Information Technology has changed the way we live our lives. What once seemed impossible is now possible. Like what? How about a global network of computer systems that allows almost instant communication at almost no cost to the user? Or free video conversations with your friends no matter where they are in the world (well almost).
But with the good also comes the bad and technology is true of this too. Computers and the Internet have led to a whole new brand of crime - cyber crime. All of a sudden the everyone in the world is connected to everyone else and computer crime spread very quickly because of this.
One of the main ways this new wave of criminals gets access to you and your personal information is through a process called Phishing. Using this technique they can get access to your social security number, bank account details, ATM PIN and a variety of other personal and very sensitive information. Once these guys have this information then it's game on and you're going to pay the price.
This type of crime is on the rise and it's all too easy to get caught out - some of the smartest people I know have been caught by phishing scams.
So what is phishing?
It's a very basic and very clever scam based on the whole idea of social engineering (manipulation of people).
Here's an example.
You turn on your computer and go to check your e-mail. You see an e-mail from your bank telling you that there's a serious problem with your account and to please log-in and fix it. You click on the link and go to a page that looks exactly (and I do mean identical) to your banks website. You quickly type in your username and password but nothing happens. So you try again. And again. Your password doesn't seem to be working so you decide to ring your bank. After 15 minutes waiting you're told by the banks customer service staff that they never, ever send out e-mails and to just ignore it.
So you do just that. You ignore it.
Then 3 or 4 days later you get a call from your bank asking why you were withdrawing money from an ATM in Brazil? And are you sure you want to transfer all your money into that bank in Hong Kong? This is when the penny drops with you and you realize what's happened.
You've just been caught by a phishing scam and you're not alone. Thousands of people every day fall for this type of con. You'll even notice that most banks are putting warnings on their websites now stating "We never send you e-mails asking for your passwords"
If you get e-mails from banks, eBay, PayPal or any other company asking you for personal details then ignore them. Delete them and mark them as spam. Just following that simple rule will keep you and your computer safe from 99% of the phishing scams that are lurking out there.
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