Scam Email Alert	A public service from the
Scam Email Alert	Law Offices of Thomas Gross
419 Fraud, Lottery Fraud, Phishing & Other Scams	Exposing Internet Fraud & Scams

Heritage Oaks Bank

Phishing Scam E-mails

The email claiming to be from Heritage Oaks Bank and offering $100 for taking part in a survey appears to be a phishing scam. Phishing e-mails are e-mails from scam artists who use official looking webpages designed to trick you into believing they are from a corporate website that you have an account with. Once you are at the site, they will ask you to provide or verify personal information such as bank account information, credit card information, social security information and password information. If you get such an e-mail, you should delete it and do not provide any of the requested information. However, if you are not convinced that you have a fraudulent e-mail, please contact Heritage Oaks Bank directly and explain the e-mail you received. If you give out any personal information, contact Heritage Oaks Bank immediately and depending on what information you gave out, it may be wise to take measures to protect against identity theft (e.g. contact credit agencies, close accounts, cleanse computer). Many email solicitations that appear to be phishing emails are set forth throughout this website and below:

Heritage Oaks Bank

From:	"Heritage Oaks Bank" <do-not-replay@heritageoaksbank.com>
Subject:	Heritage Oaks Bank Notification
Date:	Tue, 3 Oct 2006 12:14:22 -0500

Dear Customer,

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

You have been chosen by Heritage Oaks Bank department to take part in our quick and easy 5 question survey.
In return we will credit $100 to your account - Just for your time!

Helping us better understand how our customers feel, benefits everyone.
With the information collected we can make changes to improve and expand our services.
The information you provide us is all non-sensitive and anonymous - No part of it is handed down to any third party groups.
It will be stored in our secure database for maximum of 3 days while we process the results of this survey.