Email phishing, in which someone tries to trick you into revealing personal information by sending fake emails that look legitimate, remains one of the biggest online threats. One of the most popular methods that scammers employ is something called domain spoofing. With this technique, someone sends a message that seems legitimate when you look at the “From” line even though it’s actually a fake. Email phishing is costing regular people and companies millions of dollars each year.
If you receive one of these suspicious e-mails and you unwittingly provided personal information or financial information, contact your bank/financial institution or credit card company report about it.
How to prevent:
- Be suspicious of any e-mail or text message containing urgent requests for personal or financial information (financial institutions and credit card companies normally will not use e-mail to confirm an existing client's information).
- Contact the organization by using a telephone number from a credible source such as a phone book or a bill.
- Never e-mail personal or financial information.
- Avoid embedded links in an e-mail claiming to bring you to a secure site.
- Get in the habit of looking at a website’s address line and verify if it displays something different from the address mentioned in the email.
- Regularly update your computer protection with anti-virus software, spyware filters, e-mail filters and firewall programs.
- A number of legitimate companies and financial institutions that have been targeted by phishing schemes have published contact information for reporting possible phishing e-mails as well as online notices about how their customers can recognize and protect themselves from phishing.
- Regularly check you bank, credit