Phishing How NOT to get Hooked!
Phishing becomes more and more sophisticated everyday, the dangerous emails often include some of your personal information in an effort to reel you in. Follow these 5 easy steps to protect your personal information.
Everyone receives them, those emails “from” Ebay, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, the government, etc. They claim “Your information needs to be verified to keep your account active,” “We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account,” or “your account will be closed if you do not verify your information.” They ask you to click on a link and verify your information to prevent your account from being shut down. The link looks legitimate, it says www.ebay.com/account or something similar and when you click it, it looks just like the real thing, so it must be legitimate, right? WRONG! As phishing becomes more sophisticated, it’s masterminds have become experts at making the email and even the website look legitimate. They are close enough to fool even the most savvy of users. So, how can you protect yourself?
Follow these tips:
- 1. Remember, legitimate businesses will NEVER send you an email and ask you to click on a link to verify your information or to make sure your identity hasn’t been stolen. Don’t trust any phone numbers that might be in those emails either. If you want to verify whether there is something wrong, look up the phone number yourself and call it directly.
- 2. Never click on a link in an email or open an attachment unless you are expecting the email. Clever phishing can make the email look like it’s coming from someone you know.
- 3. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software, as well as a firewall, and update them regularly.
- 4. If you are a job seeker and have posted your information online, never give out your social security number or other personal information from someone pretending to be potential employers.
- 5. Do not enter any information in a popup screen. Sometimes a phisher will direct you to a real company’s website but use a popup screen created by the phisher for you to use to provide your information.
If you receive a phishing email, forward it to spam@uce.gov and reportphishing@antiphishing.org.