In recent months and years the term “phishing” has become more and more popular. But you are probably wondering just what is it? In the simplest terms, phishing is an attempt by a third-party to defraud you by gaining access to your sensitive user data, credit card information, passwords, or any other sensitive data. Usually the attack will appear to be completely legitimate! This is why phishing is so scary. You have already been a victim of phishing but didn’t even realize it. The term phishing was first used over ten years ago and is a play on the words phreaking and fishing (phreaking is a term related to people who would experiment with phone lines and phone technology for experimental and even fraudulent uses). The bottom line is someone is phishing for your information!
You have probably gotten an email in the past few months from purporting to be from either eBay, PayPal, maybe even your bank telling you that they need to verify your information and to please follow this link to log in. The problem is that the fraudsters have exactly duplicated the appearance of the other website on their servers and are now waiting for you to login so they can gain access to your username and password! The result is that now a thief will have the ability to log into your REAL account and take your money, ruin your reputation, and even gain personal information that they can use to open new accounts and credit cards. It is the modern-age equivalent to purse-snatching!
This is a very real problem and something that you must face or it will end up hurting you! What can you do to prevent being a victim of phishing? Here are a few easy steps to take:
Don’t respond to any email that requests your personal financial information – The best thing that you can do to avoid being the victim of a phishing scheme is to simply never respond to an email that requires you to enter your personal information. Even if you are 100% certain that the email is legitimate you should still not respond. Legitimate instituitions will NEVER ask you to reveal your personal information. If you think it is legit then go directly to the institutions website, don’t follow the link. You can even call if you are concerned about the contents of the email. Also don’t open any attachments that might be with the email as this can expose you to a virus in addition to the phishing attack!
Regularly check your account – If you are constantly aware of activity in your account you are far less likely to fall victim to a phishing attack. Most phishing emails will attempt to lure you to their site by falsely stating that you are the victim of fraud. The real fraud hasn’t been committed yet!
Make sure you are visiting a secure website – If you decide to follow the link, against the advice here, make sure that the link directs you to a secure web site. There are two ways that you can know if it is legit. The first and easiest is to simply take a look at the URL of the website. If it is preceded by http:// then it is NOT secure. If the address is preceded by https:// then you can be sure that you are visiting a secure website. Of course the phisher might actually have gone through the process of getting a security license for their website so this is really no gurarantee that you are actually at your bank or credit cards website. It is still a good idea to not follow the links in the suspected email.
Never give out your passwords or PIN numbers – A legitimate company will NEVER ask you to reveal your password or PIN via an email. They know that emails are not secure and can’t always be trusted. Also it would be a really good idea to use a different password for every site you visit. I know this can become tiresome or tedious and many of us use the same password over and over again (I am guilty of this one!). At least if you need to use the same password make sure it is not something easy to guess—like your birthday! Use a combination of letters and numbers as well as upper and lower case to make it harder to guess.
Update your anti-virus software regularly – Antivirus software may not protect your against phishing attacks but they do protect you in case you accidentally open an attachment that is virus-laden. Keep you anti-virus software up to date—leave nothing to chance!
Report suspicious activity – If you suspect you have been the victim, or even the attempted victim, of phishing report it as soon as you can!
By just being more aware of what is going on while you browse the internet you are in a far better position to keep your information safe. Follow these simple precautions and you will have a safer and more pleasant internet experience!
