Beware Of ‘Phishing’ Scam
“We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. To ensure that your account is not compromised, please click the link below and confirm your identity.”
“During our regular verification of accounts, we couldn’t verify your information. Please click here to update and verify your information.”
Have you received email with a similar message? It’s a scam called “phishing” — and it involves Internet fraudsters who send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal information (credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information) from unsuspecting victims. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, phishers send an email or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you may deal with — for example, an Internet service provider (ISP), bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message may ask you to “update,” “validate,” or “confirm” your account information. Some phishing emails threaten a dire consequence if you don’t respond. The messages direct you to a website that looks just like a legitimate organization’s site. But it isn’t. It’s a bogus site whose sole purpose is to trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.
The FTC suggests these tips for the best internet security to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam and protect your identity.
• If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply. And don’t click on the link in the message, either. Legitimate companies don’t ask for this information via email. If you are concerned about your account, contact the
organization mentioned in the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address yourself. In any case, don’t cut and paste the link from the message into your Internet browser — phishers can make links look like they go to one place, but that actually send you to a different
site.
• Area codes can mislead. Some scammers send an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and ask you to call a phone number to update your account or access a “refund.” Because they use Voice Over Internet Protocol technology, the area code you call does not reflect where the scammers really are. If you need to reach an organization you do business with, call the number on your financial statements or on the back of your credit card. In any
case, delete random emails that ask you to confirm or divulge your financial information.
• Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them all regularly. Some phishing emails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the Internet without your knowledge. Anti-virus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files. Anti-virus software scans incoming communications for troublesome files. Look for antivirus software that recognizes current viruses as well as older ones; that can effectively reverse the damage; and that updates automatically. A firewall helps make you invisible on the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized sources. It’s especially important to run a firewall if you have a broadband
connection. Operating systems (like Windows or Linux) or browsers (like Internet Explorer or Netscape) also may offer free software “patches” to close holes in the system that hackers or phishers could exploit.
• Don’t email personal or financial information. Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. If you initiate a transaction and want to provide your personal or financial information through an organization’s website, look for indicators that the site is
secure, like a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have
forged security icons.
• Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
• Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them. These files can contain viruses or other software that can weaken your computer’s security.
• Forward spam that is phishing for information to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the phishing email. Most organizations have information on their websites about where to report problems.
• If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. Victims of phishing can become
victims of identity theft. While you can’t entirely control whether you will become a victim of identity theft, you can take some steps to minimize your risk. If an identity thief is opening credit accounts in your name, these new accounts are likely to show up on your credit report.
Related posts
Getting Rid Of E-mail Spam
E-mail spam is not just unwanted, it can be offensive, especially to those who want the best internet security. Pornographic spam causes many consumer complaints. Decrease the number of spam e-mails you receive by making it difficult for spammers to get and use your e-mail address.
* Don’t use an obvious e-mail address, such as JaneDoe@isp.com. Instead use numbers or other digits, such as Jane4oe6@isp.com.
* Use one e-mail address for close friends and family and another for everyone else. Free addresses are available from Yahoo! and Hotmail. You can also get a disposable forwarding address from www.spammotel.com. If an address attracts too much spam, get rid of it and establish a new one.
* Don’t post your e-mail address on a public web page. Spammers use software that harvests text addresses. Substitute “janedoe at isp.com” for “janedoe@isp.com.” Or display your address as a graphic image, not text.
* Don’t enter your address on a website before you check its privacy policy.
* Uncheck any check boxes. These often grant the site or its partners permission to contact you.
* Don’t click on an e-mail’s “unsubscribe” link unless you trust the sender. This action tells the sender you’re there.
* Never forward chain letters, petitions or virus warnings. All could be a spammer’s trick to collect addresses.
* Disable your e-mail “preview pane.” This stops spam from reporting to its sender that you’ve received it.
* Choose an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that filters e-mail. If you get lots of spam, your ISP may not be filtering effectively.
* Use spam-blocking software. Web browser software often includes free filtering options. You can also purchase special software that will accomplish this task.
* Report spam. Alert your ISP that spam is slipping through its filters. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also wants to know about “unsolicited commercial e-mail.” Forward spam to uce@ftc.gov.
Be Suspicious of Mass E-mails
Many mass e-mails contain false alarms, misleading requests for donations or fictitious offers of money and free goods. You can check the validity of almost any mass e-mail at www.Snopes.com. Don’t forward an e-mail unless you’re sure that it contains accurate information. Not only do such e-mails confuse recipients, they are often used to collect e-mail addresses for spammers.
Related posts
Best Internet Security Upgrade Alert
Like most people who do a lot of work on their computer as well as having a lot of different programs, it’s quite often that a window will pop up stating that a system needs to be upgraded. If you’re not careful, you just may download a virus that can destroy everything that you’ve been working on as well as crashing the computer itself. The best internet security program can even overlook the warnings because of how legitimate they seem.
Just what is Intelligent Explorer? For your safety, you really need to know
There seems to be a program out there that looks like a normal Internet Explorer upgrade, but if you look carefully, you will see that it’s a different program all together. If you are in the middle of something important you might just click the OK button without realizing that the program is really called Intelligent Explorer.
You will have more troubles than you would want to deal with in one life. It appears that Intelligent Explorer allows other software to be downloaded to your machine and this is where the problem occurs. What is even more remarkable is that by downloading Intelligent Explorer, their license grants them the right to install software add-ins on your computer at their will.
Take a look at what the software license for Intelligent Explore says (go to http://www.ieplugin.com/terms.html to read it all):
“You grant to us the right, exercisable by us until you uninstall the Software or this agreement is otherwise terminated, to provide to you the Service of downloading and causing to be displayed advertising material on your computer, through ‘pop-up’ or other display while you use your browser. You acknowledge and agree that installation of the Software may automatically modify toolbars and other settings of your browser. By installing the Software you agree to such modifications.”
If you are wondering how a company can go ahead and do something like this, the company IBC Inc. is incorporated in Belize. That should explain how a company would get away with this behavior.
Intelligent Explorer is a plug-in, which can create a new home page, as well as start up and endless loop of pop-ups. You can remove the view bar, but then starting up Internet Explorer will cause it to reappear.
What can you do to fix this if you fall victim to it? Buy a copy of a program called XoftSpy and follow the steps to remove the Intelligent Explorer. There are also other programs that will also do the job like spybot, NoAdware, Spyware Eliminator, Pal Spyware Remover, and Spyware C.O.P.
I do have to say that I’ve not had to purchase any of these programs since I’m very careful with what is downloaded into my computers and laptops.
Related posts
« go back — keep looking »Recent Posts
- Choosing The Best Internet Security
- Best Internet Security Practices
- Internet Security Tips: Back Up Data
- Best Internet Security: Bellsouth Services
- For Best Internet Security: Backup Your Data
- Norton Internet Security 2009: Review
- Beware Of ‘Phishing’ Scam
- Getting Rid Of E-mail Spam
- Contact
- Terms & Conditions
Topics
Recent Comments
- canadabound on Beware Of ‘Phishing’ Scam
- Anne on For Best Internet Security: Backup Your Data
Tags
backups Best Internet Security blocking software computer Data desktop hackers hard drives internet internet explorer internet security internet security program laptop laptops mcafee phishing scam phishing scams security program Security Programs spam spambots spammers spyware virus XoftSpy