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News:
Online "Phishing" for Informantion --
How to Protect Your Identity
Having just received
several authentic looking letters, from what
appears to be real company websites, asking for
verification of confidential/personal information,
we thought it was time to let you know how
dangerous "phishing" can be. No, I am
not talking about fishing with a rod, reel, hook
and line. Sure, fishing can be
hazardous...from getting stuck with the hook to
falling into the water. But, "PHISHING"
can ruin your whole live.
Here is an excerpt from
a web page from the US Federal Trade
Commission. Click the link, below, to learn
more:
“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.
CLICK
HERE TO READ A CONCISE "PHISHING"
ARTICLE FROM COMPUTERS.NET
Click
Here to check out the Anti-Phishing
Working Group.
CLICK
HERE TO READ THE WHOLE FTC PAGE AND LEARN WHAT YOU CAN
DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF
In
addition to the precautions in the above articles,
please read this
article to about protecting your
computer records and identity while online:
3-15-2006 |
