Phishing is a one of the fastest-growing cyber crimes.
Phishers are sneaky low life’s that prey on their unsuspecting victims almost with impunity.
In order to protect ourselves, we must study to know how Phishing works.
Know Thy Enemy…
According to the FBI, it will cost consumers millions of dollars this year alone.
Phishing is a relatively new term, used to describe the act of trying to get private information from anyone by pretending to be someone that they aren’t via the Internet.
Phishing is accomplished through the use of deception mainly through emails and websites that try to convince the victim they are a bank or even the government.
Phishing really is high tech identity theft! No longer are they going through your trash, they operate from the comfort of their own homes.
Cyber Criminals steal your identity and personal information to gain access to your bank accounts, credit card information or even online trading accounts
Email
Emails are the main entry point for phishers and can be sent from anyone claiming to be whomever they want.
Phishers use a number of different social engineering and e-mail spoofing ploys to try to trick their victims.
Phishers regularly & very cleverly disguise the sender identification in an email to make the email look like it is coming from a bank or online merchant.
They use scare tactics, employing urgent language to pressure you into submitting confidential data.
Emails from your bank or ISP will never ask you to send them your private or personal information via email or to fill in a form with sensitive personal information online.
Email messages about tax refunds that claim to be from the IRS are usually phishers who are trying to scam you. The best thing you can do is call the IRS & confirm the email is for real.
Security
Security firm SophosLabs says over 75 percent of all Phishing e-mail targets PayPal and eBay users.
Phishers will try to convince victims to log into their accounts on a website that looks just like Pay Pal or eBay but in reality is owned by the scammers.
When these cybercrooks succeed in convincing an unwitting victim to enter their personal information & passwords, they instantly have access to the victim’s real account.
Security experts recently discovered that vast networks of home computers were being hijacked and then rented out to phishers who would steal private, business or personal information and then steal money from the victims
Bank
Sources say that Bank of America is one of several websites that ask users to select a personal image, and display this user-selected image with any forms that request a password although I haven’t seen this myself
Banks like Citibank have felt the wrath of phishers who have targeted their customers unmercifully.
In conclusion…
Identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal or business information illegally in order to access your financial accounts
Phishing is no longer a nuisance crime. Phishing is fraud on the Internet, just like fraud that happens on the street.
Phishing is a real threat to financial firms from IBM to Morgan Stanley.
Phishing really is an old con game with a high tech twist…
