What you need to know about Phishing

What is Phishing?

There’s a type of Internet theft called phishing. It’s pronounced fishing, and that’s exactly what thieves are doing: fishing for your personal financial information. What they want are account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers and other confidential information that they can use to steal from your checking account or run up bills on your credit cards.

The Risk:

With sensitive information obtained from a successful phishing scam, thieves can take out loans or obtain credit cards in your name. They can do damage to your financial history and personal reputation. If you understand how phishing works and how to protect yourself, you can help stop this crime.

Here’s how phishing works:

In a typical case, you will receive an email that appears to come from a reputable company that you recognize and do business with, such as your financial institution.

In some cases, the email may appear to come from a government agency, including one of the federal financial institution regulatory agencies.

The email will probably warn you of a serious problem that requires your immediate attention. It may use phrases, such as, “Immediate attention required,” or, “Please contact us immediately about your account.” The email will then encourage you to click a button to go to the financial institution’s website.

In a phishing scam, you could be redirected to a phony website that may look exactly like the real thing. Sometimes, in fact, it may be the company’s actual website. In those cases, a pop-up window will quickly appear for the purpose of harvesting your financial information.

In either case, you may be asked to update your account information or to provide information for verification purposes: your Social Security number, your account number, your password or the information you use to verify your identity when speaking to a real financial institution, such as your mother’s maiden name or your place of birth. If you provide the requested information, you may find yourself the victim of identity theft.

How to Protect Yourself

1. Never provide your personal information in response to an unsolicited request, whether it is over the phone or over the internet. Emails and Internet pages created by phishers may look exactly like the real thing. They may even have a fake padlock icon that ordinarily is used to denote a secure site. If you did not initiate the communication, you should not provide any information.
2. If you believe the contact may be legitimate, contact the financial institution yourself. You can find phone numbers and websites on the monthly statements you receive, or you can look the company up in the phone book or on the internet. The key is that you should be the one to initiate the contact, using contact information that you have verified yourself.
3. Never provide your password over the phone or in response to an unsolicited Internet request. Southwest Georgia Farm Credit will never ask you to verify your password online or over the phone for security purposes.
4. Review account statements regularly to ensure all charges are correct. If your account statement is late in arriving, call your financial institution to find out why. If you are signed up for internet banking, you can review your statement more often to catch suspicious activities. Remember, no legitimate financial institution will ever ask you to provide or verify information online.

More Tips to Fight Identity Theft:

• Never provide personal financial information, including your Social Security number, account number or passwords, over the phone or the internet if you did not initiate the contact.
• Never click on the link provided in an email you believe is fraudulent. It may contain a virus that can contaminate your computer.
• Do not be intimidated by an email or caller who suggests dire consequences if you do not immediately provide or verify financial information.
• If you believe the contact is legitimate, go to the company’s website by typing the site address directly or using a page you have previously bookmarked, instead of a link provided in the email.
• If you fall victim to an attack, act immediately to protect yourself. Alert your financial institution. Place fraud alerts on your credit files. Monitor your credit files and account statements closely.
• Report suspicious emails or calls to the Federal Trade Commission: consumer.gov/idtheft or 1.877.IDTHEFT.

What should you do if you are an identity theft victim?

Contact your financial institution immediately and alert them to the situation. If you have disclosed sensitive information in a phishing attack, you should also contact one of the three major credit bureaus and discuss whether you need to place a fraud alert on your file, which will help prevent thieves from opening a new account in your name. Here is the contact information for each bureau’s fraud division:

Equifax
800.525.6285 | P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374

Experian
888.397.3742 | P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion
800.680.7289 | P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634