Have you
heard about 'phishing scam'? This is the most
popular form of online fraud. The term 'Phishing'
(pronounced 'fish'ing') is a slang 'techie' word
means "Fishing for personal information".
The 'phishers' try to
fish you online,
by e-mail or even by regular phone, and if you're not careful enough,
you could be easily tricked into giving your social security number, your bank account details, your PIN, your mother's maiden
name, your credit card number and other personal information.
Once they have your
information, they could steal your identity, use your credit cards for
unauthorized purchases and even clear out your entire bank account, or
simply sell your personal information to identity thief.
email Phishing
The most popular form
of 'phishing' is fraudulent emails: pretending to be from your bank, government agency, your
internet service provider, legitimate retailer (Amazon, Buy.com, etc.),
eBay, online payment service (PayPal, 2Checkout, ClickBank) or
other well-known
organization that you may deal with,
the email asks you to “verify” or "update" your personal information.
They often use pressure
tactics or play on your security fears, like
claiming that "your account will be closed down unless a
log-on is completed", or "you have unauthorized
transaction on your account" or " there was attempt for
unauthorized access to your account". They can also say "your account
data has been lost during technical difficulties", "the site is
having
technical updates" or give you any other 'legitimate' reason.
Phishing
email usually contains a form where
you asked to enter your personal information then press "send",
"verify", "update", etc., or provides a link. The link takes you to
the
Website that often look EXACTLY like the real company's Website,
or to the real legitimate Website but opens a popup window on top
of it.
Latest phishing emails
may even ask you to call a "customer support" number to speak with
"customer service representative". Once you called this number, a live
"representative" or automatic response system will be happy to have your
personal information.
The most sophisticated phishing emails
using the graphics, logos and authentic look-and-feel
of legitimate Website can
be
almost impossible to recognize!
phone phishing
Unfortunately you may also get a phishing
phone call: sometimes it's a live person pretending to be from your bank,
credit card company, insurance agency, mortgage company, medical office, government agency
- you name it, asking for your personal
information. Sometimes you get a recorded message providing a phone number
to call.
online fraud prevention tips
Although complete prevention is virtually
impossible, there are some steps you can
take to prevent yourself from online fraud:
First of all
remember, that your bank or other legitimate
organization will never ask you to provide your
personal information by e-mail. If
there's any problem or suspicious activity on
your account, your bank, credit card company or
other organization will most likely send you a
note by regular mail. You credit card
company may also call you BUT only to let
you know
about suspicious activity on your account: they will not ask for your
security information.
suspect EVERY email, website, or phone call
requesting to provide, update, or verify your
personal information!
If you are concerned
about your account, contact the organization
mentioned in email or recorded phone message you
received. Only use the customer service phone number
listed on your past invoices or statements, or
on the company's Website. Just remember to open
a new browser window and type
the URL in address bar:
this will guarantee you are going to the
actual, legitimate website!
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