Gone Phishing!
Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 pm by Kathy Jackson
I like to FISH for fish….the kind that swim in lakes and rivers and have gills and scales. Fishing (with an ‘F’) is a wholesome, outdoor activity that it would be hard to find fault with. But fishing (with an ‘F’) is not the kind of phishing that I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the unscrupulous act of phishing for information….YOUR information.
Phishing is a term used to describe a particularly obnoxious attempt to trick you into giving up your personal information to a person who is not trustworthy. In the case of phishing, YOU are the fish that somebody wants to catch.
A phishing email will arrive in your inbox and look as though it has been sent from a legitimate business like PayPal or your bank or mortgage company. Unless you are diligent, it is very easy to get caught by a phishing email. There are some tip-offs that will identify a phishing email for what it is.
- You will not be addressed by name. The letter will begin with Dear Friend or Dear Customer or Dear Account Holder. Emails that are REALLY from legitimate businesses will use your name.
- The email will ask you to click on a link that is included in the email where you are supposed to verify your personal information…. your account number, your social security number, your password, your credit card number etc. Legitimate businesses will NEVER ask you to click on a link to verify information. NEVER!
I am not trying to make you paranoid. I just want you to be diligent. The best policy is simply never click on a link in an email that you are the least bit suspicious of. Legitimate companies won’t ask you to supply or verify personal information. THEY already have it. The senders of phishing emails WANT it.
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