Phishing is a method that is used to get personal information for identity theft purposes.
How it happens
A phisher sends you an email or a message pretending to be from a friend, a bank or a government agency. The sender asks you to fill in or verify your personal information. Usually a link will be provided to lead you to a fake website to enter your information. Some even asks for verification with the reason being you are suspected to be a identity theft victim!
Some common phishing scams claim to be credit card companies or major retailers like eBay, PayPal, CitiBank, AOL and so on. E-mail headers can be forged easily, so do not believe what the email says just because of its headers. Here are some illustrations for eBay, Wesbanco Bank, and Chase Bank :
- Do not click on links or any attachments within the email message.
- Do not enter sensitive information in a pop-up screen because legitimate agencies or organizations do not do so.
- Do not surrender personal information to a caller claiming to be a company you deal with. You can always contact the company independently to check the legitimacy of the phone call.
- Review your bills and bank statements for unusual charges or withdrawals.
- Use strong and uncommon passwords for your accounts which are harder to guess.
- Ensure any online transactions carried out are on secure websites.
- Ensure antivirus software is always updated.
As Internet users, we should always be aware and take precautionary measures to protect our privacy and information confidentiality.
References:
http://www.utdallas.edu/ir/security/Phishing.htm
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/phishing.php
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