by Dotti
Wed May 19, 2010 3:03 pm
I'm not sure what industry you are in, but in many industries, a professional license number is a matter of public record anyway. If that is not the case, contact your professional organization to see if there is any action to be taken there.
Your mortgage account number does give me a little more concern. I would contact the bank/lending company that holds your mortgage, let them know that your account number may have been phished, and find out what they recommend.
See the FTC website for more information on identity theft: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
In general, it is not a good idea to store account numbers, social security numbers, or any highly confidential information on web-based email applications. Even without things like this, web-based emails are not highly secure.
If you sign up for something and they ask for your email and password without giving you a chance to opt out of that step, you should question whether you really need or want that application. I know several social networking sites try to do the same thing, but generally there is a way to bypass that step. If you really feel that the site/activity is legitimate and you want to participate, the best thing to do is to go to hotmail, gmail, etc. and create a new email address to be used exclusively for that purpose. This keeps personal information out of the hands of others.
Your mortgage account number does give me a little more concern. I would contact the bank/lending company that holds your mortgage, let them know that your account number may have been phished, and find out what they recommend.
See the FTC website for more information on identity theft: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/
In general, it is not a good idea to store account numbers, social security numbers, or any highly confidential information on web-based email applications. Even without things like this, web-based emails are not highly secure.
If you sign up for something and they ask for your email and password without giving you a chance to opt out of that step, you should question whether you really need or want that application. I know several social networking sites try to do the same thing, but generally there is a way to bypass that step. If you really feel that the site/activity is legitimate and you want to participate, the best thing to do is to go to hotmail, gmail, etc. and create a new email address to be used exclusively for that purpose. This keeps personal information out of the hands of others.
Need to post photos? http://scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3219
Are you a victim of a romance scam? Read here for advice and FAQ's.
Are you a victim of a romance scam? Read here for advice and FAQ's.