to protect themselves by following one simple rule: “When in doubt, delete.”

• Treat unsolicited e-mail requests for financial information or other personal data with suspicion.
• Contact the actual business that supposedly sent the e-mail to verify if it is genuine.
• Only enter personal information on a secure Web site that you know to be legitimate.
• Update anti-virus software and security patches to system software regularly.
• Be cautious. Call the Better Business Bureau at 719-636-1155.
• Forward any suspicious e-mails to the Federal Trade Commission at uce@ftc.gov or file a complaint with the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov. You can also forward unsolicited e-mails claiming to be from Visa or your Visa card issuer to phishing@visa.com.