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What is Phishing?
Phishing attacks use 'spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them.
Consumer Advice: How to Avoid Phishing Scams
The number and sophistication of phishing scams sent out to consumers is continuing to increase dramatically. While online banking and e-commerce is very safe, as a general rule you should be careful about giving out your personal financial information over the Internet.
The Anti-Phishing Working Group has compiled a list of recommendations below that you can use to avoid becoming a victim of these scams. Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information Unless the email is digitally signed, you can't be sure it wasn't forged or 'spoofed' phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails to get people to react immediately they typically ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.
Phisher emails are typically NOT personalized, while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are. Don't use the links in an email to get to any web page, if you suspect the message might not be authentic instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web adress in your browser.
Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information you should only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure website or the telephone. Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser to make sure you're on a secure Web server, check the beginning of the Web address in your browsers address bar - it should be "https://" rather than just "http://". Consider installing a Web browser tool bar to help protect you from known phishing fraud websites EarthLink ScamBlocker is part of a free browser toolbar that alerts you before you visit a page that's on Earthlink's list of known fraudulent phisher Web sites. Its free to all Internet users - download at http://www.earthlink.net/earthlinktoolbar
Regularly log into your online accounts don't leave it for as long as a month before you check each account. Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card satements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate; if anything is suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers. Ensure that your browser is up to date and security patches applied in particular, people who use the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser should immediately go to the Microsoft Security home page -- http://www.microsoft.com/security/ -- to download a special patch relating to certain phishing schemes
Always report "phishing" or “spoofed” e-mails to the following groups: forward the email to reportphishing@antiphishing.com; forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at uce@ftc.gov; forward the email to the "abuse" email address at the company that is being spoofed (e.g. "spoof@ebay.com")
When forwarding spoofed messages, always include the entire original email with its original header information intact notify the Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website: www.ifccfbi.gov/ For more information, check some of the following sources:
For more information about how to protect yourself, see our Fact Sheet 17a Identity Theft: What to do if It Happens to You at www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm. Read the information and tips put out by the Federal Trade Commission about phishing at www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm.
Read the Department of Justice's recent whitepaper "Special Report on Phishing" at http://www.antiphishing.org/DOJ_Special_Report_On_Phishing_Mar04.pdf
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