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Protect yourself from dangerous spam
As there is a global trend to prove that Information Technology has benefited man in more ways than one, the negative aspect is something that is proving to be a ‘Curse’. SPAM is that cursed four letter word that has left almost all and sundry using the Internet on their nerves. Be it jamming your mail box with useless emails, or by sending you unsolicited emails aimed at tricking you into giving your valuable passwords, banking and PIN numbers Spam can spell danger for the common Internet user. Duping you into giving out your personal information such as your banking PIN is the most dangerous variety of email that you will ever encounter.
This is commonly known as “phishing”. These Spam emails come from unknown senders who are on the lookout for valuable information through which they can capture your online identity. If you think that you won’t be fooled by such tricks, think again! They more often than not send emails which look like they come from respected financial institutions, such as PayPal, Visa, Ebay, America Online. They trick you so easily through the email address of the institutions and the proper logos and everything. And what’s more! The email subject message will catch you unaware and make you worried. It will often read as follows : “Your Pay Pal Account (or Ebay or any other online banking account) has been suspended.” “Warning: Confirm Your Online Banking Account.” Such a subject matter will most often than not leave a receiver with only one option: respond back to the email sender, specially if the receiver has a good amount of money in his/her PayPal or online banking account.
The first thing to do when one receives this kind of an Email is to stay calm. Do not panic when you receive emails like this. It is important to remember that responsible institutions will never suddenly suspend your account or ask you to give personal information in an insecure manner.
The technique Phishers generally use to gather your personal information looks so real.
Via these emails they will ask you to enter new information for your account and they will give you url’s, asking you to click through and log into your account. The url’s in these emails will look like the log-in addresses for these institutions. If you know the tricks of the trade then you should be wise enough to catch the trick. Just by putting your mouse over the url, you will see that the actual web address is different. Never, ever click through these url’s and try to log in. The trap lies there. Once you log in with your user name and password, the phishers have captured your password. Further down the line, if you fill out other information such as: bank account numbers, social security number, mother’s maiden name or driver’s license number then the fraudsters has had you.
If you want to check out whether your online account is OK or not, then go to the home page of PayPal, Ebay or your bank, and log into your account in the routine method using the usual url, such as https://www.paypal.com rather than with the url in the Spam email that you have receive in your mail box. Once you log into your account you will probably see that everything is normal. If there originally is a message for you from your institution, then you will find it in the safe boundary pf your mail box without having to compromise your security. In case of any doubt, the toll free 24/7 customer service is always at your service.
Any banking information or email authentication is required when a person is shopping online or is filling up a registration form for any e-commerce & website design company. As far as a Web development company is concerned, a common problem faced by them is that many users are reluctant to give in personal details due to this problem caused by “phishing”. A well reputed website design company or a web development company, should assure to it’s visitors and customers that any personal information taken from them is in safe hands and will not be transmitted in any form.
PayPal also has a security section where they tell you what to look for in fraudulent emails. For example, whenever PayPal sends you an email it will always start off with “Dear Donald Nelson,” in my case, or whatever name you used when you signed up. They will not say “Dear Valued Paypal customer.” So log into the proper areas of your institution and learn as much as you can about security procedures.
The third thing to do is to report suspicious email . We have to put these crooks out of business, and that can only happen if we report fraud whenever we see it. You can get quick service from PayPal by forwarding email of this type to spoof@paypal.com . Usually within an hour you will get a reply telling you whether the email comes from PayPal or not. For other instances of Phishing, you can report them to the Anti Phishing Working Group at www.antiphishing.org . This website, staffed by volunteers, has up to date information about the latest scams and is doing its best to make the Internet safer for us.
Finally, if you have given any information to fraudulent websites move swiftly to protect yourself.
Notify your bank, change your passwords for online accounts, and watch your online accounts for any signs of unusual activity. A good guide with useful and detailed information on what to do if you have given out valuable information can be found at http://www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs2.html
So, enjoy the Internet but take precautions and protect yourself from any devious phishing message which may land in your mail box.
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