Education
Phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is a computing scam wherein a criminal attempts to steal victims’ sensitive personal information such as social security and credit card numbers, user IDs and passwords.
The process most often starts with an official-looking e-mail from a bank, financial or retail establishment that contains a link which directs potential victims to fake, but legitimate looking websites asking them to re-enter their username and password, social security, credit card or bank account numbers, address and phone number, or other information.
Prevention
Phishing is one of the toughest internet threats to prevent because it’s very difficult for the average person to distinguish a fake e-mail from a genuine one.
No matter how official a message appears, NEVER click on links in an unsolicited e-mail to access a bank, financial, retail, or other accounts. ALWAYS access an online account only by using it’s official URL (web address).
Your bank, financial or retail establishments will almost never ask for this information through email. If you do think the email is legitimate, call the phone number (NOT the one listed in the email) to check.
Forward messages you suspect to be a phishing attempt to reportphishing@antiphishing.org.
Monitoring
When you need to enter sensitive information at a website, verify the web address to ensure you are actually using the legitimate web address. If you are unsure about the web address contact the website owner.
Every month, you should review your banking, credit card, and other statements monthly for suspicious activity.
Practice Safe Computing!
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