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What to do if you think that you have given personal or financial information to a phishing Web site

Article ID: 930149

Article Last Modified on 8/1/2007

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SUMMARY

This article describes what to do if you think that you have given personal or financial information to a phishing Web site.

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If you think that you have given personal or financial information to a phishing Web site, immediately take the following actions:

Change the passwords or the personal identification numbers (PINs) on all your online accounts.
Put a fraud alert on your credit reports. If you do now know how to do this, contact your bank or financial advisor.
Contact your banks and online merchants directly. Do not follow the links in fraudulent e-mail messages.
Close all accounts that have been fraudulently accessed or opened.

If you think that you have been the victim of fraud, immediately take the following actions:

File a report with the local police.
Put a fraud alert on your credit reports. If you do not know how to do this, contact your bank or financial advisor.
Change the passwords or the PINs on all your online accounts.
Contact your banks and online merchants directly. Do not follow the links in fraudulent e-mail messages.
Close all accounts that have been fraudulently accessed or opened.

For more information about what to do if you have responded to a phishing scam, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

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