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Emails masquerading as notifications from Financial Institutions are an ongoing challenge for consumers. While variations of this type of fraud attempt pop up all of the time, these “phishing” emails have become a regular occurrence.
Remember that criminals are behind phishing emails. Their intention is to get at your personal information which they may use to commit financial fraud or identity theft
If you are unsure if an email request is legitimate or not, take a few moments to verify the request before you give out information or click on a link. Just ensure that you verify the request using another source, not a source that is provided within the email itself. Remain wary of unsolicited email and always be cautious in your online activity. Those simple steps can help protect you from falling victim to a scam.
Your best defence against these email scams remains knowing how to recognize them:
The goal of all of these scams is to get you to click on a link or access the fraudsters’ website. The result could be an automatic attempt to secretly load malicious code to your computer. Or the email or website could contain convincing tactics to get you to enter your credit card or other personal information that could be used to commit financial fraud against you.
For more information on phishing, including how to report phishing emails and fake websites, please see Email and Website Fraud.