Phishing: The Most Dangerous Form of Spam - Learn How to Protect Yourself from Security Threats
Spam is one of the curses of the Internet age. But if the clogging of mail boxes with useless emails was bad enough, unsolicited emails aimed at tricking you into giving your valuable passwords, banking and PIN numbers is the most dangerous variety of email that you will ever encounter. This kind of email is known as phishing because the unscrupulous authors of these messages are fishing for valuable information which they can use to capture your online identity.
If you think that you wont be fooled by such tricks, think again. Phishers commonly send emails which look like they come from respected financial institutions, such as PayPal, Visa, Ebay, America Online. The messages spoof the email address of the institutions and the letters have the proper logos and everything. They look real. The subject message usually has a dire warning: Your Pay Pal Account (or Ebay, or online bank account) has been suspended. Warning: Confirm Your Online Banking Account. These messages look so real, that 5% of recipients respond to them
Naturally if you have a good amount of money in your PayPal or online banking account, you are going to panic when you receive email like this. The first thing to do is to stay calm. Remember, responsible institutions will never suddenly suspend your account or ask you to give personal information in an insecure manner.
Usually the phishing emails will ask you to enter new information for your account and they will give you urls, asking you to click through and log into your account. The urls in the email will look like the log-in addresses for these institutions, but if you put your mouse over them you will see that the actual web address is different.
If you get any email of this type the second rule is never, never click through and try to log in. If you log in with your user name and password, then phishers have captured your password. If you go on to fill out other information such as: bank account numbers, social security number, mothers maiden name or drivers license number then the fraudsters will really have you.
If you are worried about your online account and want to see if it is OK. Then go to the home page of PayPal, Ebay or your bank, and log into your account in the customary way using the usual url, such as https://www.paypal.com rather than with the url in the suspectt email. When you get into your account you will probably see that everything is normal. If your institution indeed has a message for you, you will find it in that safe environment without compromising your security. If you are still in doubt, call up your institution using their toll free customer service numbers.
PayPal also has a security section where they tell you what to look for in fraudulent emails. For example, whenever PayPal sends you an email it will always start off with Dear Donald Nelson, in my case, or whatever name you used when you signed up. They will not say Dear Valued Paypal customer. So log into the proper areas of your institution and learn as much as you can about security procedures.
The third thing to do is to report suspicious email . We have to put these crooks out of business, and that can only happen if we report fraud whenever we see it. You can get quick service from PayPal by forwarding email of this type to spoof@paypal.com. Usually within an hour you will get a reply telling you whether the email comes from PayPal or not. For other instances of Phishing, you can report them to the Anti Phishing Working Group at www.antiphishing.org. This website, staffed by volunteers, has up to date information about the latest scams and is doing its best to make the Internet safer for us.
Finally, if you have given any information to fraudulent websites move swiftly to protect yourself.
Notify your bank, change your passwords for online accounts, and watch your online accounts for any signs of unusual activity. A good guide with useful and detailed information on what to do if you have given out valuable information can be found at http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs2.html
So, enjoy the Internet but take precautions and protect yourself from any devious phishing message which may land in your mail box.
Copyright 2004
Donald Nelson is a web developer, editor, and social worker. He has been working on the Internet since 1995 and is the proprietor of A1-Optimization, http://www.a1-optimization.com, a firm providing search engine optimization, copywriting, reciprocal linking, and other web promotion services. He publishes a monthly ezine, A1-Web Promotion Tips, available at http://www.a1-optimization.com/newsletter.html
Why Phishing Scams Work
As an information technology professional, I am very much aware of the dangers that lurk on the internet. I always use extre...
Threats Network Security Protects Against
Top Reasons You Need Network SecurityWhether you engage in global commerce or have a network established simply to communicat...
A Company Phishing Scam, Headlines and Botnets - June 2007
Here is your weekly Summary of important computer security news, tips and fixes, to keep you safe and sound on the Internet.S...
Aluria–Expanding Spyware Security Efforts
Aluria is a software company that provides millions of consumers internationally with internet security solutions, such as th...
7 Tips for Improving Internet Security
With the growth of the internet on a world wide basis, there has also been an increase in the number of scams and attempts to...
Computer Security Made Easy
As more and more people begin to use the internet, be it for communication, online banking, investment or shopping, the poten...
The Big Picture of Spy Programs
Keyloggers are a large threat to any type of computer users but anti-spyware software makers have announced users must beware...
Checklist for Internet Security Software and Firewall
If you connect an unprotected computer or computer without any security software to the internet, cyber criminals, hackers or...
Phishing - Its Signs and Your Options
Phishing is the act of some individual sending an email to a user in an attempt to scam the user to release personal informat...
The Benefits of Internet Security on the Education Front
Online Courses Bring Advantages and Security ThreatsA college education is mandatory in todays job market. Because of this, m...
Federal Trade Commission Says Phishing on the Rise; No Really?
The Federal Trade Commission says that SPAM Phishing is on the rise in a recent report to the United States Congress? May I a...
Network Security - All About Firewalls
The Importance of Firewalls to Network SecurityMost networks should have a firewall in place before they are up and running. ...
The Reality of VoIP Security Threats
A lot has been said lately of the security, or lack thereof, of a voice over IP network. Just recently CompTIA put out a repo...
Use Anti-Phishing Programs To Detect, Avoid And Stop Phishing Attacks
Anti-phishing programs seek to detect and attack phishing software. When such software becomes installed in a computer regist...
Katrina Scams Move Online
Spam and phishing scams try to capitalize on the Hurricane Katrina tragedy.Hurricane Katrina has set off a wave of online phi...
Phishing and the Road to Recovery
The history of phishing has proven to be long and successful one. Phishers took advantage of internet users during a time whe...
A New Era of Computer Security
Computer security for most can be described in 2 words, firewall and antivirus.Until recently could one install a firewall an...
Spyware: An Internet Plague
As spyware threats continue to grow the methods by which users are infected becomes less and less difficult. It no longer ta...
Switch From Managing Email Security to Managed Email Security
The days of riding horseback through the wilderness to deliver a message are over. But make no mistake; were not out of the w...
Stepping Up to Spyware
Spyware consists of unwanted programs that are installed on your computer by numerous means so it can log and use information...
