North Coast Electric Company

Phishing Notice

July 7, 2008
It has come to our attention that some internet users have received emails, such as the example below, notifying you of a particular job opportunity from a GMail email account address. This activity is called "Phishing." Phishers hijack brand names of banks, e-retailers and credit card companies to convince recipients to respond by providing financial and personal information data such as credit card numbers, account usernames, passwords and social security numbers.

Phishing, pronounced "fishing" is a form of identity theft. It occurs when someone acts as if they are representing an organization and tries to "hook" the consumer into providing personal information. With a name and any of this personally identifying information, the identity thief can apply for credit in the consumer's name and damage the consumer's financial reputation for years to come. Phishing can occur through various forms of communication including: email, telephone and fake websites.

North Coast Electric Company will never ask you for *personal information (as defined below) in an email, in this case a GMail email account.

For more information and on how to report Phishing and other email scams access www.antiphishing.com and www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes

EXAMPLE:
"Job Opportunities WORK AT HOME(PartTimeFullTime)OPEN OPERATION
Monday, 7 July, 2008 10:03 PM
From: blockedusername@gmail.com
To: user@website.com

North Coast Electric Company.
Career Opportunities:

Interested Applicant:
We are currently seeking 8 part or full time employees for our
ever-growing Accounts Receivable Department. Through extensive
demographic research, we have discovered a wealth of untapped
human resources that, for one reason or another, need the freedom
to work from home. "

*Personal information is defined as the individual's first name or initial and last name in combination with any of the following data elements: Social Security number, Driver's license number or State Identification card number, or account number, credit card number, debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code or password (PIN) that would permit access to an individual's financial account(s).