SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
Ever get an email from a friend stuck in far off place with no money and they need your money now?
It's just one of many e-mail phishing ploys, and there may be one in your e-mail right now.
We get so many e-mails now, and everyone has one. Stop and think for a minute, when was the last time you received a personal e-mail from someone you actually know in your personal e-mail account?
With social networking and text messaging, friends are at your fingertips. In your e-mail inbox, phony emails may blend in even more than ever with the rest of your messages.
Log onto your e-mail right now, and count the deals, offers and free trips. Ever spot an obvious phony out to get your money?
We spoke to people on the street who admitted, they see them all the time.
"Every time I open my email up there's a bunch of new stuff," Sean Jackson told WTOC.
"I see the Nigerian bank account business or something," Mike Pinkerton said.
These folks have. Some ignored and deleted, others could not.
"We were all panicked because our friend Donna is stuck. She is traveling in Chili and she is stuck and it was a big scam," Christine Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald almost fell for the dirtiest trick of all, when hackers attack a friends e-mail and start phishing for friends info.
"It came under her name and went to her whole inbox and address book," Fitzgerald told WTOC.
"I am not in Cypress. I do not need $1,500," Miss Blakey told WTOC in 2010.
WTOC told you about it two years ago when it happened to Blakey at the Rape Crisis Center of Savannah. Her e-mail was hacked, and a similar message went out to all of her contacts.
"Please do not send 1500 dollars to these people," Blakey told WTOC.
"I can see how some people fall for it," Pinkerton said.
"It makes me realize we live in a crazy world," Jackson told WTOC.
"We got to educate people not to fall for it," Detective Ray Woodberry, Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Financial Crimes Unit, told WTOC.
However, victims keep piling up.
"The phishing is real common. A lot of people fall for it," Woodberry said. The e-mails vary from claims of lost in another country to fake emails claiming to be well known companies.
"This one says we regret to inform you your E-bay account due to a violation of site policy. To restore your account, click the link below. Now, when you click the link below, when you do that, you just gave them your identity," Woodberry said.
When crooks pretend to be your bank is when the most victims fall for the trap, Woodberry said.
"I got one from a bank. I didn't do my banking with this bank so I knew it was phishing. It said fraud alert, someone is trying to be you and we need this information...blah blah blah," he said.
Woodberry suggests never clicking on an unfamiliar link from any person or company you are not 100 percent sure you know.
"I would click on the link and it would open spyware and steal any information it could," he said.
Defending against deceptive emails is mostly on you. Contact banks and businesses directly if you get an e-mail, don't reply or click links attached, don't give out information and don't assume police can solve the problem.
"People call all the time wanting us to do something. They think we can work miracles. They will catch these guys. It's almost impossible to catch these folks," Woodberry said.
"I just delete them. I don't open them anymore," Jackson said.
"Be careful. I think it's nasty. Very nasty," Fitzgerald said.
So, if you get an e-mail and you don't know who it is from, call the company or bank directly. Never trust an email from anyone unless you are 100 percent sure.
These are not new ploys or tricks, they just get slicker and harder to stop. If you just delete, don't click links, you'll be ok.
Friday, we will tell you 7 simple ways to avoid being hacked.
Right now, check out the "Solution Center" here on wtoc.com. Just go to the homepage and scroll down. We have phishing and spoofing crime prevention tips, links to report phishing sites and much more right there in the solution center.
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