Clark has long been an advocate of electronic bill pay. In part, it’s the convenience once you get it all set up. But it’s also much safer. When you pay electronically you have proof that you sent it. It took a while for electronic bill pay to catch on, but many people have signed up over the past few years. It’s become even more popular since most programs became free. But, all of a sudden, people are canceling accounts. Why? All of the phishing scams have people really scared. These people may have been taken by a phishing scam and given their information to an organization they thought was a bank or legitimate organization. These criminals are very clever and they’ve managed to reach 2 million people out there. Not to mention the mistakes on the parts of banks themselves and the crooked employees in organizations like Bank of America and Wachovia who were stealing customers’ money. But it’s important to remember that most cases of identity theft happen in very low tech ways. All the same, online banking is under attack. Clark has to give Bank of America praise as while as criticism because it’s only fair. The company now displays a confirmation symbol to customers when they sign on to BOA’s legitimate site. It can be a picture you select or a symbol, and crooks won’t know it. So, if you don’t see that picture pop up you should be worried. It’s a great idea that Clark hopes others follow. Just be sure you're doing what you need to in order to protect yourself. The first is to be careful about who you give your social security number to. And, OPT OUT of credit card solicitations by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT.