Phishing for Protection from Online Scams

 Online privacy has become a huge concern for Internet users around the world. Our society is one that too easily gives up personal information that could be used to steal our identities and steal our money. I have recently become more aware of the different dangers that can be encountered with different forms of cyber crime from my business law class. We learned about the dangers of cyber crimes like phishing and vishing, which leads to identity theft. 

Phishing is where a cyber thief “fishes” for financial data and passwords from consumers by posing as a legitimate business, such as a bank or credit card company. The perpetrator sends and e-mail asking the person to update or confirm vital information, often with the thereat that an account or some other service will be discontinued if the information is not provided. They are then provided with a link which leads them to a website looking almost identical to the legitimate businesses web page. It is then, that unsuspecting customers enter their information and the phishers can use the information for identity theft or to drain out the person’s bank or credit card account.

Here are some tips to help keep yourself safe from cyber crimes [1]:

• ·      Don't trust e-mail headers, which can be forged easily.
• ·      Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages. You can't know with certainty where the data will be sent and the information can make several stops on the way to the recipient.
• ·      If you click on a link in an e-mail message from a company be aware that many scam artists are making forgeries of company's sites that look like the real thing.  Verify the legitimacy of a web address with the company directly before submitting your personal information.
• ·      If you go to a link offered in an unsolicited e-mail, check to see if there is an 's' after the http in the address and a lock at the bottom of the screen that indicates the link is secure and encrypts data. Though this is not an indication that the site is legitimate, an online form that asks a consumer to submit sensitive personal information should always be encrypted. Scam artists are less likely to have encrypted forms, but if they are trying to elicit personal information, they may take every precaution to make consumers believe their site is secure and therefore, legitimate.

Here is an example of a phishing email:

To take a quiz to measure your ability to identify a phishing email from a legitimate email click here.

[1] https://www.privacyrights.org/ar/phishing.htm

[2] http://www.sonicwall.com/furl/phishing/