Have you ever received an email from a familiar company asking you to go to a website to confirm your login details? The message usually says something about the fact that there was an error in a recent transaction and that you will lose the transaction, perhaps a bank deposit, if you don't login and remedy the solution. The email looks very legitimate and the company is well-known and one that you recognize. So, being a bit concerned, you click on the link and login.

A little while later you find out that the site, in fact, was bogus. The site was created with the intent to hijack your personal information. By entering your information, it was revealed to the owners of the deceptive website. You have just been the victim of a "phishing" scam.

Phishing (pronounced as "fishing") is the act of sending a deceptive email to lure a recipient to surrender their personal information. The intent of the phisher is disguise themselves as a legitimate company in order to fool the recipient into surrendering private information.

An email that is phishing for information is usually difficult to spot. The email that you receive will have been carefully crafted to appear to be from a legitimate company, like a major bank. The "From field" of the e-mail will probably have the address of the company that it is purporting to be. The clickable link even appears to take you to the company's website. However, this is a completely illegitimate site created to look exactly like the actual company's site.

Do not take these phishing emails lightly. They are never harmless. These emails represent illegal activities and are not just harmless pranks. The individuals behind these emails have spent a great deal of time in creating deceptive emails that look authentic. You need to be very cautious about all emails requesting personal information. Legitimate companies will not send you an email asking you to reveal personal information.

You should be aware that the "From Field" in the email that you receive can easily be changed by the sender. The email will look like it is coming from a company that you are familiar with. However, looks can be deceiving. Keep in mind that the phisher will go all out in attempting to make their email look as legitimate as possible. They will usually use logos or images from the legitimate site. Finally, they usually include a clickable link that the recipient can follow to conveniently update their information.

A great way to check the legitimacy of the link is to point at the link with your mouse. Then, look in the bottom left hand screen of your computer. The actual website address to which you are being directed will show up for you to view. It is a very quick and easy way to check if you are being directed to a legitimate site. The address that you will see is usually fairly long and complicated. For example, if they were masquerading as PayPal, rather than an address such as www.paypal.com/login, it could be something like www.paypal.mqrs.com/?login/142647/4598.php

You should never click the links within the text of the e-mail, and delete the e-mail immediately. If you are truly concerned about your account, then type the full URL address of the legitimate website into your browser. You can then be confident that you are, in fact, being directed to the true and legitimate website.

Bill Westergate is a computer guru who frequently writes on technology topics. For free spyware resources visit Spyware Removal Free

Source: www.articlealley.com