The other day I (i.e. Ted Cantu) got a phone call from a panic stricken client. She was upset about a recent email she received regarding eBay. Apparently, eBay was asking for her bank information in an email. This email claimed that they had lost their entire database online and needed to contact and verify with you any type of information. These kinds of emails are very misleading and are most often false in every way. They are constructed with the intention of getting your sensitive banking information and obtaining funds out of your account. This is a very common practice online and its something you need to be aware of.
Giving into to these types of online emails is a bad thing to get involved in. I have seen a lot of tragedy fall upon people who are asked for bank info verification. Once you hand over this type of information you can expect to get ripped off. This is nothing but a scam and the eBay trick is one of many. This type of rip off operation can come in many interesting forms including well known banking institutions, colleges, mortgages, PayPal, online services such as AOL and many more. These sites will often look like the real thing but are nothing more than an online con artist working over time to get your sensitive information.
You must remember that online companies like AOL, Citibank, and PayPal will never ask you for your bank information or credit card information. They will either call you directly on the phone or contact you through mail and have you call a service center directly. Having a company ask you for credit card information through an email is a rare situation and you should have your radar up when you receive something like that in your inbox. Do not hand out sensitive bank account information when you get an email in your inbox. You are asking for problems by giving into this type of email and you may find yourself in some major financial set backs.
Phishing scams are just one of many unfavorable situations that can befall you in the online world. This type of situation comes in many different variations. There is the classic scam that comes in the form of a rich dying uncle from Nigeria. Unless you actually have family in Nigeria I wouldn't worry about this one. But according to the ABC television show 20/20 a lot of online web surfers fall victim to this scam year after year. That is somewhat surprising to me. This is such a ridiculous scenario. Yet, year after year, people looking for an easy buck will fork over thousands of dollars out of their accounts to partake in this great "payout".
Be smart by educating yourself about online scams and rip off situations. This is something that you will want to consider as you go through your inbox and check your email. It's a rough world out there and there are a lot of con artists that want nothing more than to empty out your banking account.
Copyright (c) 2010 Ted Cantu
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
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