Sen. Casey warns people to be alert to cybercrime this holiday season

Consumers beware!  Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. senator says computer scams are running amok this holiday season. 

“Phishing” is the name for the practice of scammers using phony e-mails to obtain credit card or checking account information from those using the Internet.  The tactic has been around for years, but is getting new attention because it played a role in the massive fraud that just hit customers of Target.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D., Pa.) said at a news conference Monday that the Target security breach is an example of how phishers use digital bait to defraud consumers. In this case, the scammers made use of email addresses that they’d obtained by stealing credit card inforrmation from Target.  The retailer has not specified how the breach occurred.”Less than 24 hours after the breach, customers started receiving fake e-mails from ‘Target’ requesting personal information information and they had the logo and a lot of the particulars illustrated in a way that would be particular effective at misleading people,” Casey saiad.The senator says he’s asked the Federal Trade Commission to send out a warning to everyone that these scams continue and could make for big problems if you get caught up in their net.