Phishing Follow Up
I took a quick look in my junk mail folder (which I do every couple weeks) just to see what’s in there. Not to my surprise, I see more and more phishing attempts. As you know from our Introduction to Compters Volume 1 video, phishing is a malicious attempt to steal your personal information especially accounts that lead to money. In my junk mail I saw attempts for E*Trade and Bank of America.
Now I know the first rule of phishing safety, and that is never click on email links asking you to fill out forms. I always type in the website address of sites I use. Bank of America has more email fraud guidance.
Their advice is to delete these types of emails however good they may appear, and always access their site by typing the address into the browser.
Other things to enchance your security.
1. Use a browser with an anti-phishing filter (we talked more about this in our september IE7 anti-phishing post). IE 7 and Firefox have anti-phishing tools that help warn you if you are about to go to a site that has been reported as a potential phishing site. Make sure these tools are on.
2. Use an email with Junk Mail filter (We talk about this in our Volume 2 video). While not fool-proof (so don’t think if its in your inbox the mail is valid), many good junk mail filters will help keep these attempts out of your inbox and send them directly into your junk mail.
3. Be a skeptic. Don’t believe what you read in email and call the person if you have a doubt!
