PITTSBURGH -- If you get an e-mail from your bank asking for personal information, watch out. There's a scheme going around that could lead to identity theft.

The e-mails are "phishing" or "spoofing" e-mails. Both have common characteristics: They want personal information.

They're disguised to look like they come from a legitimate company and there's a sense of urgency in that you have to respond right away.

"It looked very real," Gary Impellicceiri, who received such emails, said.

That's what many people who work at Union Drilling in Bridgeville thought when they opened up their e-mail and found not one, but two requests from different financial institutions wanting verification of personal information.

The e-mail that looked like it was from Citibank warned about a large number of identity theft attempts and asked customers to verify thru e-mail their account numbers, expiration dates of credit cards and even give their mother's maiden name.

Another e-mail that claimed to be from Citizens Bank said the company needs information because it is performing a "software upgrade." And even though they look legitimate, both the e-mails are fraudulent.

"The Citizens had the logo on it; or what looked to be the official logo," Impellicceiri said.

Even the Web sites that these e-mails link to look legitimate, but they're not.

Postal Inspector Andrew Richards said, "What the person doesn't see is perhaps a period or a comma or dash or backslash that would in fact take it to somewhere completely different."

Investigators warn you should never go to the links on these e-mails because even if you don't fill out the personal information requested, once you've given fraudsters access to your computer, there's no telling what can happen.

"We don't know how sophisticated these people are. If they have to ability to gain access to your personal computer by any means, by which you help to facilitate it, it just may cause some problems," Richards said.

Instead, officials suggest you make a call to your financial institution using a phone number from your bill or the yellow pages to see if they are looking for information.

But be sure not to use a phone number supplied by the e-mail. There's a fraudster on the other end ready to lie and say the e-mail is legitimate.

More Details:
File Complaint With Internet Crime Complaint Center