Window to the Web with LINKS for Thursday, July 8, 2004

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web….

Let’s go Phishing. That’s Phishing beginning with a P.H.

Phishing is the Internet way of catching a fish. Only with Phishing with a P.H., the fish could be you and your bank account.

A Phishing scam is an email that PRETENDS to alert you to a problem that has to be fixed by correcting account information. The reality is that you’re NOT entering your personal information at a real Web site if you do this. People think the email is real because the link goes to a familiar bank or commercial Web site. However, that link only LOOKS like its legitimate! It’s called a SPOOF. In reality, spoofing is a link that takes you to the personal server of the scam artist but makes it look like you’re on the site of a company you know and trust.

According to Gartner Research, the loss to U.S. banks and credit card companies last year due to Phishing scams was one point two BILLION dollars! Almost two MILLION people fell for the Phishing scams last year!

The best way to avoid Phishing scams is to make it a personal policy to NEVER click on the link contained in the suspected email. Instead, make your own way to the real company and into your account.

In addition, there are now several tools to alert you if a link is real or if it a spoof

The first two are toolbars for your browser that tell you where a link has REALLY taken you. Try SpoofStick from Corestreet.com
(http://www.corestreet.com/spoofstick/)

or SpoofGuard from Standford University.
(http://crypto.stanford.edu/SpoofGuard/)

EBay and Earthlink have been hit with so many Phishing attacks that they’ve developed their own Spoof detection toolbars.

To look at the links mentioned today, go to my Blog at DonSmith.tv.

I’m Don Smith with your Window to the Web.