What exactly is a phishing scam? Phishing is a process that can occur in many forms. Usually, the most common example is the e-mail, when ask the recipient to enter specific personal information. This allows the Scammers to “catch” the resulting data.
Phishing activity started 15 years ago. It’s enough young, but, according to Business Week, with the current recession, the intensity and frequency of these scams will increase more and more. Also, according to research, Phishing attacks are targeted in brands like PayPal and eBay.
Usually, most attack are a simple username/password(for example PayPal username and password). Often, thieves are able to steal many other accounts for a single victim when user use only one standard password across many accounts.
Image Credit: skp psc scp
However, there are other attacks to steal broad personal information such as:social security number, date of birth, banking PIN numbers, driver’s license number. These information is used to open fraudulent accounts or creating a profile on a specific individual.
Here, my tips you need to know to be protected against any attack:
1. Never log into an e-mail with unusual formatting, or contain poor English.
2. Never log into an e-mail that ask you ” log within 24 hours”. This is an strategy used by scammers in order to increase the chance you respond.
3. If an email will urgently prompt you to follow a hyperlink to log in to your account, then no open it, or delete it. These link redirecting you to a clone of your bank site, so once you log into the site, a phishing attack will copy your login client data.
4. Some attacks use phrasing such as “to prevent your account from being closed” or “to restore access to your account” and ask you to access to your account or soon will be closed.
5. I get phishing emails from “my bank” every few weeks. Remember, the banking institutions will never send you email to ask you for your account information. Make sure to visit the original website and log into a secure platform.
6. Some phishing scam ask you to log in to your account to receive a bonus or special promotion such as a cash bonus or a free upgrade to a premium account.
If you have other tips, please leave me a comment below.
