The Scam: You get an email purportedly from your bank, credit card provider or utility company. Often, it will say there’s some emergency or that there’s an issue with your account. The messages include a link that takes you to a fake version of the company’s website, with a login prompt that exists solely to capture your user name and password. With access to your account, a crook can peek inside and get your mailing address and any associated account numbers.
Avoid It By: If you get an urgent-sounding message from any company, especially a financial institution, that you do business with, don’t click on anything. Go to the company’s site directly and call or email to verify that the message is legit.
