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Email fraud : "Phishing"
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What is Email fraud?
Internet scammers casting about for
people??s financial information have a new
way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go
"phishing" Phishing is a high-tech scam that
uses spam or pop-up messages to deceive you
into disclosing your credit card numbers,
bank account information, Social Security
number, passwords, or other sensitive
information.
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How does it work?
Phishers send an email
or pop-up message
that claims to be from a business or
organization that you deal with - for
example, your Internet service provider
(ISP), bank, online payment service, or even
a government agency. The message usually
says that you need to "update" or "validate"
your account information. It might threaten
some dire consequence if you don't respond.
The message directs you to a Web site that
looks just like a legitimate organization's
site, but it isn't. The purpose of the bogus
site? To trick you into
divulging your personal information
so the operators can steal your identity and
run up bills or commit crimes in your name.
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How to protect yourself
against email fraud?
- If you get an email or pop-up
message that asks for personal or
financial information,
do not reply or
click on the link in the message.
Legitimate companies don't ask for this
information via email. If you are
concerned about your account, contact
the organization in the email using a
telephone number you know to be genuine,
or open a new Internet browser session
and type in the company's correct Web
address. In any case, don't cut and
paste the link in the message.
- Don't email
personal or financial information.
Email is not a secure method of
transmitting personal information. If
you initiate a transaction and want to
provide your personal or financial
information through an organization's
Web site, look for indicators that the
site is secure, like a lock icon on the
browser's status bar or a URL for a
website that begins "https:" (the "s"
stands for "secure"). Unfortunately, no
indicator is foolproof; some phishers
have forged security icons.
- Review credit card
and bank account statements as
soon as you receive them to determine
whether there are any unauthorized
charges. If your statement is late by
more than a couple of days, call your
credit card company or bank to confirm
your billing address and account
balances.
- Use anti-virus
software and keep it up to date.
Some phishing emails contain software
that can harm your computer or track
your activities on the Internet without
your knowledge. Anti-virus software and
a firewall can protect you from
inadvertently accepting such unwanted
files. Anti-virus software scans
incoming communications for troublesome
files. Look for anti-virus software that
recognizes current viruses as well as
older ones; that can effectively reverse
the damage; and that updates
automatically.
- A firewall helps
make you invisible on the Internet and
blocks all communications from
unauthorized sources. It's
especially important to run a firewall
if you have a broadband connection.
Finally, your operating system (like
Windows or Linux) may offer free
software "patches" to close holes in the
system that hackers or phishers could
exploit.
- Be cautious about
opening any attachment or
downloading any files from emails
you received, regardless of who sent
them.
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Where to report the
email fraud?
Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If
you get spam that is phishing for
information, forward it to
spam@uce.gov If you believe you've been
scammed, file your complaint at
www.ftc.gov. Visit
http://www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other
ways to avoid email scams and deal with
deceptive spam.
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