2012 Summer Olympic Games Scam Alert

As is often the case with high profile events such as the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, fraudsters may attempt to take advantage of both our interest in the Games and our curiosity. They will infect web sites, search results, and email with malware designed to steal your information, your identity and/or your money. Scams may promote contests to win tickets to the Olympic Games, claim to provide a schedule of all of the events to ensure you don’t miss your favorite ones, or promote videos and pictures the fraudsters hope will peak your interest. Like the example below, these emails will often contain embedded links or attachments that the fraudsters hope you will click on or open. Search engine results may contain malicious sites used to distribute malware.

To protect yourself from these types of scams:

• Exercise caution when surfing the web.
• Visit only trusted 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, text messages or other fraudulent activity involving your account, please call a Fifth Third Customer Service Professional at 1-800-676-5869. You may also contact us securely via our website 24 hours a day, seven days a week.