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A Phishing Scam is any attempt to steal any part of your personal information, such as passwords, account numbers, usernames/logins and credit card or banking details, usually via electronic communication. Typically a Phisher uses legitimate looking emails complete with logos and trusted images copied directly from the original provider’s website (such as eBay, PayPal or your online banking service) for the purpose of identity theft.
They request confirmation of your sensitive information, often providing a link to a legitimate looking webpage where you are asked to enter your identification and passwords.
Once your information has been stolen in this way, the Phisher has open access to your account, until such time as you are able to change your login and password details with the account provider, which can be quite a while if someone else is logged into your account.
Phishing Scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and Phishers use typical language that you would expect from your account or service provider. It can seem very reasonable to “provide your account details for a security update” to anyone who is unaware of this dangerous, and increasingly common form of internet fraud.
Those people most at risk of becoming victims to Phishing Scams are those who are relatively new to the internet or new to internet banking or the site that is being targeted for the scam.
Phishers often use legitimate looking links in their emails or messages that are in fact fake and take you to phony or “spoofed” scam sites or pop-up windows that can look exactly like the original site. One way you can check is to look closely at the address bar of the new window, is the address the same as the one you clicked on? Is it exactly the same, letter for letter, as the real site’s address?
Many of the top Internet Protection ( antivirus software and anti-spyware) programs now come complete with Phishing Filters. These filters work by detecting and blocking any known Phishing Scam or phony spoof site you visit with your internet browser and alerting you to the security risk.
If any email you receive looks even remotely suspicious, the golden rule is – DO NOT RESPOND TO THE EMAIL OR CLICK ANY OF THE LINKS.
It is best to err on the side of caution and treat every email asking for your personal information as suspicious, if in doubt check with the original site or account provider, they all have a means of contacting them via their home page and sites such as eBay now have a link from their home page to directly report a suspected Phishing Scam.
If you have been defrauded by a Phishing Scam it is most important to take action immediately. Report the incident to your credit card or banking provider if you have given out your credit card or bank account details, any site that was targeted by the scam and the police in your state or territory.
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