
The Federal Trade Commission and other federal authorities are now
aggressively investigating Internet credit card fraud scams following a
brazen attempt by cyberthiefs to extract personal card data from America
Online’s 8.5 million subscribers. Earlier this month AOL subscribers
received an official-looking, but bogus e-mail, which featured a letter
from AOL’s chief executive, informing the recipient to supply address,
phone number and credit card info to update AOL’s files. Federal
investigators indicated yesterday such scams have spread beyond online
services to Web sites offering bogus credit card offers or other on-line
financial products.