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Social Security phishing scam surfaces

Hook, line and stinker

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Spam, 9th November 2006 19:41 GMT

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Phishers are going directly after one of the prime targets of ID thieves, US citizens' social security numbers.

Scam emails purporting to come from the US Social Security Administration give bogus warning that recipients risk having their social security account suspended unless they update their personal information on a site, designed to look like an official site actually run by fraudsters.

To add some authenticity to the scam, bogus emails announces changes in social security rules on cost of living allowances supposedly scheduled to come into effect next year.

Prospective marks are encouraged to hand over their name, address, date of birth, Social Security number as well as bank account numbers and credit card details (just for good measure). CNN has more here. ®

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