Senate News Update
From Senator Jane Earll
April 5, 2007

Protect Yourself from "Phishing"

No matter what your age, you can find something of interest on the Internet.  You can use it for work, play, or just to "surf" around and see what's out there.

For example, typing in the web address www.gecac.org takes you to the Greater Erie Community Action Committee, with links to senior services and more.  Visit www.great-lakes.net and you'll find everything you wanted to know about the Great Lakes.

We can also shop and bank online. Reputable shopping and banking web sites are trusted because they have security measures in place to protect your private information. One way that identity thieves exploit this trust is by "phishing" – sending out e-mail messages that appear to come from a bank, credit card company or similar business.

With phishing, the e-mail is the lure, and technology allows scammers to cast as many lines as they want.  These messages look legitimate, and warn consumers that their accounts will be frozen or suspended unless the consumer provides personal information to "confirm" their account.

With that, many people click on a link to a fake site and unwittingly type in the Social Security number, bank account number, and other personal information.

I am co-sponsoring legislation to make it a crime to engage in this kind of consumer fraud.  Under Senate Bill 84, it would also be a violation for a person to sell or distribute any identifying information obtained with the intent to defraud or injure anyone.  You can view this bill online at www.legis.state.pa.us by clicking on 'Session Info' and using "sb84" as the bill number.

Because the perpetrator could be located near or far, the bill also states that the Attorney General would have the authority to investigate and institute criminal proceedings for any violation involving more than one county within Pennsylvania or another state.

While the General Assembly works on passing legislation, there are some steps we can all take as consumers to frustrate the scammers.  The best protection is not to respond to phishing e-mails.  Legitimate businesses do not ask consumers to send personal information by e-mail.  Consumers who are concerned that their accounts may be compromised should contact their banks or credit card companies directly to determine whether there is a problem.

Every technological innovation eventually produces con artists looking to exploit it for illegitimate reasons.  The web is no different.  That said, we can't let them keep us from going online.  You have use a little caution, but you don't have to let scams like "phishing" deter you from exploring everything the Internet has to offer.