Protect Yourself From Phishers
Protect Yourself From Phishers
Protect Yourself From Phishers
Phishing, also called carding or brand spoofing, has been around since about 1996. It was originally hackers stealing America Online accounts and passwords. Now it comes in the form of legitimate looking e-mails from real entities, such as banks, credit card companies, PayPal, and eBay, asking you to verify personal information by clicking on a link. That link, however, goes to a bogus website. By analogy with the sport of angling, Internet scammers use e-mail "lures," casting out hooks to "fish" for passwords and financial data in the "sea" of Internet users, of which up to 20 percent of the users receiving this phishing e-mail respond, resulting in financial losses, identity theft and other fraudulent activity against them.
The e-mail is designed to steal your valuable personal data, such as credit card numbers, passwords, account data or other information. The website link that the e-mail asks you to go to looks like the real McCoy, but it's not. A couple of tricks the scammers use are using a "1" (the number one) instead of an "l" (the letter L). Or they use an "o" instead of an "a". On quick glance, you don't notice the slight change. Another trick is having a website address that has the @ symbol in it. This makes it look like a legitimate page; however, the browser ignores the website before the @ symbol and goes directly to the bogus website.
Here are some tips on how to tell if an e-mail you've received is a phishing expedition:
1. The phrase "Verify your account". Businesses should not ask you to send login names, passwords, or other personal information via e-mail.
2. The phrase "If you don't respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed." This conveys a sense of urgency so you'll respond quickly without thinking.
3. The phrase "Dear Valued Customer". Phishing e-mails are sent out in bulk and therefore, most of the time, do not include first and last names.
4. The phrase "Click the link below to gain access to your account". The link looks legitimate, but instead takes you to the scamming website.
If you receive what you think is a suspicious e-mail, do not respond. Instead, contact the company purportedly sending the e-mail, either by creating a completely new e-mail or calling customer service, and ask for confirmation. Do not respond to the questionable e-mail or click on any links in the questionable e-mail. If you feel it is a legitimate e-mail about changing your password, et cetera, open your Internet browser and type the web address for that entity into your browser directly, rather than clicking the link in the e-mail.
Once you've confirmed that it is a phishing e-mail, report it to the Anti-Phishing Work Group and to the Federal Trade Commission. To do so, open a completely new e-mail message and send to APWG (reportphishing at antiphishing.com) and the FTC (spam at uce.gov). Drag and drop the phishing e-mail from your inbox into this new e-mail message. Do not use "forward" if you can help it because this approach loses information and requires more manual processing. The Anti-Phishing Work Group reported 25,624 unique phishing e-mails submitted to APWG in August 2007, an increase of more than 2,500 from July.
Now what should you do if you've clicked on the link or responded? First, if you gave out any credit card information, contact your credit card company. Next, contact the company that was being forged. Report the scam to APWG and FTC. Change passwords on all your online accounts. Routinely review your credit card and bank statements.
Anti-phishing software are programs that attempt to identify phishing content contained in websites and e-mail. It is often integrated with web browsers and e-mail clients as a toolbar that displays the real web address for the site you are visiting. Anti-phishing functionality is also included as a built-in capability of some web browsers. In September 2006 a study conducted by 3Sharp concluded that Internet Explorer 7 and Netcraft Toolbar were the most effective anti-phishing tools. Anti-phishing software is also available from the popular anti-virus software companies.
As technology continues to improve, so will the phishers. Always safeguard yourself. If something looks phishy, it very well could be.
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