How to Report Email Fraud to Bank of America
Many Internet users pay utility bills and credit cards online. They do holiday shopping to avoid the crowds, and even buy furniture and cars online. Every financial transaction requires banking information, and in most cases it is reasonably safe. The banking information is entered on the secure website, a withdrawal or deposit is made on the account and an email confirmation is sent to the consumer. However, differentiating between a legitimate email and a fraudulent email can be particularly difficult as copying logo and design styles is fairly simple.
Bank of America has specific procedures in place for dealing with fraudulent emails.
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Instructions
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Identification, Processing and Prevention
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Determine if the email is fraudulent. No credible company will request personal information via email. If you receive an email that requests your social security number, your credit card number or your savings/checking account number you probably have a fraudulent email.
Bank of America states that the information requested is often presented as urgently needed by the company, sometimes accompanied by a threat that your account will be closed unless the information is provided. Another ploy utilized by criminals is the too-good-to-be-true offer. Don't be drawn in by promises of loans or sales that can only be accessed by the link in the email.
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Forward the email to Bank of America at abuse@bankofamerica.com.
Do not follow any links within the suspected email, as these links may route you to a fraudulent website that could collect personal or financial information about you. Do not open any attachments to the email.
Instead, go to the Bank of America website directly. The Anti-Phishing Working Group archives contains screen shots of fraudulent websites that consumers can access if they are not sure of a website's legitimacy.
Call your local branch or dial the toll-free contact number for your bank and tell them you've received a suspicious email.
Notify the credit bureau and request a fraud alert. If you believe your financial privacy has been compromised, inform credit companies to prevent unpaid debts from negatively affecting your credit rating.
Experian, Transunion and Equifax all allow fraud alerts to be attached to your name for a set period of time, short term (90 days) or long term (7 years). The fraud alert does not prevent you from receiving credit but rather guarantees that any application for credit will be confirmed before being issued. Furthermore, a fraud alert will provide evidence of the fraud for any illegal purchases made after the alert is activated. The burden to prove fraud lies on the shoulders of the victim.
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Filter spam to avoid future email fraud. Spam filtering provided by most email servers will decrease the number of fraudulent emails you receive. It will not, however, guarantee that fraudulent emails won't get through. Email filtering is not an exact science; legitimate emails may be filtered out with the spam, so careful monitoring of the filtering is suggested.
Install and update anti-virus software. Most anti-virus programs include email protection that will scan email attachments and help prevent viruses from invading your operating system via attachments.
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