Innovation and Leadership in the Canadian Industry Since 1985

E-mail Fraud (Phishing)

TelPay Incorporated Privacy Guidelines

If you ever doubt the legitmacy of an e-mail claiming to originate from TelPay, please call TelPay's support desk at 1.800.665.0302

What is Phishing?

Phishing is an illegal practice used to attempt to gather personal, financial and other sensitive information by e-mail for the purpose of identity theft. Most commonly, an e-mail is sent that purports to be from a legitimate business. Recipients are typically asked to click on a link within the e-mail to download a file or log in to an account. The information entered such as user ids, passwords, credit card, social security and/or bank account numbers and information is recorded or secretly transmitted to a third party.

How does phishing work?

Phishing e-mails are often sent out in large numbers as spam to numerous recipients. They are often carefully crafted to appear to originate from a legitimate business, sometimes even duplicating legitimate logos and text.

Within the message, recipients may be requested to click on a link to download a file or that takes you to a fraudulent site or pop up window where you may be asked to submit personal and financial information.

These messages often carry a sense of urgency and suggest immediate risk to your financial information if you fail to follow the enclosed instructions.

Special offers and prizes may also be promoted as incentives to persuade recipients to click through.

Click here to see an example of a recent e-mail sent purporting to be from TelPay

What do phishers do with your personal information?

Phishers can access accounts using ids, passwords & other information obtained to withdraw money or make purchases. Personal information can also be used to open new financial accounts in your name.

Warning signs

If you receive an unsolicited e-mail requesting that you click a link, enter your personal information or password, it is NOT from TelPay. If you are ever unsure of the authenticity of any e-mail, please report it immediately to TelPay.

Always be suspicious of unsolicited e-mails that;

• Ask you to provide, confirm or update personal records.
• Are sent from a third party addresses or link to a third party site.
• Contain urgent requests to log-in, update or download files

What You Can Do To Protect Yourself Against Phishin

• Never enter personal or financial information into pop-up windows. One common phishing technique is to launch a fake pop-up window when someone clicks on a link in a phishing e-mail message. To make the pop-up window look more convincing, it may be displayed over a window you trust. Even if the pop-up window looks official or claims to be secure, you should avoid entering sensitive information, because there is no way to check the security certificate. Close pop-up windows by clicking on the red X in the top right corner (a "cancel" button may not work as you'd expect).
• Type addresses directly into your browser or use your personal bookmarks. If you need to update your account information or change your password, visit the Web site by using your personal bookmark or by typing the URL directly into your browser.
• Check the security certificate when you are entering personal or financial information into a Web site. Before you enter personal or financial information into a Web site, make sure the site is secure. In Internet Explorer, you can do this by checking the yellow lock icon on the status bar as shown in the following example.

How to report it

• TelPay
• RECOL (Reporting Economic Crime On-Line)
• PhoneBusters (The Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre)
  Toll free: 1 888 495-8501
  Toll free fax: 1 888 654-9426
  Email: mailto:info@phonebusters

Resources for victims of identity theft

Place fraud alerts on your credit reports by contacting the credit bureaus that operate in Canada.

Equifax Canada

Toll free: 1 800 465-7166

TransUnion Canada

Links to more information about Phishing

• Canada's Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
• Wikipedia
• Microsoft
• FTC
• APWG
• Computer Emergency Readiness Team
• National Resource for Identity Theft