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2004
Fraud Trends: Consumers Being
Hounded by Phishing Scams
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Consumer Group Highlights ID
Theft Prevention During National Consumer Protection Week 2005,
Feb. 6-12 |
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Release Date: February 3, 2005
Contact: 202-835-3323,
media@nclnet.org |
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today the
National Consumers League (NCL) released its annual lists of top
frauds as reported by consumers to its National Fraud
Information Center/Internet Fraud Watch (NFIC/IFW) with alarming
increases in the average losses of victims reporting the scams
in both telemarketing and Internet fraud. And for the first time
ever, phishing scams appeared in both top ten lists. Experts are
increasingly concerned about phishing, schemes in which ID
thieves trick consumers into providing their personal
information by pretending to be a retailer, financial
institution, government agency, or other trusted party. This
year’s National Consumer Protection Week, “ID Theft: When Fact
Becomes Fiction,” Feb. 6 - 12, 2005 is focused on
preventing ID Theft. |
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2004 Top Ten Telemarketing Frauds
1.
Prizes/Sweepstakes
2. Credit
Card Offers
3. Scholarship/Educational
Grants
4. Advance
Fee Loans
5. Magazine
Sales Scams
6. Lotteries/Lottery
Clubs
7. Work
at Home
Schemes
8. Buyers
Clubs
9. Travel/Vacations
10.
Phishing
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“ID thieves are expanding their efforts to
get consumers’ personal and financial information, and the
latest tactic is phishing,” said Susan Grant, director of the
NFIC/IFW. “Consumers are being bombarded by phishing attempts,
as reports to our fraud center show.” Phishers often use scare
tactics — there is a problem with your last payment, or your
account is about to be closed — to prompt people to respond
immediately with the requested information. Typically, phishing
emails contain links to phony Web sites that look exactly like
the real ones. Phishing also occurs by phone, and 2004 was the
first time that this category made the top ten list of
telemarketing frauds. |
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2004 Top Ten
Internet Frauds
1. Online
Auctions
2. General
Merchandise
3. Nigerian
Money
Offers
4. Phishing
5. Information/Adult
Services
6. Fake
Check Scams
7. Lotteries/Lottery
Clubs
8. Computer
Equipment/
Software
9. Fake
Escrow Services
10.
Internet Access
Services |
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To give consumers advice
about recognizing and avoiding phishing, NCL created a new Web
site in 2004,
www.phishinginfo.org. NCL’s
www.fraud.org Web site also provides tips about phishing
in both the telemarketing and the Internet fraud sections. In
addition, because consumers have new rights concerning identity
theft and credit reports under recent changes in federal law,
there are new identity theft tips on that Web site, and NCL has
updated its Invasion of the ID Snatchers section at
www.nclnet.org/privacy.
For more information about NFIC’s 2004
telemarketing and Internet Fraud statistics, for information
about how to avoid becoming a victim of scams, and to report
suspected telemarketing and Internet fraud, visit
www.fraud.org. The official
National Consumer Protection Week site,
www.consumer.gov/ncpw, has links to
information about ID theft from a number of sources, including
NCL, which is on the NCPW Steering Committee. |
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The
National Consumers League,
founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission
is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and
workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit
www.nclnet.org.
NCL runs
the National Fraud Information Center, which was created in 1992,
and the Internet Fraud Watch, which was created in 1996,
operating in tandem with the NFIC. Consumers from across the United
States and Canada can call 800-876-7060 or fill out the online form to
file a complaint. NCL staff provides advice and tips on how to spot
possible telemarketing or Internet fraud and how to report it. Fraud
reports from consumers are sent within minutes to over 200 appropriate
law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and
state attorneys general. For more information visit
www.fraud.org, |
