Phishing: Example and its prevention methods

What is phishing?

A growing Internet scam that has caught many people has been given the name "phishing". 'Phishing' is a term used to describe efforts to illegally gain access to banking or personal details. This usually involves an email that is made to look like it has been sent from a trusted source such as a government agency, bank or other company. The email is designed to trick users into revealing their personal or financial information like passwords, account usernames and others.

Where does the term 'phishing' come from?

The term 'phishing' is a play on the word 'fishing'. In this context, unwary users are baited into providing personal details.

Example of phishing

The most common example of phishing that most of the internet users facing now are an email claiming there is a problem processing a particular transaction or an issue with a computer system. You will then be asked to provide certain personal details so that the 'problem' can be fixed. Another form of email will be asking you to validate, or update your personal or financial details. You

might be asked to reply by email or to click on a hyperlink and update your details over the Internet. Once you follow the hyperlink you are sent to a fake web page which usually designed to look like the legitimate web page. Any details entered on this false web page would be sent to the perpetrators and then most likely misused.

Recently, banks have been a favorite target of "phishing". There is an example of a scam e-mail.

Issue in phishing

In 2003 many people received emails supposedly from eBay claiming that the user’s account was about to be suspended unless they clicked on the provided link and updated their credit card information. The scammers use mass-mailing methods and many of the recipients did not even have an eBay account. However, all it takes is 1 or 2 per cent responses for the con to result in a nice haul.

Steps to minimize the risk of phishing

Step 1: Do not click on any hyperlinks contained in emails asking you to confirm or update your details or to provide any personal or financial information. If you need to go to a web page to complete a transaction or supply information, ensure that it is a legal or correct internet address directly into your browser.

Step 2: Be cautious and do not reply to, or follow any hyperlinks in an email if you have any concerns about the validity of it.

Step 3: Contact organization that claimed to have sent a suspicious or unusual email. They should be able to confirm if it is real or not.

Step 4: Always check the internet address of a hyperlink. The longer the internet address, the easier it is to cover up the fact that it is not legitimate.

Step 5: You enter personal or financial details on a web page, make sure the web site is using encryption. Look for the small closed padlock icon in Internet Explorer's status bar