Police offer tips against scams via Internet

By GEOFF JOHNSON -DN Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/12/2008 09:09:56 AM PDT

http://redbluffdailynews.com/ci_8545393

CORNING ­ Somebody had been using Priscilla Duberowski's credit.

At least, that's what the e-mail said. But Duberowski, no stranger to identity theft, knew better.

She'd been attentive to issues of identity theft ever since a relative purchased a computer in Priscilla's name, only to default on payments. At the time, Duberowski was ill, going in and out of the hospital, and had granted the relative power of attorney. Because of that, the payments still fell to her.

"It's been five years, but we finally have it kind of settled," she said. "I finally paid them off." So when an e-mail turned up in her inbox on Feb. 29 telling her that someone had been trying to use her credit and the company needed her information to verify her bank account, she was skeptical.

It helped that the e-mail "smacked of fraud," she said. A specific bank wasn't even mentioned in the e-mail ­ all the scam indicated was that it was from a national bank.

Not content to delete the e-mail or mark it as spam, she took the next step and contacted the police, who because of her rural location referred her to the Tehama County Sheriff's Department.

"It sounded to me like you actually have to be defrauded in order to make a report, so I was really disappointed," she said.

There are methods of tracking e-mail, said Sgt. Dan Flowerdew, the Red Bluff Police Department's resident computer crimes expert. But most e-mail scams aren't pursued by law enforcement unless somebody falls victim to them.

Even then, a successful prosecution is contingent on the victim losing a great deal of money, he said.

One reason is that the majority of e-mail scams are conducted from outside the country, creating all kinds of legal barriers. Another is the sheer volume of fake e-mails. Somebody that lives off e-mail scams could send hundreds a day, enough that tricking 1 percent of the recipients could yield a substantial return.

"There are people that do scams, and that's their job," he said. "That's all they do." The best thing is to delete suspicious e-mail, Flowerdew said. Anything talking about a lottery you didn't enter, an inheritance from a distant relative or anything asking for personal information and your password should be regarded with suspicion, he said. The same goes for unsolicited mail sent from anywhere out of the country.

Even e-mails that appear to be from a legitimate business can be fake. A mirror site can be set up, he said ­ one that looks like the official bank Web site for a legitimate business but is designed to collect your account information.

Flowerdew said he's only encountered one such site so far. But if there's ever any doubt, readers are encouraged to call their bank or visit it in person to confirm that the e-mail was sent by the respective bank.

To learn more about e-mail scams, Flowerdew encouraged readers to visit the Red Bluff Police's identity theft Web site at rbpd.org/IDENTITY THEFT. This page includes the phone numbers for the three major credit bureaus where you can order a copy of your credit report and links to the California Department of Justice's ID Theft Registry, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the California Department of Justice's guide to identity fraud.

Programs are also available online to notify you of changes in your credit status, Flowerdew said.