Dennis O'Reilly wrote:

 

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Last Friday, a reader named Peter contacted me about a notice that appeared when he tried to sign into his Marriott Rewards account. The notice indicated that someone may have attempted to hack the account and he should change his password. Peter initiated a live chat with the Marriott help desk and was told the following:

"There have recently been attempts made to gain unauthorized access to a small number of members' online accounts. I encourage you to visit Marriott.com and change your password as soon as possible to assist us in ensuring the security of your account."

When Peter asked the agent whether his account had been compromised, the agent refused to provide any further details. This made Peter suspicious, and rightly so. We've become accustomed to phishing scams that attempt to trick us into changing our log-in IDs and passwords so the phishers can capture them and then steal our data.