advisory warning Floridians about a "phishing" scam that attempts to
victimize people affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. A
consumer recently reported to the Attorney General's Office that she
received an email from someone purporting to be Tony Hayward, the CEO of
BP. The email stated that those who replied back to the email address
listed with their personal information would be the recipient of $500,000
in grant funding from BP. Consumers are urged not to comply with this
request and should not give out any personal information to unfamiliar
sources.
“Scammers and con artists are brazenly trying to capitalize on Floridians
who have been affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Attorney
General McCollum. “Consumers should be on high alert and should report
suspicious emails such as this one to my office immediately.”
One of the more common forms of computer-related identity theft,
“phishing” occurs when a third party pretends to be a reputable contact
and convinces consumers to provide their personal identification
information, which usually leads to identity theft. The email purporting
to be from Mr. Hayward appears to have originated in Nigeria and has been
referred to the United States Postal Inspection Service for investigation.
Consumers can report phishing and other scams to the Attorney General's
Office by calling 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226) or by filing a
complaint online at http://www.myfloridalegal.com. Information on the
Deepwater Horizon disaster can be found online at
http://www.myfloridalegal.com/
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