Beat the Scam : Tips on Avoiding Becoming a Victim of Phishing

What in the world is phishing? It is a dastardly scam which is deployed via spam in your email inbox. The e-mails don't damage your computer, like an Internet virus, but they can wreak havoc on an even more valuable asset - your personal checking account and identity. With so many identity thieves out in there in cyberspace, what can we do to defend ourselves? The helpful folks over at the Federal Trade Commission suggest that if we get an e-mail message which warns us that we need to enter our personal information to avoid account closure, we shouldn't reply. Instead, open a new browser window and type in the web site URL directly. Then we can use our regular ID and password to log in, and make any needed adjustments there. When completing the update, close the window on the browser. We can pick up the telephone and call the business directly to confirm that the request is real, if we wish. It's important that we do not e-mail personal account and financial information. When we are sending sensitive info to a web site, we should first scan the page to find the image of a locked lock in the 'status' bar area. Additionally, we can check that the first part of the web address has 'https://' in it, as this tells us our Internet connection is secure. It's wise to closely inspect our banking statements immediately upon receipt, with a shrewd eye out for questionable or fraudulent charges. We should call the bank to confirm our addresses and balances if our statement is more than several days late. Emails which look suspicious or questionable online activities can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission; just send the suspected phish e-mails on to .

Often the bogus e-mails appear to be from a business that you trust and interact with on a regular basis - a banking institution, Internet Service Provider (ISP), or credit company. The phishy email will request that you validate your info to maintain an active account, then includes a link to a fake web site which very well could look like a real one. The unwary victim will comply and provide their ID, mailing address, phone number, social security number and credit card number. When this occurs, the crime is committed - you've just been conned into providing your personal info for a crook. The thief will then simply use your info to make purchases, applications for credit, or travel - all in your name.

These dastardly tactics are particularly vile as they abuse people's trust and cooperation by impersonating a real reputable business. The perpetrator preys on those who may not have as much experience on the Internet or with online banking techniques. Most likely the victim simply cannot determine the difference between a fake site and the real one. Some clues: phish e-mails tend to include broken language, and instead of a regular URL like: www.mytrustedbank.com, the web address will just be a bunch of numbers, as in: 541.58.39.21. Often the site navigation buttons appear superimposed on the design instead of integrated in a professional design.

There are some immediate actions which those who've been conned on the Internet should take. First, report the incident as soon as possible. Next, cancel the compromised account, and open a new one. Look over your official statement and report charges which you did not make yourself. It's often preferable to do this in writing using the institution's official form. If it is a real instance of fraudulent charges, research the maximum dollar amount which your credit company will hold you liable for. Oftentimes law will set a maximum to protect your assets. Finally, submit your official letter of complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. Unfortunately, Internet scams and identity theft are on the rise. For more info about how you can reduce the risk of becoming a phishing victim, see: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

About the Author

Nick Pegley is VP of Marketing at All Covered. For more information, see: http://www.allcovered.com.

Source: Scams Articles on ArticlesTree.com





Recent Scams Articles

Iternet Marketing a Scam
Internet Marketing a Scam Internet marketing a scam? In a word NO! and it's not get rich quick either. Some people market the business of internet marketing and affiliate marketing as get rich quick, think again.

You And Identity Theft
It was once said that crime never pays, but to the identity thief it can for a while anyway. This crime is linked to bank and financial fraud and can scam people out of thousands of dollars. In the beginning of the Internet, communication was not that widespread.

Sellers Getting Duped On eBay - How?
Buyers being victims of fraud is understandable, but sellers? Surprising though it sounds, that’s exactly what is happening on eBay. A common fraud is a bounced check. This has of course been happening for years in business.

The Nightmare Of Medical Identity Theft
Of all the forms of identity theft that exist, medical identity theft is probably the worst. This crime has some of the most frightening and far reaching ramifications. It can cause mis-diagnosis, cause the wrong treatment to be prescribed, or worse, the wrong medications.

ID Theft - Taking Care Of Your Driver's License
Your driver's license is singularly the most important identification document you have. It can identify you nationally and internationally. It has enough information stored on it to give law enforcement officials your entire history in a relatively short amount of time.

Online Scams You Should Know About
We all want to be successful own our own business, work for ourselves and be able to spend more time with our family and work from home. Sometimes we get so desperate and go for the first opportunity that we see that tell us they can make us rich overnight.

Legal Thriller Author Explains What Every Investor Should Know About Internet St...
A century ago P.T. Barnum sagely told us, "A sucker is born every minute." At the time he was, no doubt, correct. No longer. In today's internet world, that time-span has been cut back to every nana second.

YOUR NEXT "FREEBIE" MAY BE MORE THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR!
Free promotional offers are sent to email boxes by the thousands daily. "How to" CDs and DVDs are a popular give-away ... but these free offers can become a costly nightmare. If you receive an offer for a free promotional product, and all that is required from you is to pay "shipping and handling" .

Consumer Complaints Frustrate
You just don't know what you're getting til you got it. Many consumers have something to complain about these days. The product or service purchased might be less than expected or totally unacceptable.

Con Men Internet Scams: How To Earn a College Degree Without Earning a Coll...
What's a diploma mill? Explanation is right at your finger tips. Just check out the entry in Webster's Third New International Dictionary: "Diploma mill: An institution of higher education operating without supervision of a state or professional agency and granting diplomas which are either fraudulent or, because of the lack of proper standards, worthless.

Legal Thriller Author warns of Scam Artists' Inheritance Fraud--Do Not Make thes...
An attorney (???) phones you and says, "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm John Lawler, attorney, representing the estate of the recently deceased, Irving Generosis. Your name was mentioned in his last will and testament.

Con Men Scored Big With Saddam Hussein Currency--Learn How They Did It
A duck's quack does not echo. Foreign exchange not only encompasses mystique, intrigue, but an ideal, echoless shield to hide behind. Just before the Saddam execution, before the first of the year, 2007, we purchased some Iraqi currency, 5-dinar (pronounced DEE-nar) notes to 250-dinar notes--all sporting portrait photos of a smiling Saddam on their face--for an average price of 38 cents each.

Beware Of MLM "Training" Programs-Don't Pay For What Should Be Given Fre...
So, I just got off the phone with someone who called me about yet another "groundbreaking opportunity." I feel bad because I gave her such a hard time, but not on purpose. You see, in addition to my primary business, I offer a free leads generation system which makes PPC and bought leads obsolete.

Ponzi's, Pyramids and other Scams
P.T. Barnum, the famous circus entrepreneur supposedly said that "there was a sucker born every minute". However, I believe P.T. was being somewhat generous in his statement because it appears as if there are several born every second.

The 419 Internet Scam: Don't be the Next Victim
The 419 Internet Scam: Don’t be the Next Victim Unless you live on Mars, if you have a public email address, chances are that you may have stumbled on a 419 email scam at one point or another. Ironically, 419 is the real number of a section of the Nigerian penal code designed to prevent fraud against foreigners.