Local Home Grown Scam — Alert! Alert!

Last week I received an e-mail and I'm showing you the entire e-mail because it looks authentic, but it is not.  After reading it I decided to call the "Personal Banker" mentioned at the end of this e-mail before clicking on any links, and to my surprise was greeted by a voice mail: "We are not home right now please leave a message and l will return your call".  WHAT??!! Did I dialed the wrong number??  So I dialed the number again and there it was "we are not home right now..."

This is the e-mail:

Dear Chase Customer, This is your official notification that the service(s) listed below will be deactivated and deleted if not renew immediately.Previous notifications have been sent to the Billing Contact assigned to your account. As the Primary Contact, you must renew the service(s) listed below: : Direct Deposit - With Direct Deposit, your money will automatically be deposited into your account each payday and will be available immediately for withdrawal. It's the easiest way to deposit your check. Online Bill Payment - You can pick the date your payment is sent and pay virtually anyone. Rest assured -- your payment will be sent on time. If we cause processing delays, we'll pay 100 percent of any late fees you incur as a result. Read our Online Bill Payment Guarantee for more details. Debit Cards - Activate and use your debit card to pay for all your everyday purchases -- without the hassle of writing checks. We'll deduct your purchases from your Chase primary checking account. Log in to your account, Chase.com by clicking the URL. Enter your user ID and Password (that you selected during the online enrollment process). Enter the requested information and your Chase Online and Online Bill Payment services will be renew. No matter what your financial needs, look to Chase for credit cards, home financing solutions1, auto financing and leases, investments2 and more. We know you have your choice of banks. Thank you for choosing Chase. If you have questions or comments, please contact us. Sincerely, *Scam Artiste (626) 123-4567 S Main Ave Personal Banker Chase *Name, phone # and address has been changed to protect the innocent

I called customer service at Chase and was told to forward the e-mail to the Abuse Department.  The following day I received this email from Chase:

Thank you for sending us this e-mail.  We have already forwarded it to our fraud department for additional investigation.

Although the e-mail appears to be from Chase, it is not. (bold type mine)
It has been designed by fraudsters with the intent to trick you into providing private information about yourself and your accounts. This is known as "phishing," and the number of people who fall victim to this scam is unfortunately rising.

It is not our practice to:
- Send e-mail that requires you to enter personal information directly into the e-mail
- Send e-mail threatening to close your account if you do not take the immediate action of providing personal information
- Send e-mail asking you to reply by sending personal information

You should never reply to, click or enter any information if you receive a suspicious e-mail. 
We actively investigate each of these attempts and work hard to stop any further unauthorized e-mails from being sent.  Although we did not send the e-mail, (bold type mine)please know that we regret any inconvenience or concern it may have caused you.

Thank you,

J.ChaseBank (name changed)
E-mail Customer Service Representative

I talked to the real Personal Banker at Chase (For his protection I removed his name from the e-mail) and he is aware that someone is using his name and another person's phone number to scam innocent people.  He received numerous phone calls from people about this e-mail that has his name attached to it.  How wide spread this scam is no one knows.  There is however, an on going investigation.

David Callahan who wrote the book The Cheating Culture said "Cheating is Everywhere.   Add up all the various forms of ethical and legal misconduct and we have a moral crisis of serious dimensions."  —    How true!!

A rule of thumb or a good policy to remember is:

NEVER click on links that may look authentic or enter your personal information. 

If you sense dishonesty, be careful!

By being aware you make yourself less vulnerable to being a victim of fraud.  A ancient proverb states: "Anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps."

So be cautious.  There are many legitimate companies with whom you can do business with safely over the phone or on the Internet.  This scam artist however, is not.