Internet Safety Precautions

We take the threat of Internet fraud seriously and remain concerned with protecting your personal information. Please be aware that:

1. ROW Management will not request or disclose your personal information nor do we send attachments in an e-mail communication, unless upon your direct request.

2. If you receive a suspicious e-mail from optionsXpress, please do not comply but call us at (337)-643-3381 to verify its authenticity.

3. ROW Management recommends that you maintain current anti-virus software and that you are aware of your browser and computer's security settings.

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center
If you use the Internet and its services, you should be aware of the rising level of Internet fraud and the use of e-mail as a deceptive vehicle. The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), reports a steady rise in complaints regarding unsolicited e-mails.

Use Caution with E-mail and Know Your Sender
The IFCC tracks a wide range of Internet fraud. However, one of the most prevalent forms targets the collection of an individual's personal information, known as "phishing". This form of Internet fraud may originate through an unsolicited e-mail and may appear to be from a business that the recipient often transacts business and which may have cause to have access to their personal information.

These e-mails may ask you to help the impersonated business by verifying your personal and/or account login information and provide a seemingly legitimate link to the business. These links may send you to a website that has been created to mirror the impersonated business and whose purpose is to capture your personal information.

Another version of a hoax e-mail, known as "Trojan Horses" and often used in brokerage firm identity theft, may request you to open an attachment. Once the attachment is opened a software program may be installed on your computer. Its purpose is to capture any personal information stored on the system or capture which websites a user visits and corresponding keystrokes, which may reveal your username and password.

Warning Sites
We encourage you to further educate yourself and remain alert to Internet Safety; the following websites may offer you useful information:

Read detailed tips for protecting against online identity theft available from the NASD at http://www.nasd.com/Investor/Alerts/alert_hacker.htm.

Stay on top of Internet fraud through the IFCC at http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp.
Educate yourself on "phishing" through the Anti-Phishing Working Group at www.antiphishing.org.

There are now many software solutions available to combat programs whose purpose, legitimate or not, are to capture information from your computer.

Questions?
If you ever have questions or concerns regarding a ROW Management e-mail, we encourage you to contact us at (337) 643-3381 or by email.