Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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This is not scam created BY Visa; they are a victim as well. If you receive an email similar to the one below, DO NOT click on the link, and do not enter any information on the forms there.
The website that the link leads to is a spoof; a fake website, not created by Visa. When you enter the information they ask for, you will simply be handing the thieves the keys to your bank accounts. That is how spoofing and phishing works. For example, the following link may look like it goes to Visa, but we sent it to amazon.com just to prove the point that you can't believe what you see http://www.visa.com
Remember, no reputable business would send you an email requesting your personal account information. Any such email you receive asking for this information should be considered phony and brought to the attention of the business being 'phished'.
Anytime you need to go to a website for your bank, credit card companies or other personal, financial or confidential information; do not follow a link in an email; just type their address in your browser directly (such as www.visa.com )
Below is an actual phishing email that started circulating in January 2006. We have removed the link to the phisher's website. Note the poor grammar, misspellings, contractions ("don't" instead of "do not"), things that a real bank or credit card company simply wouldn't do.
Subject: Attention! Several VISA Credit Card bases have been LOST!
Good afternoon, unfortunately some processings have been cracked by hackers, so a new secure code to protect your data has been introduced by Visa. You should check your card balance and in case of suspicious transactions immediately contact your card issuing bank. If you don't see any suspicious transactions, it doesn't mean that the card is not lost and cannot be used. Probably, your card issuers have not updated information yet. That is why we strongly recommend you to visit our website and update your profile, otherwise we cannot guarantee stolen money repayment. Thank you for your attention. Click here and update your profile.
For more information about phishing, see this page.