It’s really the latest form of e-mail scam, called “brand spoofing,” “carding” or “Phishing.”
The official-looking messages tell recipients that, because of technical problems, billing information and social security numbers for their accounts must be resubmitted. Scam artists recreate pages using information from legitimate Web sites in hopes of fooling consumers into providing their personal data.
“Phishing is a two time scam,” FTC Chairman Timothy Muris said. “Phishers first steal a company’s identity and then use it to victimize consumers by stealing their credit identities.”
Difficult to catch
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The nation’s third-largest Internet Service Provider Earthlink also has been targeted. And while the ISP said occurrences are still relatively rare, the financial impact on victims of such scams can be severe.
“These people know what they’re doing,” Earthlink’s Chief Privacy Officer Les Seagraves said of the scams. “We’ve filed civil lawsuits. We’ve worked with the FBI and other law enforcement to track them down.
Spammers mask their identities by using a wide array of computer servers, opening and closing their operations quickly and working outside the United States.
But the FTC said scammers should beware, because the agency, working with the FBI and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crimes, expects to crack down on the practice.
Pay back stolen cash
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If approved by the court, a California teen reprimanded Monday will be banned for life from sending spam and will have to pay a $3,500 fine, the FTC said. Because of his age, his name was not released and officials said it is unlikely he will face criminal charges.
“This is the FTC’s first law enforcement action targeting phishing. It won’t be the last,” Muris said.
