RIP-OFF ALERT: Scamsters have been getting very sophisticated in their phishing attempts following the numerous bank failures in our nation. Clark himself says he received a phishing attempt that looked very legitimate after the Wachovia collapse.

Here's one example of what's been going on: Within minutes of the original plan for Citibank to take over Wachovia, the scamsters were blasting out e-mails. Each message said that in order to access your Wachovia account, you'd have to fill out an online form that asked for all kinds of personal info. Unfortunately, many people fell for it because they were dumbfounded by the news of the day about Wachovia.

Meanwhile, The Los Angeles Times report that British researchers have found sophisticated phishing scams such as this one have a 90% success rate. That's really scary!

The takeaway here is that you should never reply to any supposedly legitimate e-mail from a financial institution asking for personal info. Nor should you ever click on a hyperlink in an e-mail that supposedly takes you to your bank or brokerage house's website. If you are in doubt, close out the e-mail in question; open a new browser window; and type the URL directly to verify the info contained in the e-mail.

Think you may have already given up sensitive info? Then immediately contact your financial institution and tell them you need to restrict access to your account.