Don’t Fall Victim to a Phishing Attack

Posted on March 29, 2009
Filed Under Credit Score | Leave a Comment

Many times we will receive an email addressed to us from a financial institution we are familiar with, asking us to update our information on the website. But, how can you really be sure that the site you have done business with is the one requesting the information, and not an identity thief?

Criminals designing websites to impersonate a company or bank is a problem that is growing. The sole purpose for these sites is to trick you into giving out information that is personal. The partnership of making use of websites and emails to fool you into giving out personal information is called phishing. Phishing is a very good reason to consider making use of a identity theft fraud protection service.

It is not as simple as you might think to spot a phishing email. They usually appear to be very genuine and will spoof the emails you normally receive from the real business. The difference is that, when you click on the phishing email link, you are taken to a website which only is there to steal your identity.

Phishing sites are going to have the same design and feel of the real website. One way to differentiate between the sham and genuine site is to take a close look at the website address. The fake one usually will have the real website name in its address, but it will always have extra characters that revel it is a phishing site.

The organizations that come up with the phishing sites are usually professional identity thieves. They can afford to spend a lot of cash and time to make very realistic emails and websites because a bunch of money to be made in stealing identities. These thieves are out to get you, so it is always a very good idea to be using a personal identity theft service.

Because they ultimately want to steal your identity, or other information that they can use to make a financial gain, they want to come across as real. These phishing sites will have the same look and usability that the real site has, including using real logos and slogans.

Because the phishing emails and websites can be so good, it is often times hard for people to tell that they are on a fake website. The better amount of work the criminals put into the design of these impostor sites and emails, the more likely they will trick naive victims.

In order to never become a victim of a phishing attack, the best thing you can do is never ever click links found in emails. If you think that the email is real, then just visit the website though normal means other than the email link. The only way to keep yourself safe from these phishing attacks is by never clicking on the email link in the first place, while making use of a protection against identity theft solution.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Comments

Leave a Reply