Being Caught In a Net with Phishing Scams
One of the fastest growing forms of identity theft these days is through a scam referred to as “Phishing”. This year the Federal Trade Commission has noted that the victims of identity theft are being repeatedly found through phishing and malicious emails. So how does it work?
Phishing emails, also referred to as “spoofing” emails, will arrive in a consumers inbox making them believe it is from a trusted source, specifically a financial institution that they already deal with. These emails will then request the consumer to click on a link provided to them in the email. These links will take them to sites that look and represent just like the original company’s site, but these are actually fake sites set up by these scammers. You will then be required to “log-in” in order to access your information. By providing your log-in information, which is all an identity thief needs in order to log into the real system and take what they need.
With phishing emails becoming more and more popular, it is important for consumers to know how to identity these scam emails so that they do not fall victim to them. To protect yourself from phishing scams, you will want to keep the following in mind:
- *Avoid emails that require you to provide your social security number, passwords to specific sites, and other personal information. A real financial institution will never require you to provide your social security number or any personal information over your email.
- *If you are requested through email to update information online, never click on the link provided to you in the email. Instead open a new browser and physically type in the address yourself.
- *If you notice an email that comes from an address you do not know, do not open the email.
- *If you receive fraudulent emails, report them to your Internet Service Provider.
- *Always look for web addresses that start with “https” to ensure you are logging into a secure site.
- *A legitimate site will have a short web address. Addresses that are long or do not end with “.com” or “.org” should be weeded out.
- *If for any reason you doubt an email that you have received from your financial institution, contact the institution directly to verify its validity.