SPECIAL REPORT ON “PHISHING”
Background
During 2003 and early 2004, law enforcement authorities, businesses, and Internet users haveseen a significant increase in the use of “phishing.” “Phishing” is a general term for criminals’
creation and use of e-mails and websites – designed to look like e-mails and websites of wellknown legitimate businesses, financial institutions, and government agencies – in order todeceive Internet users into disclosing their bank and financial account information or otherpersonal data such as usernames and passwords. The “phishers” then take that information anduse it for criminal purposes, such as identity theft and fraud.
A growing number of phishing schemes are using for illegal purposes the names and logos oflegitimate financial institutions, businesses, and government agencies in North America, Europe,and the Asia-Pacific region. One industry organization, the Anti-Phishing Working Group(www.antiphishing.org) has reported that in January 2004, there were 176 unique phishingattacks reported to it – an increase of more than 50 percent over the number of reported phishingattacks in December 2003.
The Department of Justice is issuing this Special Report to inform Internet users about the risksof responding to phishing e-mails and websites, whether phishing schemes violate federal
criminal laws, and the steps that Internet users should take when they see possible phishing emails or websites.
What Are The Risks of Responding to Phishing E-Mails?
At first glance, phishing e-mails, and the websites associated with such e-mails, may appear
completely legitimate. One recent phishing attempt falsely used the names of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and two of its officials, as well as the Department ofHomeland Security. What Internet users may not realize is that criminals can easily copy logos
and other information from legitimate businesses’ websites and place them into phishing e-mails
and websites.
In addition, if the e-mail recipient clicks on the link in the e-mail, even the window of theInternet browser he or she is using may contain what looks like the true Uniform Resource
Locator (URL) of a legitimate business or financial institution. Unfortunately, some phishing
schemes have exploited a vulnerability in the Internet Explorer browser. This vulnerability

allows phishers to set up a fake website at one place on the Internet, but make it look like theInternet user is accessing a legitimate website at another place on the Internet.
Most phishing e-mails include false statements intended to create the impression that there is animmediate threat or risk to the bank, credit-card, or financial account of the person who receives
that e-mail. In the case of the false FDIC e-mails mentioned above, the text of the e-mails falsely
claimed that the Secretary of Homeland Security had advised the FDIC to suspend all federal
deposit insurance on the recipients’ bank accounts. Other recent phishing e-mails have falsely
claimed that the recipients’ Visa credit card was being used by another person, or that a recent
credit-card transaction had been declined.
In some cases, phishing e-mails have promised the recipients a "prize" or other special benefit.
Although the message sounds attractive rather than threatening, the object is the same: to trick
recipients into disclosing their financial and personal data.
People who receive phishing e-mails also may not realize that the senders may have used“spamming” (mass e-mailing) techniques to send the e-mail to thousands and thousands ofpeople. This means that many of the people who receive that spammed e-mail do not haveaccounts or customer relationships with the legitimate business or financial services company
that the e-mails purport to come from. The people who create phishing e-mails count on the factthat some recipients of those e-mails will have an account or customer relationship with that
legitimate business or company, and may be more likely to believe that the e-mail has come froma trusted source.
Ultimately, people who respond to phishing e-mails, and input the requested financial or personal
information into e-mails, websites, or pop-up windows, may be putting their accounts andfinancial status at risk in three significant ways. First, phishers can use the data to access existingaccounts of those Internet users, and withdraw money or buy expensive merchandise or services.
Second, phishers can use the data to open new bank or credit-card accounts in the victims’
names, and use the new accounts to cash bogus checks or buy merchandise. If the phishers open
those new accounts with the victims’ names, but use addresses other than the victims’, theInternet users may not realize that they have become victims of identity theft until they arecontacted by creditors or they check their credit reports. Third, some recent phishing schemes
have involved the use of computer viruses and worms to disseminate the phishing e-mails to still
more people.
Can Phishing Violate Federal Criminal Laws?
Because they use false and fraudulent statements to deceive people into disclosing valuable
personal data, phishing schemes may violate a variety of federal criminal statutes. In many
phishing schemes, the participants in the scheme may be committing identity theft (18 U.S.C. §1028(a)(7)), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), credit-card (or “access-device”) fraud (18 U.S.C. §1029), bank fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344), computer fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1030(a)(4)), and the newly
enacted criminal offenses in the CAN-SPAM Act (18 U.S.C. § 1037). When a phishing scheme
also uses computer viruses or worms, participants in the scheme may also violate otherprovisions of the computer fraud and abuse statute relating to damage to computer systems andfiles (18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(5)). Finally, phishing schemes may violate various state statutes onfraud and identity theft.
Each of the federal criminal offenses mentioned above carries substantial penalties. Sentences
can range as high as 30 years imprisonment under the wire fraud and bank fraud statutes, 15years imprisonment for identity theft and credit-card fraud, and 5 years imprisonment under theCAN-SPAM Act. In addition, federal judges can impose substantial fines, which can be as highas $250,000 for an individual, and require forfeiture of a defendant's property. The Departmentof Justice has successfully prosecuted a number of criminal cases involving phishing, and will
vigorously prosecute phishing schemes in appropriate cases in the future.
What Should Internet Users Do About Phishing Schemes?
The Department of Justice recommends that Internet users follow three simple rules when
they see e-mails or websites that may be part of a phishing scheme: Stop, Look, and Call.
1.

