Identity theft artists go phishing for your personal information

ZDNet has a report on phishing. This is not an urban legend or a phoney warning.

"The latest innovation in identity fraud typically begins with an unexpected e-mail message from a financial institution proclaiming something like: 'Your account information needs to be updated due to inactive members, frauds and spoof reports.'

Anyone who clicks on the included hyperlink and types in their personal details is unwittingly connecting not to their own bank, but to a scam artist engaged in the sport of "phishing" for illegally obtained credit card numbers, bank account information, and Social Security numbers."

I received one of these. It had the correct logos and other graphics of my own bank. I was a bit suspicious and wanted to send an email to the bank before filling out the form. (The form requested my account number and password. It seems harmless; they just want me to log in.) When I noticed that there was no way to contact the bank from the web page I decided not to fill out the form. I'm glad I made that decision.

Be aware.