Guest guest Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 ETRADE BLAMES PATRIOT ACT FOR PHISHING-LIKE LETTER A message purportedly from your bank or brokerage arrives and demands you immediately confirm your social security number and other sensitive information or your account will be closed. Obviously a phishing scam, right? That's what one reader thought about a letter he received in the mail last week on what looked like E-Trade letterhead, only to be told be ETrade that it's for real, and that they need the information to comply with the Patriot Act. " On January 31st I received a letter dated January 18th via the U.S. mail allegedly from ETrade, " the reader wrote. " The letter, signed by Randy Tripp, ETrade EVP and General Auditor, demanded that I either fax, phone, or mail back a form with personally identifying information - name, date of birth, and social security number - within 15 days of the day they sent it or my account would be closed. So the deadline is February 2, giving me two days to respond. " The purported ETrade letter read in part: " Our number-one priority is safeguarding our customers' account and other personal information. From time to time, for the protection of our customers, we review customer accounts to make sure account holder information is complete and up to date. Please take a minute to confirm and/or update your account information by utilizing one of the ... More of this blog: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=10DE310:44EE75B © 2005 InfoWorld Media Group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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