Ever use a credit card to make online purchases? Opened an email link that when in fact you had no idea who the sender was? Have you ever entered a password in an insecure part of the internet? If you answered yes to any of these questions you are putting yourself at an enormous risk for many online scams, hackers and phishers.
Phishing is when you receive an email that actually looks legit, and is usually from a well known company, and will usually say something like "your password has expired--click here to update it", these emails are very clever and will actually use the companies logo. They actually look very authentic, and the recipient should probably NEVER open links from these senders even if it looks real. The sites that are linked to in these email are also usually clones of the real sites, they try to trick you into entering your user name and password (as you think your at the real site), once entered they now have your log in details and can use your account as they please, if its an ebay account they can bid for things in your name, if its paypal, its certain that in the near future you will be receiving an unexpected bill.
You should never be asked for your password. Respectable websites and many businesses never should ask for your password. Many respect the fact the rule of a password and its intention for only YOU to know it.
It does not just stop at passwords but includes other personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account info and PIN numbers.
If you have even been scammed into giving out account details, passwords or other personal information the first thing you should do is contact your banks so that they can freeze your account, then contact the website who owns the accounts that you just got hijacked. Then you should probably scan your computer for any viruses and change all the passwords you have.
Its better to be safe then sorry, these people need to be stopped! Make sure you aren't a victim to these horrendous acts.
This is such a scary thought because I know sometimes we may click on an email we think is real but in fact it is just a scam. I enjoyed reading the tips you explained about knowing what a real email or website should look like. They were really helpful.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you chose to address phishing. It's a scams that is easy to fall for since the emails often use an urgent tone and appear to be authentic.
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