How To Avoid A Phishing Scam
Everyone has seen a phishing scam in their email and most of us just delete it. But it's still easy to be fooled by these authentic-looking email scams.
The phishing scam is when someone sends you a bogus email that appears to be from a bank or another reputable online business. The email contains authentic business logos and asks you to log in and verify your account information from a link in the email.
Once they have you account information, they control your accounts and your identity.
Here are some tips to keep you aware of what these criminals are doing and hopefully keep you from becoming a new victim of the phishing scam.
Be suspicious of any email requesting any of your personal information such as account login and passwords. Usually they want you to act quickly or your account will be suspended.
A phishing scam will typically ask you for information like usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. These online scams are a form of identity theft because your personal information is used to steal anything of value for as long as they can get away with it.
Never click on a link in an email to visit a Web site even if you think a request for information may be legitimate. These links can be disguised to look like they're taking you to a real site, when they're actually taking you to a scam site.
If you believe the request is legitimate type the Web site address in your browser by hand to make sure that you go to the company's real site. Or you can call the company direct to confirm whether they actually need the information and, if so, whether you can provide it over the telephone.
Be extremely careful of sharing any personal or financial information via email or online. If you do make sure the site is on a secure server by looking for the lock symbol in the status bar at the bottom right corner of your browser window.
You can also check the beginning of the Web address and make sure it starts with https:// rather than just http://. That way you know you're on a secure server.
Just being aware of these small measures may save you a lot of headaches and provide you with some identity theft protection. Hopefully this article can save you from becoming a new victim of a phishing scam.
