From the Office of the Sheriff Sheriff Dennis L. Dotson

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For Immediate Release

NEWS RELEASE

Date: October 30, 2006

Contact:	Deputy Jeff Hughes 541-265-4277 x2724 jhughes@co.lincoln.or.us
Incident:	Possible telephone phishing scam
Date Occurred:	October 28, 2006
Time Occurred:
Location:	Toledo Area

Summary:

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office received a report from a Toledo resident of a possible telephonic phishing scam. The Toledo resident reported that a heavily accented male called and wanted bank account information stating that he was from the government grant office and had an $8,000 grant to give him. The Toledo resident refused to give the information and prevented the possible scam.

Many thousands of people are being victimized by such scams as the one mentioned above. "Phishing" is a type of deception designed to steal your identity. In phishing scams, scam artists try to get you to disclose valuable personal data—like credit card numbers, passwords, account data, or other information—by convincing you to provide it under false pretenses. Phishing schemes can be carried out in person or over the phone, and are delivered online through spam e-mail or pop-up windows.

If you get an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, contact the company cited in the email using a telephone number or Web site address you know to be genuine.

If you receive a call from your credit card company or anyone requesting your personal or financial information, after obtaining the name of the caller and unit or division they work for, HANG UP. Locate the phone number from a known and trusted source and then call them. DO NOT call the number you were provided with by the caller.

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