"Phishing" scams plague Andalusia

It's "phishing" season, and the waters are dangerous. No the word isn't spelled incorrectly.

Phishing is defined by Webster's New Millennium Dictionary as ... "The practice of luring unsuspecting Internet users to a fake Web site by using authentic-looking email with the real organization's logo, in an attempt to steal passwords, financial or personal information, or introduce a virus attack; the creation of a Web site replica for fooling unsuspecting Internet users into submitting personal or financial information or passwords."

Now, more than ever, citizens should beware of identity theft and fraud scams.

Even though Andalusia is considered a somewhat small, friendly community -- these crimes still happen here, and more than you might think, local investigators say.

"Fraud, fraud, fraud and more fraud," Detective Wade Garrett of the Andalusia Police Department answered when asked what the primary focus is currently of his division.

"About 80 percent of what we do now is fraud. That's a guess, but I would say a fairly accurate one."

Identity theft, Internet scams (phishing), check forgery, counterfeiting and a myriad other aspects of fraudulent occurrences plague the city's investigative task force.

Just this Tuesday morning, a local woman took a fake instrument into the PD and submitted it to investigators.

Sara and Mark Watson received what looked like a personal money order drawn on Wells Fargo Bank, dated April 17, 2005. The amount of the money order was set at $4,960 -- an amount the local people could have easily been duped out of if they weren't smart.

"A company called IGA Management Payment Systems ... said (they) had won the North American Prize Pool," back in 2004, APD Sgt. Matt Mancil explained.

A letter accompanying the fake instrument relayed that the recipients were to be awarded a lump sum of $315,810, out of a total winnings-pool of $5,368,770, the sergeant said.

One give-away in the letter told the Watsons that, due to a possible "mix up," they should "keep this award from public notice."

A second letter indicated that the "funds enclosed" were meant to pay for the taxes on the bogus lottery they had won -- meant as a "favor" to the individuals, and "saving (them) for having to pay" the phony tax moneys.

The letter went on to indicate that they would receive a one-time payment for the remainder of the money, which would be wired into their account.

"What they do is, they get you to deposit this (money order), they contact you and get you to wire them a certain amount of money," Sgt. Mancil said.

After the check goes through a long paper trail and the scammers have already received their money, a bank will eventually find that the check or instrument "is bogus," Mancil said, and by that time, it's too late.

"This lady went to the local bank and got the clerk to check the check out," Sgt. Mancil said, reiterating the fact that the local woman's instincts paid off.

"She went to verify the check and it was shown it was not a good check," Mancil said.

"On this, there'll be a charge of forgery in the first degree."

While that charge is a Class B felony in Alabama, possibly punishable by up to years in prison, it's not likely that the culprit(s) will be caught, Mancil said.

"Unfortunately, slim to none," the sergeant said of the possibility of a conviction. "We're dealing with international crimes here. Prosecuting it here on a local level would be hard."

Det. Garrett said the prevalence of "phishing" scams and other fraudulent schemes continue to rise, and thus far, he hasn't seen a slowing trend.

"Mainly because it's easier than the burglaries and things like that," Garrett said of why scams of this nature are becoming so popular.

" I don't want to encourage people to try it, but they can make much more money with a pencil (or a pen)" than they did through old-fashioned theft crimes, the local detective said.

"They take the easiest route."

Believe it or not, Garrett said, there have been cases of local perpetrators in phishing and other fraud scams.

"If it's a local case, we have a pretty good chance of solving them," he said.

Garrett noted that individuals have to be aware now of almost every facet of information about themselves, how it's distributed, where and a plethora of other matters.

While in his office Tuesday at the APD, Garrett pulled up one example of a "phishing" scheme on his computer -- one sent to him.

A fake logo for SouthTrust Bank encompassed what most would think of as a legitimate-looking website. When Garrett clicked on the address line on the site, his computer, and potentially, his identity, became quick targets.

"It automatically hit me with a virus," Garrett said. "If I didn't have the (anti-viral) software, this could have potentially stolen all sorts of identifying information about me.

"Bank account numbers, Social Security numbers ... you name it. They do it all the time."

The fraudulent site wasn't actually coming from SouthTrust Bank at all, but rather from a location in China, Garrett determined.

Garrett said there are websites out there that literally do nothing but trade stolen identities. Those sites can be found all over the world, although Nigeria, Romania, Russia and China are notorious for Internet and computer scams.

" ... They can collect e-mail addresses into the hundreds of thousands," the detective said. "It's what we call phishing. You don't even have to be on the Internet (to be a victim). I have gone to companies here in Andalusia that were having computer problems. Some of the reasons I've found their computers were so slow was that they had spy programs stealing all their customers' information without them even knowing it.

"Anyone who has your information to make automatic withdrawals from your bank or account ... or anything of that nature -- If that's compromised, you're compromised as well," Garrett said.

"It's really scary. I personally no longer have credit cards or bank accounts. I do all my business by cash only."

Garrett says the first step to solving the problems associated with scamming is to give the crime the attention it deserves, and the resources to deal with it.

"First, it's got to be recognized," he commented. "Those 419 (usually advance payment) scams and dead relative scams have been around for years. The thing is, people usually don't pay attention."

In addition to a lack of attention, the scammers themselves are realizing, Garrett said, that the pay-upfront schemes are working less and less, and are therefore coming up with various other ways to steal money from people, and their identities.

"I can think of one instance of a man who was disabled," Garrett recalled. "He was trying to sell his car on the Internet. The sad thing is this particular scam only worked if a person is honest. A greedy person keeps all the money. This man lost between $8,000 and $9,000."

Garrett and other law enforcement professionals say there are several issues people need to consider in being more protective of their finances and their identity.

"One thing I would be very careful about is giving my personal information out, even to a legitimate person or company, over the Internet," Garrett said.

"I would also strongly recommend, just as a habit, you need to check your personal credit often. If you see someone else out there checking your credit and you know you haven't applied for credit with them, be very, very cautious and check that out.

"We're seeing a marked decrease in certain types of crimes, but an increase in stolen and forged checks and other fraudulent crimes. Like with checks, we see people dumpster diving. If you leave a box of old unused checks from 10 years ago in your garbage can or dumpster, see what happens. Once it's on your credit record, you'll have a nightmare."

If you feel you've been a victim of "phishing" or another form of fraud, contact the police department at 222-1155, or the Covington County Sheriff's Department at 428-2642.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.