Stop. Phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails with one purpose in mind. They want people to react immediately to that false
information, by clicking on the link and inputting the requested data before they take timeto think through what they are doing. Internet users, however, need to resist that impulse
to click immediately. No matter how upsetting or exciting the statements in the e-mailmay be, there is always enough time to check out the information more closely.

2.

Look. Internet users should look more closely at the claims made in the e-mail, think
about whether those claims make sense, and be highly suspicious if the e-mail asks fornumerous items of their personal information such as account numbers, usernames, orpasswords. For example:•If the e-mail indicates that it comes from a bank or other financial institution
where you have a bank or credit-card account, but tells you that you have to enter
your account information again, that makes no sense. Legitimate banks andfinancial institutions already have their customers' account numbers in theirrecords. Even if the e-mail says a customer's account is being terminated, the realbank or financial institution will still have that customer's account number andidentifying information.
•If the e-mail says that you have won a prize or are entitled to receive some special“deal,” but asks for financial or personal data, there is good reason to be highly
suspicious. Legitimate companies that want to give you a real prize don’t ask you
for extensive amounts of personal and financial information before you're entitled
to receive it.

3.

Call. If the e-mail or website purports to be from a legitimate company or financial
institution, Internet users should call or e-mail that company directly and ask whether thee-mail or website is really from that company. To be sure that they are contacting thereal company or institution where they have accounts, credit-card accountholders can callthe toll-free customer numbers on the backs of their cards, and bank customers can callthe telephone numbers on their bank statements.
A number of legitimate companies and financial institutions that have been targeted byphishing schemes have published contact information for reporting possible phishing emails, as well as online notices about how their customers can recognize and protect
themselves from phishing. This list will be periodically updated as appropriate.
CompanyTelephone

E-mail/Notice

Am erica Online(AOL)

800-827-6364

http://www.aol.com

Bank ofAm erica

Call customer service number onbank statement

Notice:http://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy/inde
x.cfm ?tem plate=privacysecur_perso nal_fa
mily&statecheck=DCBank One

1-877-226-5663 [Personal Accounts]
1-800-404-4111 [Business Accounts]
1-888-745-0091 [Credit Cards]

Notice:http://www.bankone.com/answers/BolAnsw
ersDetail.aspx?top=all&segment=ABO&topi
c=Prom otion&item=B ankO neCu stom erAlert

Citibank

800-374-9700
800-788-0002 [TTY]

http://www.citibank.com

EarthLink

800-327-8454

E-Ma il: fraud@abuse.earthlink.net[Forwarded e-mails]
Live Chat: http://support.earthlink.net/chatNotice:http://support.earthlink.net/mu/1/psc/img/wal
kthroughs/other/policy_procedure/8492.psc.
htm leBay

FleetBoston
Financial
PayPalUS Bank--

800-841-4000--

1-877-595-6256 [toll-free]

E-Ma il: spoof@ebay.com [Note: Forwardedm essages only]
Notice:http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-accou nt-the ft-spoof.htm l
Notice: http://www.fleet.com/hom e.asp

E-Ma il: spoof@paypal.com [Note:Fo rwarded m essages only]
Notice:http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/email-security-outside
E-Ma il: fraud_help@usbank.com
Notice:http://www.usb ank .com /cgi_w /cfm /prom o/personal/fraud_em ail_info_and _help.cfm

Note: Internet users who want to e-mail, or go to a website for, one of the companies listed above
should type in the e-mail address exactly as it appears above. Typing in the address is the only
way to be certain that a browser will go to the legitimate company's website. No one should everrely on any information that appears in a phishing e-mail.
In addition, people who use the Internet Explorer browser should immediately go to theMicrosoft Security home page -- http://www.microsoft.com/security/ -- to download a special
patch relating to certain phishing schemes. This URL should be typed into the browser window
to make certain that the browser will go to the real Microsoft Security website.
The Department of Justice asks the public to report possible phishing schemes promptly to lawenforcement. The sooner that law enforcement and legitimate businesses learn about newphishing e-mails and websites, the sooner those e-mails and websites can be shut down andappropriate law enforcement action taken.
If you may have disclosed your personal information to a possible phishing e-mail or website,
you should immediately file an online complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (ajoint project of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center) at http://www.ic3.gov.
Because that disclosure of personal information may put you at risk of becoming a victim ofidentity theft, you also should go to the Federal Trade Commission's identity theft website, at
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft, and follow the directions there for reporting information tocredit bureaus, credit-card companies, and law enforcement.
If you have received a possible phishing e-mail, but have not yet responded to it, do not respond.
Instead, send copies of the e-mail to the Federal Trade Commission at uce@ftc.gov and the AntiPhishing Working Group at reportphishing@antiphishing.org.
Further Information!
!

!

Phishing: Read the Federal Trade Commission's publication, "How Not to Get Hooked
by a 'Phishing' Scam," at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm.
Identity Theft: Visit the Department of Justice's webpages at
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html andhttp://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idquiz.html, and the Postal Inspection Service’s
website at http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/id_intro.htm.
Cybercrime: Visit the Department of Justice's website at http://www.cybercrime.gov.
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