What is phishing?
Phishing is a type of deception designed to steal your identity. In a phishing scam, a malicious person tries to get information like credit card numbers, passwords, account information, or other personal information from you by convincing you to give it to them under false pretences. Phishing schemes usually come via spam e-mail or pop-up windows.
How does phishing work?
A phishing scam begins with a malicious user who sends out millions of fraudulent e-mail messages that appear to come from popular Web sites or from sites that you trust, like your bank or credit card company. The e-mail messages, and the Web sites they often send you to, look official enough that they deceive many people into believing that they're legitimate. Believing that these e-mails are legitimate, unsuspecting people too often respond to the e-mail's requests for their credit card numbers, passwords, account information, or other personal information.
A scam artist might put a link in a fake e-mail that appears to go to the legitimate Web site, but actually takes you to a scam site or even a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site. These copies are often called spoofed Web sites. Once you're at one of these spoofed sites or pop-up windows you might unwittingly enter even more personal information that will be transmitted directly to the person who created the spoofed site. That person can then use this information to purchase goods, apply for a new credit card, or steal your identity.
5 ways to help protect yourself from phishing
Just as they do in the physical world, scam artists will continue to develop new and more sinister ways to trick you online. But following these five steps can help you protect your personal information.
Never reply to the email.
If the message includes a link within it, never click it. Many schemers use this as way to spread a viral attack on your computer.
Do not give personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you via email.
Even if they claim they are from your bank, the IRS or a law enforcement agency, these businesses will not contact you via email; they will send you a letter.
Spread the word.
Discuss phishing scams with all the members of your family who have email addresses. Young people are very computer savvy, but may not be scam savvy, and older adults are specifically targeted by scammers because they are often very trusting.
Transmitted information should be encrypted.
When sending personal information like addresses, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers over the Internet, make sure the website is fully encrypted and the network is secure. Look for https (the “s” stands for secure) at the beginning of the URL address to confirm its security.
Know the red flags.
Watch out for grammatical mistakes in emails. Poor grammar or misspelled words are red flags that the email is probably a scam. Most importantly, never wire money based on instructions in one of these suspicious emails. Scammers prey on those who think they need to wire money to have a situation resolved. Protect your computer. Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date and run it regularly.
Phishing is a type of deception designed to steal your identity. In a phishing scam, a malicious person tries to get information like credit card numbers, passwords, account information, or other personal information from you by convincing you to give it to them under false pretences. Phishing schemes usually come via spam e-mail or pop-up windows.
How does phishing work?
A phishing scam begins with a malicious user who sends out millions of fraudulent e-mail messages that appear to come from popular Web sites or from sites that you trust, like your bank or credit card company. The e-mail messages, and the Web sites they often send you to, look official enough that they deceive many people into believing that they're legitimate. Believing that these e-mails are legitimate, unsuspecting people too often respond to the e-mail's requests for their credit card numbers, passwords, account information, or other personal information.
A scam artist might put a link in a fake e-mail that appears to go to the legitimate Web site, but actually takes you to a scam site or even a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site. These copies are often called spoofed Web sites. Once you're at one of these spoofed sites or pop-up windows you might unwittingly enter even more personal information that will be transmitted directly to the person who created the spoofed site. That person can then use this information to purchase goods, apply for a new credit card, or steal your identity.
5 ways to help protect yourself from phishing
Just as they do in the physical world, scam artists will continue to develop new and more sinister ways to trick you online. But following these five steps can help you protect your personal information.
Never reply to the email.
If the message includes a link within it, never click it. Many schemers use this as way to spread a viral attack on your computer.
Do not give personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you via email.
Even if they claim they are from your bank, the IRS or a law enforcement agency, these businesses will not contact you via email; they will send you a letter.
Spread the word.
Discuss phishing scams with all the members of your family who have email addresses. Young people are very computer savvy, but may not be scam savvy, and older adults are specifically targeted by scammers because they are often very trusting.
Transmitted information should be encrypted.
When sending personal information like addresses, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers over the Internet, make sure the website is fully encrypted and the network is secure. Look for https (the “s” stands for secure) at the beginning of the URL address to confirm its security.
Know the red flags.
Watch out for grammatical mistakes in emails. Poor grammar or misspelled words are red flags that the email is probably a scam. Most importantly, never wire money based on instructions in one of these suspicious emails. Scammers prey on those who think they need to wire money to have a situation resolved. Protect your computer. Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date and run it regularly.
Never Trust Unfamilliar Sites
The below Image is the domain of the attacker once you enter your password and email it will recorded to his/her webhosting account.
8 Ways To Avoid Phishing Scams
To help you protect yourself from phishing, we offer the following tips:
- 1. Guard against spam. Be especially cautious of emails that:
* Come from unrecognized senders.
* Ask you to confirm personal or financial information over the Internet and/or make urgent requests for this information.
* Aren’t personalized.
* Try to upset you into acting quickly by threatening you with frightening information. - 2. Communicate personal information only via phone or secure web sites. In fact:
When conducting online transactions, look for a sign that the site is secure such as a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a “https:” URL whereby the “s” stands for “secure” rather than a “http:”.
Also, beware of phone phishing schemes. Do not divulge personal information over the phone unless you initiate the call. Be cautious of emails that ask you to call a phone number to update your account information as well. - 3. Do not click on links, download files or open attachments in emails from unknown senders. It is best to open attachments only when you are expecting them and know what they contain, even if you know the sender.
- 4. Never email personal or financial information, even if you are close with the recipient. You never know who may gain access to your email account, or to the person’s account to whom you are emailing.
- 5. Beware of links in emails that ask for personal information, even if the email appears to come from an enterprise you do business with. Phishing web sites often copy the entire look of a legitimate web site, making it appear authentic. To be safe, call the legitimate enterprise first to see if they really sent that email to you. After all, businesses should not request personal information to be sent via email.
- 6. Beware of pop-ups and follow these tips:
* Never enter personal information in a pop-up screen.
* Do not click on links in a pop-up screen.
* Do not copy web addresses into your browser from pop-ups.
* Legitimate enterprises should never ask you to submit personal information in pop-up screens, so don’t do it. - 7. Protect your computer with a firewall, spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Do some research to ensure you are getting the most up-to-date software, and update them all regularly to ensure that you are blocking from new viruses and spyware.
- 8. Check your online accounts and bank statements regularly to ensure that no unauthorized transactions have been made.
You should always be careful about giving out personal information over the Internet. Luckily, companies have begun to employ tactics to fight against phishers, but they cannot fully protect you on their own.
