Phishing

Of all the things you need to be careful about while using Information Technology, phishing is currently of the most concern.

What is phishing?  It is an attempt to trick you into giving up private information or to steal money from you.  It usually is perpetrated via email, but it could be a text message.

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I know a lot of smart people who have been victims.

Many of the biggest public hacking instances have been via phishing.

The first thing you should look for is: does it have a “call to action”.

This is a marketing term, meaning an attempt to get you to do something without delay.  “Call now”.  “Act now, this offer will not last.”  “You need to change your password immediately.”  “Your computer has been infected with a virus, click this link.”

If there is no “call to action”, then it is far less likely that what you are seeing is a phishing attempt.

Other things to look for are personal information, like your name, account number, etc.  “Dear User” is not personal.  A notice saying your account (with no account numbers) is overdrawn, is not personal.  If you don’t bank at the one they mention, then that is not personal.

If you know how, you can look at the sending email address.  Most of the time, it will be fake.  There are ways to disguise it. For example I have seen phishing with an amazon.net sending email address  (amazon.com is the true address.)  Finding the true email is somewhat difficult most times. 

Lately, I have seen phishing where the email says we just charged your credit card “$433.99”.    “Call 800-xxx-xxxx if you have questions”.  This is a subtle call to action.  They know you haven’t made that purchase.  They want you to call the number. When you do, they may ask you to “verify your credit card information.”  Less likely is they tell you your account has been credited, and then they proceed to sell you something.

Last, but not least, be extremely wary about clicking links in email, unless you are certain the sender is legitimate.

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