Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee, is warning consumers about an online scam called "phishing."

According to the Federal Trade Commission, this high tech scam, also known as "brand spoofing" or "carding," uses spam to deceive consumers into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, social security numbers, passwords and other sensitive information.

The scammers state in an e-mail message that the company needs this information to maintain the current status of the consumer's account. When the consumers reply and provide their vital financial information, the criminals gain access to important and private information, resulting in identity theft.

Even a wary consumer, who visits the web address that is usually linked with the e-mail, may be confused by the official look of the site. According to anti-phishing.org, since these e-mails and the corresponding websites appear official, as many as 20 percent of recipients reply to them.

To avoid getting scammed, the FTC offers the following tips:

* If you receive an e-mail that warns you, with little or no notice that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, contact the company cited in the e-mail using a telephone number or website address you know to be genuine.

* Avoid e-mailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a website, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar. It signals that your information is secure during transmission.

* Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.

* Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft Web Site (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.

"Everyday we learn of new scams directed against consumers," stated Fuschillo. "I will continue to bring these scams to light and educate people on how to avoid them."