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PHISHING . . . Get the facts and stay safe.
Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam or
pop-up messages to deceive you into disclosing
your credit card numbers, bank account
information, Social Security number,
passwords, or other sensitive information.
How
do I identify a Phishing attempt?
According to
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), phishers
send an email or pop-up message that claims to
be from a business or organization that you
deal with – for example, your Internet service
provider (ISP), bank, online payment service,
or even a government agency. The message
usually says that you need to “update” or
“validate” your account information. It might
threaten some dire consequence if you don’t
respond. The message directs you to a Web site
that looks just like a legitimate
organization’s site, but it isn’t. The purpose
of the bogus site? 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.
How can I
protect myself from
Phishing?
The FTC, the
nation’s consumer protection agency, suggests
these tips to help you avoid getting hooked by
a phishing scam:
 | If you get
an email or pop-up message that asks for
personal or financial information, do not
reply or click on the link in the message.
Legitimate companies don’t ask for this
information via email. If you are concerned
about your account, contact the organization
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. In any case, don’t cut
and paste the link in the message.
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| 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 Web site, 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.
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| Review
credit card and bank account statements as
soon as you receive them to determine
whether there are any 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.
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| Use
anti-virus software and keep it up to date.
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 anti-virus
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. Finally, your
operating system (like Windows or Linux) may
offer free software “patches” to close holes
in the system that hackers or phishers could
exploit.
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| Be cautious
about opening any attachment or downloading
any files from emails you receive,
regardless of who sent them.
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| Report
suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get
spam that is phishing for information,
forward it to
spam@uce.gov. If you believe you’ve been
scammed, file your complaint at
www.ftc.gov,
and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web
site at
www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to
minimize your risk of damage from ID theft.
Visit
www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to
avoid email scams and deal with deceptive
spam.
Where
can I get more information on phishing?
The FTC works
for the consumer to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive and unfair business practices in
the marketplace and to provide information
to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid
them. To file a
complaint or to get
free information on consumer issues,
visit
www.ftc.gov or call toll-free,
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY:
1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet,
telemarketing, identity theft, and other
fraud-related complaints into
Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online
database available to hundreds of civil and
criminal law enforcement agencies in the
U.S. and abroad.
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