New Scams Aim to Steal Money From Accounts of Chicago Bank Customers
By now most of us are savvy to the most popular phishing scams - you know, those phony e-mails we get claiming to be from some rich person overseas who wants to wire money to our account.
But scams are always evolving. It's not enough simply to watch out for a name we don't recognize or a suspicious e-mail. In fact, we even need to be vigilant when dealing with e-mails that look legit, according to Chicago bankruptcy attorneys. Scammers are increasingly posing as familiar institutions - for instance, our bank, credit card company or online brokerage account. And many customers are falling for it - and losing money in the process.
Recently I got an e-mail from my bank. By all outward appearances, it was a normal e-mail. It came from the same address my bank uses for my bill notifications. It had my bank's logo and an overall similar design. But here's the weird part. It asked me to click a link that would supposedly take me to my account where, I was told, I needed to update my account information.
If I was in a hurry, I may have simply clicked the link, submitted the new information and forgotten about it. But fortunately I became suspicious enough to call my bank. Turns out, many customers were receiving the same messages - and those messages were fraudulent.
My bank reiterated what I already knew, but sometimes forget. Banks - and any companies, for that matter - should only ask for personal information through a secure website, never through e-mail. If customers ever find a message requesting personal information like account numbers, credit card numbers, or social security numbers, they should call their bank to confirm the e-mails are phony, and then report the scam.
Avoiding scams is one way to protect your paycheck. Another is to lower debt so you're not giving away all your hard-earned money to lenders and creditors. Have too much debt to get a handle on alone? Bankruptcy could be the solution. Find out more about bankruptcy when you sign up for a completely free one-on-one debt analysis with a Chicago bankruptcy attorney.