"Phishing" Scams

"Phishing" is defined as the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The website, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information

Identity Theft

Identity theft is on the rise and none of us are safe as individuals around the world seek to steal the identities of others for a variety of reasons.

According to the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Center and other sources, identity theft can be sub-divided into five categories:

• business/commercial identity theft (using another's business name to obtain credit)
• criminal identity theft (posing as another when apprehended for a crime)
• financial identity theft (using another's identity to obtain goods and services)
• identity cloning (using another's information to assume his or her identity in daily life)
• medical identity theft (her's information to obtain medical care or drugs)