Be Alert! Others Can Catch Your Money Easily!

So called phishers try to catch the information about the account numbers and passwords of internet users. They deceive people with faked emails and websites that resembles exactly the originals of well known banks or electronic payment systems. They make people surrender their passwords and account numbers ? and afterwards they clear their accounts.

This is a peril for internet merchants, affiliates and webmasters, because they often display email addresses on websites, ads or articles. Phishers may pick easily addresses from these sources.

Phishers try to worry you!

They write you stories as follows:

There have been unusual transactions on your account.

Your account is going to be suspended soon, because it lacks validation.

The database crashed down and has to be restored.

They have lost some email addresses and they need to update their database.

A case has been reported how they try to dupe the internet users. The g has been replaced with a q in the URL of citigroup. Thus the URL www.citigroup.com has been altered in www.citiqroup.com

They urge users to act immediately

The next step is that they urge their victims to act. They offer a link to a website, where people can type in their confidential information. If the people submit the demanded information, they open unvoluntarily the doors to a modern kind of thieves. The accounts of the victims can be looted within a few minutes.

How to protect your money?

Be aware: The serious and well known financial service companies never ask people by email for confidential information. I cite from an email by PayPal that I have received after reporting an ominous email to them: "PayPal and its representatives will NEVER ask you to reveal your password. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to this policy. If anyone claiming to work for PayPal asks for your password under any circumstances, by email or by phone, please refuse and immediately contact us via webform.."

This is the most important rule to protect your account!

Other financial services follow a policy similar to PayPal.

People may report to the financial services unusual emails. The more they know about such incidents, the better they can track them in order to find out some patterns about the abusers.

If the people feel uneasy about their accounts, they can check them through the web browser. They should type in manually the website address of the financial service into their browser. They can check matters there safely. But they never may type their confidential information in a form that has been sent by email!

It's recommendable to change the password of electronic accounts from time to time.

By the way: I do not use my email address of the Pay Pal Account in any public statements. I use different email addresses there.

The origin of the word Phishing

The new internet term Phishing origins probably from the word Fishing. Phishing has been extracted from the word combination "password harvesting fishing".

Further background information

More background information about actual kinds of abuse is available at the website www.scambusters.org It's worthwhile to have a look what is going on in the world wide web.

Lil Waldner is a business economist. She is experienced in project management and marketing. She has worked as editor of newspapers and she has written booklets and essays with economic and public issues. Visit her web site: AGM Home Business

---

Free Ways to Tackle Threats to Your Computer

Protect Your PCHaving problems with your pc? Do your kids,... Read More

Detect Spyware Online

You can detect spyware online using free spyware cleaners and... Read More

Securing Your Accounts With Well-Crafted Passwords

In the past I've never really paid much attention to... Read More

Everything You Need To Know About Spyware and Malware

You are at your computer, checking out software on EBay.... Read More

Secure Your PC From Hackers, Viruses, and Trojans

Viruses, Trojans and Spyware: Protecting yourself.No user on the internet... Read More

Secrets On Security: A Gentle Introduction To Cryptography

Let us take the example of scrambling an egg. First,... Read More

Internet Small Business and Fraud

Be careful of sites that promise to send you "instant... Read More

Behavior to Stay Safer Online

1. Importance of a Virus Scanner: A Antivirus program can... Read More

Spyware Symptoms

Spyware symptoms happen when your computer gets bogged down with... Read More

How To Be Your Own Secret Service Agency

So you want to know who your kids are chatting... Read More

Phishing, Fraudulent, and Malicious Websites

Whether we like it or not, we are all living... Read More

Identity Theft -- 10 Simple Ways to Protect Your Good Name!

Identity Theft is one of the most serious problems facing... Read More

The Move to a New Anti-Virus Model

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting... Read More

HackAttack

P C. owners are constantly at risk from attacks by... Read More

Computer-Virus Writers: A Few Bats In The Belfry?

"Male. Obsessed with computers. Lacking a girlfriend. Aged 14 to... Read More

Road Warrior At Risk: The Dangers Of Ad-Hoc Wireless Networking

Airport Menace: The Wireless Peeping Tom As a network... Read More

8 Surefire Ways to Spot an EBAY Scam E-Mail and Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

Ebay is a great site and is used by many... Read More

Is That Free Stuff Like An iPod Or Desktop Computer Really Free?

Have you seen the web site, www.freestuff.com? Or have you... Read More

Three-pronged Trojan Attack Threatens Security on the Internet

Glieder (Win32.Glieder.AK), Fantibag (Win32.Fantibag.A) and Mitglieder (Win32.Mitglieder.CT) are not names... Read More

Steganography ? The Art Of Deception & Concealment

The Message Must Get Through The year is 300A.D.,... Read More

Online Shopping: 10 Tips For Safe Online Shopping

Have you ever bought a product or service from the... Read More

6 Ways To Prevent Identity Theft

These six ways to prevent identity theft offer you valuable... Read More

Viruses and Worms, Protection from Disaster

Virus damage estimated at $55 billion in 2003. "SINGAPORE -... Read More

The One Critical Piece Of Free Software Thats Been Overlooked

Can You Prevent Spyware, Worms, Trojans, Viruses, ... To Work... Read More

Spyware, What It Is, What It Does, And How To Stop It

Spyware is software that runs on a personal computer without... Read More

Lottery Scam, What It is and how to Avoid It?

Internet scams and frauds are on the rise! The quantity... Read More

How Did This Happen to Me? Top 10 Ways to Get Spyware or Viruses on Your Computer

If you use the internet, you have probably been infected... Read More

Securities

NETWORK SECURITIES: IMPORTANCE OF SECURITIESComputers and securities must form a... Read More

Crack The Code - Thats A Direct Challenge

I Challenge You To Crack The Code ------------------------------------- I had... Read More

Dont Miss Information Because of Misinformation

It has been said that with the wealth of information,... Read More

Online Cell Phone Scams and Spam

They're out there. Individuals trying to make a quick buck... Read More

How To Clean the Spies In Your Computer?

Manual Spy Bot Removal > BookedSpaceBookedSpace is an Internet Explorer... Read More

An Open Letter From a So-called Stupid

Someone recently told me, "You would have to be a... Read More