Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Phishing: The Latest Online Threat and What You Can Do
To Protect Yourself

Update: This article has been recently reviewed and updated. Although based on content from 2006, it has been confirmed that the information presented in this article is still relevant. Additional information about the current phishing situation has been added at the close of this article.

Phishing is the latest trend in online identity theft in which fraudulent emails try to gain your personal information by pretending to be a bank or another institution.

Believe it or not, phishing is a security threat for which many people do not understand the implications. In the nationally representative survey of 2,000 homes with Internet access, less than 1 percent of respondents said they had lost between $100 and $1,000 through phishing scams. Quite simply, this means that some 400,000 internet users nationwide may have lost $1000 or more to phishing. This is a major concern to your computer security.

Analysts estimate that 3 percent to 5 percent of those who receive a phishing message give up some confidential information, allowing themselves to become victims of identity theft. In June of 2006 alone, one analyst estimated that online scammers had stolen almost $2.4 billion from bank checking accounts alone.

Phishing crimes are gaining momentum. Phishing scams can be very sneaky - as many scams ask you for personal banking information, while claiming to actually be your bank. As a result, many people are finding themselves giving very personal information right to criminals' computers.

According to statistics collected by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, phishing attacks have increased by about 52 percent each month since January 2006. In June of 2006, there was an average of 47 phishing attacks every day. As a result, the National Consumers League said that phishing is now the fourth most-common type of Internet fraud. Groups like this have launched awareness campaigns to educate users about the dangers of phishing, and what it can do to your computer.

Protect Yourself From the Dangers Of Phishing

There are several different ways to protect yourself against identity theft, such as phishing. For example, you should never directly respond to emails seeking personal information. Questionable messages should be verified by communicating with your banking institution directly.

Another sure-fire way to ensure that you have entered a phishing website is by inserting a false password into your banking password on the phishing website. A phishing site will accept an incorrect password, while a legitimate site will not.

Also, be pro-active in your phishing prevention. Before you even open your e-mail to attempt to out-wit the phishing scam, make sure your virus protection software is up-to-date and working properly to protect your computer. Otherwise, you could be in for a phishing attack

Do It Yourself Phishing Kits: Protecting Your Computer

There is also another online danger: do-it-yourself phishing kits. These kits are freely available on the Internet, and will lead to more online consumer scams. The kits include all the tools necessary to craft both the bogus messages that phishing scams rely on and the legitimate-looking sites that try to trick consumers into divulging confidential information, such as bank account and credit-card numbers.

Everyone should be extra wary, as a result of the do-it-yourself phishing kits, of any messages asking them to confirm financial information,. Before opening any email, make sure your virus protection is updated. After opening your email, don't click on the links contained within the messages. Protect your computer and your family's computer - get McAfee online protection to protect your computer from all possible online threats.

Update: According to the AntiPhishing Working Group's Phishing Activity Trends Report Q1/2008, crimeware spreading URLS have nearly doubled the previous high. During this first quarter alone, the number of crimeware spreading URLs infecting PCs with password stealing code rose to 6,500 sites - an increase of 337% since last year.

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