Office of the Circuit Attorney

"Phishing" is the term used when internet fraudsters send emails impersonating a legitimate business to trick you into giving out your personal or financial information.  Here are examples:

* An email from Order-update@amazon.com which said "Your order has been successfully canceled."

* A message from YouTubeservice@youtube.com reported "The video you ordered is ready to be viewed."

* A "notification" from accountnotify@verizon.com that said "Your bill is ready and amounts to $1,900."

* An administrator at noreply@message.myspace.com wanted "to verify your email address."

 

All these messages have embedded links that the recipient is told to click on for more information.  They are all likely phishing attempts, designed to entice you to click on a link that sends you to a "spoofed" website.  These sites pose as the internet address of legitimate companies.  There, you are asked to provide personal information.  If you give this information without realizing it is a scam, you'll likely be a victim of identity theft and account takeover fraud.  To make matters worse, your computer is also at risk of being infected with malware.

OnguardOnline.gov offers these tips to avoid phishing scams:

* Be cautious of any unsolicited emails seeking personal information.

* Use trusted security software and set it to update automatically.

* Do not click any links or open any attachment in unsolicited emails.

* Forward the emails to spam@uce.gov and to the actual company or reported agency impersonated in the email.  You may also report phishing emails to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@antiphishing.org.  Once you're done this, make sure to delete the message.

 

Circuit Attorney's Office

City of St. Louis