In order to avoid phishing scams, you must know what they are and be able to identify them. A phishing scam is a fraudulent attempt to steal your personal information including but not limited to banking information, social security numbers, or passwords. These scams found in emails appear to be authentic and use as much generic knowledge about a customer as possible in order to get their attention.

There are several steps the customer can take to make sure he or she never falls for one of these scams:

• Be cautious of suspicious emails.

  Please remember to always be suspicious of any email that requests any personal account information, such as solicitations for usernames, passwords, account numbers or any other personal data. Just because it looks like it came from an authentic source, doesn't mean that it did. These emails can sometimes be identified through their generic greeting, so read the email carefully.

• Be aware of the sense of urgency.

  Typically a phishing scam will request that your personal information be updated or entered immediately. A sense of urgency is created by making you think that something has or will happen if you do not act quickly. Keep in mind the faster you enter your information, the faster the scammer can move on to the next victim.

• Remember that we won't ask for your personal information.

  Be aware that we never ask customers for password information via email, as that information is private and is only known by users. In addition, we will never ask for billing or payment information through email.

• Avoid clicking on links within an email.

  Always check the links contained in an email. Scroll your mouse over the link to make sure it matches the information in the email. A phishing scam will request you to click on a link that will redirect you to a website that will request personal information. Remember even if you recognize the organization's name in the link that does not mean it is an authentic link.

• Make sure it is a secure server.

  Always ensure that a secure server is being used when submitting credit card information. To make sure it is a secure server, check the beginning of the web address in the browser's address bar - it should be https:// rather than just http://. The "s" indicates the website is secure. Contact the bank or credit card company if there is suspicion that an email was sent to a fraudulent site that contains sensitive personal information.

• Make sure the security software is up-to-date on the computer.

  Microsoft has recently created a security update for Internet Explorer that will help customers avoid Phishing scams. It removes a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to misrepresent the location of a web page in the address bar of an Internet Explorer window. We strongly urge everyone apply this patch if his or her computer has Internet Explorer installed (even if the Internet Explorer browser is not used as the primary web browser). To install this security update, please visit the Microsoft's web site, www.microsoft.com, which also includes additional background information on the security update.