Anyone who clicks on the included hyperlink and types in their personal details is unwittingly connecting not to their own bank, but to a scam artist engaged in the sport of "phishing" for illegally obtained credit card numbers, bank account information, and Social Security numbers.

President Bush is scheduled to sign on Thursday a bill that would boost criminal penalties against phishing and many other forms of identity fraud, also called identity theft. Known as the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, or ITPEA, the measure sets up punishment guidelines for anyone who possesses someone else's identification-related information with intent to commit a crime.

By Declan McCullagh at ZDNet.

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