GONE PHISHING!!!

Have you ever been hooked? Been told some tall tales in e-mail? Ever wondered if the information you enter is requested from a legitimate site? If you are oblivious to these questions then, now is the time to spot a phishing attack!!!

Phishing -an online con game:

The term phishing comes from the fact that Internet scammers are using increasingly sophisticated lures as they "fish" for users' financial information and password data.

The scammers coax the web site of the organization to ph(f)ool the users. The copycat sites are also called spoofed Web sites. Once you're at one of these spoofed sites, you might unwittingly send personal information to the con artists and fall a prey to their guile.

“I will never be phished!”

It doesn’t take long to be phished. On a bad day, tired in front of the computer with someone startling you by raising suspicion about your banking account withdrawals, it’s easy to click on that link telling you it’s all going to be fine! A phishing attack can be successful in 3 minutes or less.”How can anyone be that stupid! This could never happen to me!” you might think while reading a phishing report. You are wrong!

There are new ways of cunning phishing attacks using high technology solutions Trojans entering your computer without you even thinking the word phish. Just by clicking the wrong place, or having the wrong e-mail program can cause you to be exposed to a Trojan, which sleeps in your computer. When you go to your trusted bank, however, the Trojan awakens and starts a key logger spy ware which registers your every move and makes screen prints for greater ease in “withdrawing your money right after”.

Phishers have a variety of tricks up their sleeves to complete the illusion of representing your local bank or other web business. By making you trust in them, phisher can gain unauthorized access to your emails, banking account, your MasterCard or any other account demanding identification.

Some tactics followed by these sharpies are:

"If you don't respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed."

*These messages convey a sense of urgency so that you'll respond immediately without thinking. Phishing e-mail might even claim that your response is required because your account might have been compromised.

"Dear Valued Customer."

*Phishing e-mail messages are usually sent out in bulk and often do not contain your first or last name.

"Verify your account."

*Businesses should not ask you to send passwords, login names, Social Security numbers, or other personal information through e-mail. If you receive e-mail from Microsoft asking you to update your credit card information, do not respond: this phishing scam.

"Click the link below to gain access to your account."

*HTML-formatted messages can contain links or forms that you can fill out just as you'd fill out a form on a Web site. The links that you are urged to click may contain all or part of a real company's name and are usually "masked," meaning that the link you see does not take you to that address but somewhere different, usually a phony Web site.

Been Phished?

What should you do if you have been phished? Rule of thumb is to immediately report phishing scams to the right authority to prevent others from being fooled!

Being phished can mean having your credit card information given away, banking accounts or your Ebay account given away. Furthermore a trojan could have been downloaded on your computer. Someone might even steal your personal information, make reservations, get passports, and commit crimes in your name, making a case of identity theft.Depending on your case there are reaction patterns, which should be followed. The most important thing is to act immediately and report phishing to minimize the damage. If you hesitate you can become completely or partial liable for the damage done to you and others.

Escape the phish hook !

• If you receive an unexpected e-mail saying your account will be shut unless you confirm our billing information do not reply or click any links in the e-mail body.

• Before submitting financial information through website look for the lock icon in the status bar. It means your information is secure during transmission.

• Suspicious e-mails can be forwarded to uce@ftc.gov

• Do not click any links provided in the e-mails. Instead type the URL in the address bar.

• Periodically check your accounts to ensure no one's making unauthorized changes or purchases.

Phishing, as you can see, is showing disturbing signs of evolving, with attacks becoming savvier and attackers beginning to share code and techniques with virus writers and so-called crackers. The consequences could be severe. The fact that this can have a detrimental effect on e-commerce is quite perturbing.

Bottom line: email requests for passwords, credit card numbers, and other private data are never legitimate.