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Email scams and "phishing"

What is email “phishing?”


Phishing emails are designed to look like they come from well-known institutions where you would normally do business. These are emails created by fraudsters to convince you into providing your personal information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card, bank account or social insurance numbers. Responding to these phishing emails can provide these fraudsters with personal information that could lead to identity theft and other illegal purposes such as fraud.

How to protect yourself


Always remember, Bell does not send customers emails asking for passwords, account numbers or personal information. View our email policy.

  • Don't trust any official-sounding email asking you to confirm personal and financial information.
  • Watch for unusual or poor grammar.
  • Don't trust strangers who claim to be making you an offer you can't refuse.

If you receive one of these emails, delete it immediately and do not respond to it. Avoid clicking an "Unsubscribe" link in such emails as this can alert the fraudster to the fact that the email address is active and valid.

What is an email scam?


In addition to phishing, there are other email scams. The most common fall into these main categories - all of which ask for advance fees as part of the scheme:

  • International advance fee frauds (e-mail offers of instant wealth)
  • Work-at-home offers
  • Business opportunities
  • Make money fast schemes
  • Credit repair, credit card and loan offers
  • Chain letter schemes (asking you to donate cash or valuables)

A phishing or email scam may look like this:

From: Sympatico.ca Upgrade Team [mailto:ddt@nbnet.nb.ca]
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 6:46 AM
To: info@Upgrade.org
Subject: Upgrade Team

Thank you for useing Sympatico mail account. there is a problem with our site due to some settings reasons so we about to upgrade the site and we discovered that after upgradeing our site most of you useing Sympatico account may lost your Sympatico account so you are told to send the CONFIRM YOUR Sympatico EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW FOR UPDATES.

Email Username :
Email password:

For you not to lost your Sympatico account and you are to do this before the next four days thanks for your understanding do have i nice day.

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