Avoid “ishing” scams. A favorite tactic of fraudsters is to pretend to be someone that they are not in order to trick someone else
into giving up PII. They represent themselves as a legitimate, often well-known business and ask for account numbers, Social Security numbers, or other data. Each method of contacting the potential victim has its own clever name that ends in “i-s-h-i-n-g.” Phishing is an attempt made via email. Fax phishing occurs via facsimile machine. Vishing uses telephone voice messaging systems. Smishing occurs via SMS (short messaging service), or text messaging. Before responding to a request for information, contact the company using a phone number you’ve found on your billing statement or their website to independently verify their
need to reach you.
