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'Tis the season to be jolly - and on guard for Internet scams circulating through the region.
The Social Security Administration and CareerBuilder have issued warnings about email "phishing" scams that are circulating locally in their names, "phishing" for personal information and making phony offers.
And local police investigators are warning people not to fall for the latest scam - overseas individuals who are infiltrating dating services to trick Americans into sending them money. It's happened twice in Tallahassee already.
The SSA warns of a scam that asks recipients to respond with personal information in order to receive increased benefits. The phony e-mail has a subject line that states "Cost of Living for 2007 update" and even lists SSA Press Officer Mark Lassiter at the top. It's headline states: "Social Security Announces 3.3 Percent Increase for 2007."
The e-mail reports several national statistics on Social Security recipients, explains that a 3.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment will bring increased benefits payments to more than 7 million beneficiaries beginning in January 2007, and then pulls its "phishing" ploy by stating:
"We now need you to update your personal information. If this is not completed by Nov. 11, 2006, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely." Next comes the familiar hypertext link to a Web site that looks like an official Social Security Administration site - but it isn't.
It's a scam.
"I am outraged that someone would target an unsuspecting public in this manner," said Jo Anne Barnhart, commissioner of Social Security, in a prepared statement issued from the SSA's Baltimore, Md., headquarters . "I have asked the inspector general to use all resources at his command to find and prosecute whoever is perpetrating this fraud."
To report receipt of this e-mail message or other suspicious activity, call the Inspector General's hot line at 1-800-269-0271. Hearing- challenged persons can call 1-866-501-2101. A public fraud reporting form is also available online at www.socialsecurity.gov/oig.
The CareerBuilder scam involves an email that says it's from CareerBuilder, has a subject line that says "best employers," then offers the responder an opportunity to "collaborate with key professionals" and "get a well-paid job." All the recipient has to do is send an email to invex_ltd@yahoo.com.
Don't do it. It's a scam.
"The e-mail that was received was not sent through the CareerBuilder website," an official response from the "real" CareerBuilder said. "We can verify that the offer contained within is fraudulent and no further contact should be initiated with this company at this time."
CareerBuilder also said it would never ask for personal information in any such e-mail offer.
And that's the bottom line, according to Tallahassee Police Financial Crimes Investigator Bill Bierbaum.
"The U.S. government is not going to contact you through e-mail and ask for personal information," Bierbaum said. "Your bank is not going to contact you in e-mail and ask for your PIN number. No one should be asking for your Social Security number in an e-mail. Anytime somebody asks you for personal information that the company or agency should already have, it's most likely a scam. So don't give out that information."
The rapidly evolving creativity of thieves in this digital world never ceases to amaze Bierbaum, nor the vulnerability of the victims who fall for the scams.
"You'll see it at tax time. There's IRS-like e-mails sending you to Web sites to type in personal information in order to get quick refunds, and people fall for it," Bierbaum said. "But we need to get the word out on this latest scam involving dating services."
Overseas, and especially in Nigeria, thieves and scammers are joining Internet-based dating services that cater to American customers. The scammer will hook up and woo the suitor, then ask for money for an emergency, like a medical emergency or a financial emergency. Or they'll ask to send a check for the American to cash at their bank, then ask the American to wire the money in cash back to them, Bierbaum said.
"We've had two incidents of this in Tallahassee where women sent money overseas to these people," Bierbaum said. "I can't tell you their names because they're just so embarrassed that they fell for this, but they had to report it to police."
The checks sent from overseas are counterfeit. The scammer will put some sort of time-sensitive urgency on the transaction so the victim will take it to their bank and get it cleared before the bank has had a chance to fully investigate the check, Bierbaum said.
"Let your bank protect you," he said. "Don't fall for this stuff."
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