Baited and Hooked: Advice for Email Fraud Victims




By:  Dorothy Riggs, CFE


What do I do now?
After realizing they’ve been hooked, email fraud victims often wonder, what do I do now? Here are some practical suggestions:

  • For future reference, if you receive an email from an individual or company you’re not familiar with and especially if money or personal information is requested….DO NOT RESPOND. DO NOT CLICK LINKS WITHIN THE EMAIL.  Delete the email from your inbox and trash. Common email scams include: CEO impersonator, Chain mail, Lottery/Sweepstakes and Nigerian Prince Inheritance.  
  • If you provided personal information such as:  address, social security number, date of birth, financial account data and the like; you may be an identity theft victim.  File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.  You should also request a copy of your credit report and review it for unauthorized accounts.  If fraudulent accounts are listed you should contact at least one of the major credit reporting agencies:  Equifax, Experian or Transunion.
  • If you sent money to a fraudster via check, wire or some other funds transfer method; you should contact FBI's IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) to file a complaint.  You may also report the incident to your local U.S. Secret Service office. Report the incident to your local U.S. Postal Inspector if the mail system was used to facilitate the scam.
  • If you mailed a check that hasn't cleared your account yet, contact your financial institution and place stop payment on the check. Close the compromised account, if warranted.
  • If you provided funds to a fraudster via domestic or international wire, contact your financial institution or wire agent as soon as possible to submit a request to recall the wire. It may also be helpful to contact the beneficiary bank and explain that one of their accounts received funds via fraudulent methods. They may be able to freeze funds or start an investigation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to tell if your identity has been stolen

Reportedly 143 million consumer's personal identification information (PII) was stolen during the 2017 Equifax data breach.  Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies. Given the type of PII that was accessed, identity theft incidents are predicted to have a significant uptick in the months and even several years to come. Be on the lookout for these red flags.  If these incidents occur your identity may have been stolen. Missing mail, particularly bank and credit card statements You receive statements or outstanding bills for accounts that you don't recognize You receive calls from bill collectors for accounts that you are not familiar with You notice unfamiliar accounts listed on your credit report Upon filing your tax forms, you receive notice from the IRS that your taxes have already been filed You receive notice from your insurance provider regarding services or procedures you didn't receive You receive notice from a business or mer
Read more

Things You Should Know About the Equifax Data Breach

Image
By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE On September 7, 2017 news outlets began reporting that Equifax, one of the three major consumer credit-reporting agencies, had been the target of a major data breach.  Based on Equifax’s investigation, cyber criminals gained unauthorized access to data from mid-May through July 2017. Equifax confirmed that exposed data includes credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 people and personal identifying information (PII) for about 182,000 people involved in credit report disputes.  PII includes sensitive information such as social security numbers, names, birth dates, driver licenses and addresses. According to reports,  143 million people could be affected by this breach . That being the case, you could absolutely be affected. To find out if your data was compromised Equifax has set up a  ‘Check Potential Impact’  site where you are asked to enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your social.  After doing so, you’ll receive a message lett
Read more