All About Phishing
How do I avoid it?
All About Phishing
Internet identity theft is one of the most frightening threats in our modern world. In a flash your entire life can be in someone else's possession, leaving you in a tail spin. Your friends and neighbors might have stories about how they were 'phished', and suddenly woke up to find the passwords on their accounts changed and the money from their bank account gone. Internet identity theft can happen to anyone, but it doesn't have to happen to you.
Phishing?
Phishing is the malicious practice of sending deceitful emails to unsuspecting recipients. It goes like this: One day you receive an email from your bank asking to re-confirm your password or social security number through an email. The email looks real, complete with the logo of your bank and a professional looking layout, so you comply, and send them whatever they asked for. You've just been phished. Your personal information is not going to your bank, but instead into the pocket of a phisher who will take you for everything you've got.
That's horrible! How do I avoid it?
The top five ways to avoid phishing scams are:
- Purchase internet security software that has anti-phishing capabilities. Some great choices are Norton Internet Security Suite or Bit Defender Internet Security Suite.
- If you receive a suspicious email, don't respond to it; rather call the company that it came from and talk to a service representative to verify its authenticity.
- No company will ever ask for your pin, password, credit card number or social security number through an email. If one does, you're being phished and you should contact the company immediately to report it.
- Phishers are often lousy spellers; if you see a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, take caution.
- If you do suspect an email to be a scam, don't use any of the phone numbers, links, or email addresses provided in the suspected message. Instead, use information directly from the site.
Sometime in your life you will get phished, but you don't have to get scammed. Protect yourself, and fight back! Report all phishing attempts to the company it supposedly came from, and help put these con artists out of business.
Max Hollenback