Consumer Alert: Email Scam Claims to be from Texas AG

Spam E-mails Claiming to Originate from Office of The Attorney General

AUSTIN, Texas -- A new spam e-mail featuring Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s photograph and the Office of the Attorney General’s Web page banner has recently hit inboxes statewide.

The fraudulent e-mail message, which may include the subject line, “ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS,” is given the false appearance of legitimacy because it is adorned with the agency’s distinctive online logo and an image of Attorney General Abbott. In the e-mail text addressing the recipient by name, a vague security alert warns about a “transaction with the United Nations.” The entire e-mail reads:

Attn: [Recipient Name],

This is the office of the attorney general of Texas we are using this private email box to contact you for our security reasons because a lot is going on now and so many of our citizen wish to hear from this office daily but we have choose this medium to attend to our good citizen.

[Recipient Name], we wish to inform you that your transaction with the United Nations concerning your package that is on hold now is a legitimate transaction and you must try and see you provide all that is been requested for the security of this great country.

You are at a safe hand and we are giving you % 100 assurances to continue with them and make sure that your package is being released to you.

Thanks.

Savvy e-mail users have increasingly learned to identify and delete fraudulent e-mails that falsely appear to originate from legitimate banks, credit card companies and government agencies. Recipients should not respond to the sender or click on any Web links that may appear within the message. Activating Web links that appear in unexpected e-mails may direct users to fraudulent Web sites or allow identity thieves to capture users’ sensitive personal information.

Texans can protect their e-mail addresses from spammers by working with their Internet service providers to install free filters, blocks and other junk mail management services. All computer users should also familiarize themselves with a Web site’s privacy policy before providing their e-mail addresses. Most legitimate vendors allow users to prevent the company from sharing their information with unauthorized third parties.

For more information please visit the Texas Attorney General's Web site below or call the The Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Hotline at (800) 621-0508.

Information Source: Office of The Texas Attorney General