May 2011 Osama bin Laden Scam Alert

As is often the case with breaking news stories such as the recent death of Osama bin Laden, fraudsters take advantage of our curiosity and infect web sites and search results with malware designed to steal your identity and/or your money. Current scams are promoting videos and pictures of the mission against Osama bin Laden. Emails about these types of news breaking events will often contain embedded links or attachments that the fraudster hopes you will click on or open.

To protect yourself from these types of scams:

• Exercise caution when surfing the web.
• Visit only trusted news sites.
• Only click on search results for sites you know.
• Be wary of unsolicited attachments, even from people you know.
• Keep software up-to-date. This includes your operating system, applications, and security-related software.
• Trust your instincts – if an email or email attachment seems suspicious, don’t open it.
• Save and scan all attachments before opening them.
• Turn off the option to automatically download attachments.
• View emails in “plain text.” (Available in your email viewing options.)
• Apply additional security practices such as filtering certain types of attachments and using a firewall.

Tips to help protect you:

Education is your best defense – know what to look for and what to do. To find out more about how to protect yourself from fraud, visit the Privacy & Security Center at www.53.com/Security, the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) at www.us-cert.gov, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) “Be Crime Smart” web site at www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/.

If you need assistance or discover any suspicious online sites, emails, or other fraudulent activity involving your account, please call a Fifth Third Customer Service Professional at 1-800-676-5869. They are available to serve you Monday through Friday 8 AM–9 PM ET and Saturday through Sunday 8AM–5 PM ET. You may also contact us securely via our website 24 hours a day, seven days a week.