I was reading an article of eWeek Magazine in which they said that the US Federal government was taking action against phishers (try to get people to give them their credit card information, while posing as a bank, or eBay, etc. by sending an email posing as that company).
In general, people feel foolish when they fall for such scams - half of them may not ever get reported. Some simple tips will help you from EVER becoming a victim of a spammer who wants your identity and information:
1) Do not ever respond to a company’s request to give them private information using the Internet - especially a bank. Call them on the phone - no matter WHO it is… DO NOT TRUST THAT WEB ADDRESS LINK IS REALLY GOING TO THAT COMPANY. If you have been trusting these, think twice about it from now on.
2) If you are dealing with a company that doesn’t have a phone number - stop dealing with them. Only deal with companies that have phones that they answer, and addresses you can actually visit.