Phishing Scams — Don't Be Caught
What is phishing? These are scams that are trying to steal personal and financial information. Phishing has primarily been online in the form of email or pop-up messages but can also occur over the phone.
Email and pop-up messages may have a link to click or a phone number to call. In the case of the link, it usually goes to a fake website that mimics a legitimate site.
Here are some tips to avoid being caught by a phishing scam.
- Reputable companies and financial institutions, like your credit union and bank, NEVER, EVER send emails (or call) asking for personal information and account number information they already have on file. Always be suspicious of any request for information that comes from an unsolicited email or phone call. When you initiate the online contact with your bank or a reputable business, you may provide information to purchase merchandise or handle your account.
- Never include account numbers and passwords in an email message.
- Never call the phone number in an email message or left on your answering machine. Use the phone number listed on a recent statement.
- Never click on links in these sorts of emails.
- Never enter personal or financial information in a pop-up window. Some forms of phishing use a pop-up window on a legitimate site.
- Protect your computers by using a firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware software and spam filters.
Pharming is similar to phishing but much harder to detect. It works like this. Scammers create a fake, malicious web site that looks like the site of a real company. Then these criminals "hijack" your browser through malicious software on your computer or Domain Name System (DNS) poisoning and send you to the fake site.
Visit phishinginfo.org for more information on phishing and pharming.