“Follow me, and I will make you phishers of men.” Although it’s not quite a quote of Biblical stature, it still seems to be the motto of a growing number of scoundrels now populating the internet. As a matter of fact, the Anti-Phishing Working Group recently published a report which said phishing attacks in January of 2007 broke the previous record from June 2006 by 5%. But what is phishing, anyway? Is it really a problem, and do I really need to do anything about it? This article will give a brief overview of just what phishing is, and will teach you some tricks so you won’t take the bait.

The term “phishing” originated in 1996 when hackers stole AOL accounts by tricking users to reveal their passwords. Since hacker’s often replace “f” with “ph” in emails, their attempts to “fish” for information were called “phishing”. Phishing is a criminal activity aimed at thousands, if not millions of computer users at one time, in the hopes that a few will act on them. “Spear phishing” is a targeted attempt aimed at a single individual. Both techniques attempt to acquire an individual’s passwords, usernames, credit card info and social security number by masquerading as a trustworthy company in an email.

The emails sent out by phishers are called “spoofs” and aim to lead consumers to fake websites and then trick them into giving out sensitive information. The victims believe they are merely logging into their eBay, PayPal or online banking account, but in reality they are handing their sensitive information over to thieves. Technical subterfuge schemes deposit crimeware on a victim’s PC to steal credentials directly, many times using Trojan logging spyware.

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Phishing schemes are a form of internet fraud that are usually delivered through email. The goal of phishing ploys is to get the victims to disclose sensitive personal or financial information in order for the thief to use it later for their own financial gain. They often show up looking like emails from your bank or credit card company. They can be notifications that you have won a prize but need to fill out some information to claim it. They can even look as if they’re coming from your social networking friends asking for money.

Phishing emails can be very elaborate and can fool even the most vigilant victim if they are not paying attention. Many warn that if the email is not heeded, your accounts may be frozen. Encouraging people to act quickly often overrides their common sense.

Here are the best ways to protect yourself from this growing internet crime.

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The provision of government and financial services online is threatened by identity theft. Many people have fallen prey to these identity theft attacks. Actually, the problem is that people still manage identities in the ad hoc way, which is no longer useful because of the more sophisticated assaults from expert identity thieves. The need to develop a more comprehensive approach is accentuated with the introduction of these expert criminal attackers. To overcome this particular issue, attention should be paid to consumer education, responsible business practices, law enforcement engagement, new technology tools and expanded victim assistance.

Consumer education is important

Although there are some solutions available to deal with this issue but most people do not know about them. That is the reason why consumer education is extremely important. With an improvement in technological fields, several types of tools are there to strengthen your security. New technology tools and systems make use of interoperable vendor-neutral framework and provide consumers a safer environment to explore internet. Read the rest of this entry »

The advent of internet has revolutionized the life of a common person. It is a perfect source of information. Anyone can get information about anything without going through any hassle. Along with getting information about different things, it is used as an outstanding mode of communication. That is when people exchange information via emails. However, it is crucial to mention that there are some strings attached to this amazing source of information and communication.

One of the biggest issues associated with internet is identity theft

One of the biggest issues associated with internet is identity theft, which is a serious crime. Although different hackers utilize different techniques to access sensitive information but emails have always been a favorite tool for them. Email spamming, for instance, is a popular form of hacking. This is the process where hackers send loads and loads of emails from different addresses. When people open these emails, they get infected as these mail come with a virus. Read the rest of this entry »

Phishing scams can be in the form of fraudulent emails which a person receives in his or her inbox from sources which seem to be legitimate. The perpetrators send such messages with the sender appearing to be normal legitimate enterprises such your email service provider or your bank. The messages usually give links to their spoofed or fake websites or in other cases seek personal information such as credit card numbers, account details, passwords e.t.c.  Once you submit your personal information, the perpetrators will use it to perform identity theft.

The crooks involved in this kind of theft create their emails to look as official as possible to avoid any suspicions. You may receive an email from your bank stating that a check you wrote bounced, while you are sure you haven’t written any checks as of late. The crooks offer website links and phone numbers which you are advised to call in order to solve the problem.  This is an example of a phishing scheme which seeks to get personal information from you. Such email messages are sent to millions of people who upon replying to them or filling in some of the forms that come in them, fall victim to identity theft. Read the rest of this entry »