 |
June 12, 2006
Phishing & Pharming
As if there were not enough dangers and annoyances with Viruses and Spam, there are new variations on this theme that are coming out every day. Two new variations are called “phishing” and “pharming,” and both are attempts to steal some private information via email. Email is a great tool, but you need to know a little about protecting yourself so you can have a safe experience.
Phishing is when you receive a bogus email often claiming to be from a financial institution, such as Visa, ebay or PayPal. When you click on the link in the email, it takes you to a fake website. While it may look like eBay or PayPal, the websites are copies that are hoping that you will enter your personal information, namely login, passwords and credit card numbers.
A simple dose of suspicion is a good preventative measure. If any email is asking you to enter or verify you financial information, don't click on the link listed in the email. Instead, if you feel the email may have merit, open your web browser, and type in the appropriate web address. For example, if you received an email from “eBay” asking you to verify your account information, don't click on the link in the email. Type in ebay.com directly into your browser and access your account information that way. If you do indeed have to update your account information, there will most likely be a notification upon logging in. Or you call always fall back on the telephone: call your bank or credit card institution to see if the account is truly in jeopardy.
Pharming takes this concept one step further. You may open an unsolicited email attachment that contains a small program. This program then copies itself to your computer and waits for you to visit a financial website. Then, for example, the next time you type in PayPal.com, you are not taken to that website. Instead, that small program springs into action and redirects you to a fake PayPal.com, again, hoping to steal your personal information. This too can be prevented with a little common sense. Don't open an email attachment if you are at all suspicious. Keeping up to date on your virus definitions and turning off “preview” in your messages (in Outlook the “View” Menu and Click on “Preview Pane”), will go a long way to keep you out of harm's way. And, as mentioned above, you can always use the telephone.
Email is a great thing. It's fast, convenient and virtually free. But you can’t take everything you get via email at straight value. Be suspicious of any “call to action” emails, and use the tips mentioned above and you should not have any trouble at all.
