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Shelley Osterloh reporting As consumers get more savvy, con artists get more -sneaky.
The latest scam appears to be from a legitimate web site. But it tricks people into parting with personal information.
It's called PHISHING.
We have uncovered a free software tool, to help keep your personal information safe.
The Internet Service provider EarthLink is offering a free program called ScamBlocker to help spot impostor Web Sites used in the identity theft schemes known as "Phisher" scams.
Here's how a "phisher" scam works: Just this month, thousands of American Online customers received an E-mail saying their credit cards had expired and they should click on a link to update their information.
The link takes them to a bogus website, that looked like AOL, but was not. The crooks were just phishing for personal financial information.
Lindsay Mueller, Utah Attorney General's ID Theft Unit: “We know that phishing is growing.. Because Id theft is humongous... Its huge. And that's how they are getting that information... They are phishing""
An Industry group called “The Anti-Phishing Working Group” reports there was a 43% increase in phisher e-mail attacks from February to March, with more than a dozen new e-mail scams initiated every day.
A spokesperson for the Utah Attorney General's ID Theft team says most of these bogus sites originate in Eastern Europe or Asia.
Lindsay Mueller Utah Attorney General's ID Theft Unit: "They are not concerned about some one coming in, busting down their door and arresting them. So they have no problem leaving up these sites longer. So when these sites are set up for along time.. They are vulnerable to blocking.. And thats what Earthlink has set up ... Which is scam blockers. "
Once a complaint has been made, the website address is added to a blocking list. With scamblocker installed, users who click on an e-mail link to a website that has been reported fake, will instead be directed to an Earthlink site with a warning explaining the site is suspect.
