On March 16, 2006, some TSP participants received an e-mail purporting to be from the TSP. The e-mail asked for confirmation that the person had added an e-mail address to his or her TSP account. The link in the e-mail took the person to a bogus version of the TSP account access screen where it asked for the person’s Social Security number and PIN. It then took you to another screen where it asked for credit card and banking information. It appears that on March 17, the link to the bogus web site was disabled and the site closed.

Please be advised that the e-mail is not an official Thrift Savings Plan communication.

You should never give any personal, credit, or banking information in response to unsolicited e-mails or use an embedded link to a site that requests this information. The TSP would never ask for this information via an e-mail. If you did provide this information, contact your credit card company/bank immediately and seek guidance. In addition, please call the TSP (1-877-968-3778); you can assist us in our investigation of this matter and you should change your TSP PIN immediately.

If you want more information regarding “phishing”, you can click on this link to www.onlineonguard.gov/phishing. The site is sponsored by a consortium of Federal agencies (including the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Commerce, and Department of Homeland Security) and is designed to educate people about “phishing” and how to avoid getting hooked by one of these scams.

The key to remember is not to access the TSP Web site by clicking on links in an e-mail – you may not get where you think you are going. Always access your TSP account by opening a new Browser window and typing http://www.tsp.gov into the Address/URL field.

The TSP is actively investigating this matter.