Don't get caught in the Phishers Net by Martin Wood
Phishing, pronounced fishing, is now becoming an epidemic throughout the
Internet. Most people who use the internet and receive emails have probably
received a phishing email or two.
But what is phishing and who are the phishers?
You receive an email from your bank, "Dear bank customer, your bank details
need to be verified by clicking on this link......" and so it goes on.
The link that they give you to click on, however, does not open up where you
think it should. Although, to all intents and purposes it looks like your banks
page, but what is really happening is that your bank details are going straight
into a phishers' computer to be used later by them to fleece you of all your
money.
There are many of these scams about. The more common ones are for eBay, Paypal
and your bank. All of these look very real and to a casual observer or someone
new on the Internet, these could be from who they say they are from.
Other scams being used that slightly differ from the above are the emails from
a certain son, daughter, or wife. These follow the same pattern more or less.
It starts with a terrible accident where their father / husband have been
tragically killed with a huge fortune in an offshore bank. They need your help
and bank details so that they can transfer millions of US Dollars into your
bank so that they can get hold of it.
A variation and one that I have only just started to receive is from a
solicitor saying that a long lost relative has left a legacy and the solicitor
wants my bank details to be able to transfer this legacy into it.
Some of the worst phishing that has hit the Internet, and the ones that are
more likely to succeed are the "Charity" ones.
A web site set up to collect money for well known disasters like Hurricane
Katrina or the earthquake that hit India / Pakistan. Of course the money does
not go to the good causes that it is meant to go to but goes straight into the
Phisher's pocket.
So that is what phishing is and you can now see that the people doing the
phishing are none other than criminals.
How can you tell a phishing email or scam?
For the first group, eBay Paypal and Banks it is relatively easy and a little
detective work reveals all.
First of all remember that eBay, Paypal or any bank will NEVER ask you for your
bank details in an email. By the way, they will not ask you for your log in
detail either. Your user name and password are your own private affair and
these establishments will not ask you for them.
Secondly, look at how the email addresses you. It will say "Dear eBay user
Paypal user or Bank Customer". This is a dead giveaway. Neither eBay nor Paypal
(which is owned by eBay) will ever address you such. Their emails will always
address you by your user name.
Banks are the same, if you are a customer of a bank, they will address you by
your known name. Additionally, banks will not normally email you unless you
first give the bank permission.
Finally, for this section, a good way of finding out whether it is a scam is by
running your mouse over the link. When you do so you will see a strange web
address that bares no relationship with the supposed sender of the email.
For example, you would expect an email from eBay to have a web address that
starts http://www.ebay.com/ not something
like https://signin.ebay.com/blah
blah blah.
For the second group of scams, the sob sob story type. These are pretty
obvious. No one is going to give you money for nothing and ask yourself why
would a African Princess or whatever ask for your help in the first place.
If it looks like a scam it usually is a scam.
Someone better than I once said " If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck
and quacks like a duck, the chances are it IS a duck.
Finally, for the third group, the charity email that is calling on your good
nature to give to a worthy cause. Basically if you feel that you want to
support a worthy cause then send money directly to the registered address of
that charity. You can look that up on the internet. Or you can go to the
charity shops and give money there. You could also buy something and get
something back in return.
There are many ways of giving to charity, replying to bogus emails is NOT one
of them.
How do you protect yourself?
Be vigilant with all the emails you receive. Delete all the scam ones, or set
up a block on them so you don't receive them. If you get the phishing one from
eBay, Paypal or the bank, do not on any account click on the link. Forward
these direct to the relevant authorities. For eBay and Paypal it is spoof@ and
then either eBay.com or Paypal.com Most Internet banks have an email address
where you can forward phishing emails and a quick look on their official site
will give you their address.
On no account should you reply to these emails. Remember these are Phishing
emails and the sender usually does not know whether the email address they sent
it to is real or not. They have programs that generate thousands of email
addresses and send bulk emails out regularly. If you reply to one they have
caught you. There are other ways to get hold of your details and one of these
is by installing a Trojan onto your computer. A Trojan is a small malicious
program that will record your key strokes and send them off to the person who
installed the Trojan.
In days past, Trojans were installed onto computers by opening of emails or
opening attachments on emails. These days that need not be the case. Especially
with the amount of programs and music that is downloaded from sites. Any one of
these could carry a Trojan.
Be sure that you have an anti spyware program and that you keep it up to date.
A good quality anti virus program is also a must these days as well. Top of the
list though is to have a Fire Wall on your computer.
Windows XP service pack 2 comes with a good firewall and Microsoft have a free
anti spyware program that you can download from their site.
There is a tendency for young, and not so young to exchange music files with
each other. They do this by allowing others to access their computer directly
over the internet.
DON'T DO IT! That is an open invitation to phishers and all unscrupulous people
to take control of your computer.
Be on your guard at all times.
Martin Wood
About the Author
Martin Wood is the owner of a Work at Home Business website
Twahs - The Work at Home Site
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