Scam artists seem to get more persistent the worse the economy gets. In the past two weeks, I have received several e-mails from what appeared to be banks urging me to provide my account and credit card information to them or my account would be frozen. But they weren't banks -they were scam artists hoping to fool consumers like myself into providing their personal information. Unfortunately, they are successful too many times. Banks generally don't send unsolicited e-mails asking for such information. If you get one and you're thinking about responding in some way to an e-mail that appears to be from your bank, don't. Instead, go to a bank branch and inquire in person if the bank was actually trying to contact you.
Some tips about these "phishing" scams, from the Utah Division o f Consumer Protection:
-Don't respond in any way to such e-mail, including going to any links or opening any attachments.
-Delete the message from your e-mail in box.
-If you have opened or clicked on any link or attachment, run an anti-virus program on your computer immediately.
For more information about this scam and others, go to the division's web site here or call (801) 530-6601.