How to Safeguard Yourself from Phishing

There are many harmful messages that are sent to e-mail addresses daily, and if not careful you can become the victim of what is known as "phishing." Phishing is defined as "as a scam by which an e-mail user is duped into revealing personal or confidential information which the spammer can use illicitly."(1).

There are various forms of phishing. The most common one is to receive an e-mail that is from a financial institution that requests for you to verify personal information such as your name, address, phone number, social security number, and date of birth. A person furnishes the information, and then it is sent to the spammer. The person who sent the information has just compromised their identity and the person who receives the information can now use it for virtually anything.

Another frequent e-mail message that is sent is from eBay asking you to read important information and to verify information. There again, the spammer makes the message look genuine and that it is from a reputable company with the whole intent to get you to give out important personal information about yourself so that they can use it to assume your identity or do fraudulent activity.

While these are two of the most common ways that people fall prey to spammers, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what can happen to you if you're not careful. Here are some tips that you can take to protect yourself:

1. If you do receive a message from a financial institution and it asks you to verify important information, be sure to call your bank and verify the information. The same is true of other services. Most likely, if the bank is requesting information they will ask you to do so in person, or else on the financial institutions website.

2. The rule of thumb is that no legitimate company or business is going to request your social security number or other personal information, unless it is on a secure website, and when a company ever asks you for this kind of information be on the conservative side, and always verify the information with the source. Otherwise, the information that you furnish might be going to the wrong hands.

3. When receiving e-mails from friends and family, use a special heading for the subject line that will distinguish that it is from them, and that way you can be certain that it is from them, and not someone else.

4. Use a different e-mail address when signing up for promotional literature or special offers from retailers, and businesses. That way, when you check your e-mail you'll be able to keep solicited and unwanted e-mail from reaching the e-mail address that you use most frequently.

While there is no clear cut solution to this problem, by using prevention you can at least be aware and reduce your chances of becoming a victim of phishing.

Source:

(1): Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/phishing.