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Best Buy last week warned consumers about an unauthorized and deceptive e-mail message asking them for personal information, including their Social Security and credit card numbers.

In a statement, the Minneapolis-based retailer said the e-mail message, with the words "Fraud Alert" in the subject line, claims to be from the BestBuy.com fraud department but is not.

The company stressed that its Web site is secure and that the people trying to steal consumers' personal information didn't get away with any customer data.

Spoof Site

What typically happens in these cases is that the scam artists, who set up a Web site virtually identical to the target Web site, send out bulk e-mail messages to random consumers, hoping to snare people in their trap. They don't direct the e-mail messages specifically to Best Buy customers.

Best Buy spokesperson Brian Lucas said that this was the first time the company had been hit with this type of scam. He said the company had received tens of thousands of messages from people who had received the fraudulent e-mail, and that some of the recipients had released their personal information. Lucas said the company had yet to track down the perpetrators.

Searching for the Source

In the statement, Best Buy said it is working with state and federal law enforcement agencies, and that two of the spoof sites have been shut down. In addition, Best Buy said subpoenas have been served to the Internet service providers that hosted the spoof sites in an attempt to identify the source of the e-mail.

The company said it's also "working tirelessly" to alert all consumers about the fraud.

Best Buy advised consumers to delete the e-mail message immediately. If consumers unknowingly supplied their personal information to the perpetrators, however, Best Buy said they should contact their bank or credit card company and report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission at Consumer.gov.

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