"Phishing" reeling in thousands in East Tennessee

Local financial institutions are asking people to watch out for "phishing," an online scam proliferating more than 50% more in recent months.

"The phishing e-mails have been increasing at a very high rate," said Jennifer Holder of First Tennessee Bank.

First Tennessee is one of many financial institutions being impersonated in the scam. Holder says people will receive claiming to come from a bank, financial institution, or a business like PayPal. In many cases, the comapany's name will appear in the e-mail address.

The e-mails have several different forms. A few even say that someone had tried to hack into a person's private account. But, Holder says each of the phishing attempts have the same hook: getting personal information about a person, be it a PIN or social security number.

"It's difficult to measure," Holder said. "We don't know how many e-mails are going out, but thousands and thousands of e-mails are sent in the hopes just a few people will respond."

Some cyber thieves use the PIN information to take money out of checking accounts. Others use the social security numbers to create new accounts, taking someone's identity.

"This is just the latest in financial fraud," Holder said.

The difference this time around is how realistic the e-mails are. Many phishing e-mails have logos from real companies, including some logos of credit protection services.

The e-mails also get through spam filters, even though they are being sent out by the thousands.

Together, it is a dangerous combination, especially for those just getting their first bank accounts. Several students and faculty at the University of Tennessee got hooked by a phishing scam that impersonated a message from First Tennessee Bank, prompting the school's information department to send out a campus wide alert.

"The university has several mechanisms designed to catch and/or prevent unsolicited e-mail," the letter reads. "However, please be aware that sometimes such messages do get through, and you should be extremely careful when dealing with them."

"Unfortunately, even savvy customers have been falling prey to this e-mail because it does look legitimate," Holder says. "We just want to get the word out, don't ever respond to e-mail asking for personal information. We have that information."

Holder says financial institutions never ask for personal information in an e-mail. Should someone try to hack into an account, Holder says banks would normally call that customer, but recommend calling a local branch office back to confirm any potential problems.

As for the phishing e-mails, Holder says people should delete them and clear out their deleted items folder. If a person thinks they gave out information to the wrong person, they should cancel their account and create a new one immediately. Then they should call a national credit bureau to get fraud alert protection against potential identity theft.

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.