Phishing is a scam where a criminal sends an email asking for personal information, and attempts to trick the recipient into responding by clicking on a link, opening an attachment, or directly providing sensitive information.

The emails can be quite convincing, since they appear to come from established businesses or organizations, and sometimes even link to legitimate-looking websites. However, the information you provide such as a social security or credit card number goes directly to the criminal, who can then use the information to his or her own advantage.

What you can do

We will never call or send an email asking for your password or other personal information. If you think you have received a fraudulent email:

• • Do not click on any links in the email or open any attachments.

• • Contact us.

• • Delete the email.