Despite warnings, many still fall victim to phishing

Monday, 19 March 2007

There are two main ways a cyber-thieves can get your personal information. They can sneak malicious software onto your computer. Or they can trick you into giving them the personal data they want. For the bad guys on the Internet, trickery is growing in popularity. It's easy and despite years of warnings, it still works. The latest Internet Security Report released today from the Symantec Corporation, makers of Norton Security products, shows phishing scams are on the rise. "For that six month period we saw about 8.5 million phishing message a day. That's a 19 percent increase from the previous 6-month period," says Dave Cole, director of Symantec Security Response. Cole says the only way to fight back is to have what he calls "online street smarts." You need to ignore any e-mail that asks for your personal information - no matter how legitimate it looks, no matter how dire the message. Anyone who needs this personal information already has it. If you feel the need to find out what's going on pick up the phone and call the company. Or go online, type in the web address yourself and contact the company's customer service. Don't use a phone number or link in the e-mail. It could take you to a fake phone line or site run by the bad guys. Remember once you click send, you can't take that personal information back. Source: here

 

< Prev		Next >