Anti-Phishing Resources: Protecting yourself from online scams.

If you have been on the Internet very long, you have probably seen more than your fair share of internet scams in your inbox ranging from the latest business opportunity to unauthorized prescription drug ads. One of the most widely spread scams and one of the many that has the most potential for disaster is known as phishing.

(fish�ing) (n.) The act of sending bulk e-mail messages to thousands of Internet users falsely claiming to be an established legitimate business, corporation, financial institution or popular retailer,� in an attempt to deceive the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit an official looking Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, Social Security Number, bank account numbers and account details. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up with the sole purpose of
stealing the user's information.

These spoofed e-mail messages usually contain a message that frightens or excites users urging them to take immediate action by clicking an obscure URL. The message may state that there is a problem with your account, they have detected fraud in your legitimate account or some other false sense of emergency. As many as 5% of the users receiving these bogus messages respond by clicking the link in the message and giving up their financial data, credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, account logins and passwords in a form on a fraudulent but official looking Web site.� The unsuspecting users almost immediately become victims of identity theft.

How To Protect Yourself Against Phishing Scams
Never click a link supplied by a third party. Use your bookmarks or a typed URL instead. If you receive an urgent message from your bank or credit card company, open a new browser window and click a bookmark or type the URL in yourself.

Be sure that the URL that you visit is a secure site before typing in any information. All secure sites begin with "https://" and not "http://".