The Chronicles
September 2012
Hope all of you had a wonderful summer. We were truly blessed this year! However, over the period, something strange was happening over and over again in many of your computers, no? Indeed, I have been receiving messages and questions from clients and readers alike asking me if they should be answering the unusual e-mails they have been receiving. Have any of you ever heard of Phishing? Not the kind of fishing you may have been doing all summer, but PHISHING!!! Understanding this concept will bring an answer to your questions.
Phishing consists of sending a personalized e-mail to a user, falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise, in an attempt to scam said user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Website where he is asked to update personal information, such as credit card, social security and bank account numbers, as well as passwords, which the legitimate organization already has. This Website, however, is bogus and set up exclusively to steal the user's information. Legitimate Websites that are frequently spoofed by phishers include PayPal, eBay, e-mail services and banking institutions.
As an example, here is a sample of an e-mail you may have gotten in your inbox...
SUBJECT: System information required prior to closure of account.
TEXT: Please copy the following form, fill it in and send it back within 48 hours. In the case that you do not comply your e-mail account will be closed.
Name:
Birthday:
E-mail:
Password:
Confirm Password:
Country:
State:
Telephone Number:
Cellular Number:
Before closing off the subject, I'd like to add that there is a new kind of Phishing that has emerged with the Smart Phone revolution. It's called SMiShing. It's exactly like Phishing, however instead of receiving an e-mail, the user receives an SMS. It may mention something to the effect that you have won a prize, or that you are invited to participate in a competition. Then you are asked to fill in info on a certain Website. Once again, the user that complies has his personal information stolen.
Needless to say that you should NEVER answer ANY of these kinds of e-mails. NO legitimate institution will EVER send you an e-mail requesting your personal information, NO MATTER WHAT. Hence, send such e-mails to your Spam box and as for SMS choose STOP ALL in your phone SMS program, in order not to receive like messages ever again. Equally and importantly, if you have ever answered any Phishing messages, go into your account (e-mail, bank etc ...) and change your password IMMEDIATELY
Take good care of yourselves,
questions.monamilordi@gmail.com
This article originally appeared in Main Street – The Laurentians' English Language Community Newspaper.
