There are many types of identity theft that occur through the use of e-mail systems. The theft occurred because credit worthy individuals are lulled into believing that banks, or other businesses that people have shopped with in the past, are making contact to update their records, or need clarification on the personal information that is contained in their customer databases.

This form of contact is commonly referred to as phishing, and the information that is being requested is part of a fishing expedition that is conducted by people who make their living by deceiving people. The official looking correspondence in the email is not official in any way. It may be identical to official mail that is routinely received from a reputable company that you do business with all of the time.

Many people become so accustomed to seeing the company logo, and web page layout, or a particular format in the subject line of the email that is sent. The phishing expedition begins when people let their guard down and click on the update link in email. With reassurances noted about personal information being secure on the website, people will be feel more comfortable about providing the information that is being requested.

The official company website that the link provides might look legit, but somewhere on the webpage will be minor flaws, and if you are not a web page editor and familiar with web addresses or HTML coding, it is quite possible that you could miss those errors and place your financial security in jeopardy. Some places on the form will require the social security number to be verified.

Since your full name is included on the form, it might be safe to assume that providing this information would be fine but before entering any information on this type of email verification process, it might be best to call the company directly and inquire about the updates that are needed. Many of your business contacts will inform you that no such email updating program is used by their company due to online security policies.

Other information that may be derived through deceptive emails is the pin numbers that you use to access the account on the official website. The account number may already be in place, so people feel safe entering the pin code in the usual manner. Some fraudulent website links will suddenly disappear, and the internet connection may be lost for the length of time that it takes a modem to recycle.

Dependent on the amount of information that has been entered on the form, the fraudster might have enough information to place a wire transfer to a foreign country, or have access to the credit card link on the banking site where you do all of your online banking and numerous credit card charges can be placed before any theft or fraud is discovered.

Some of the traditional free email websites have installed software that alerts people when they are being directed to a website where phishing has occurred in the past. Knowing the policies that companies have in place for requesting updates for information will usually be enough to stop email fraud from being successfully completed. Most websites will actively pursue phishing groups and by forwarding the email to them unopened, they will be able to investigate the group and shut them down before very much damage is done.

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