Phishing is a fraudulent attempt usually made through email to steal your personal information. The best way to protect your self from phishing is to learn how to recognize a phish. Phishing emails usually appear to come from a well-known organization and ask for your personal information such as credit card number, account number or password.
Examples of phishing
Internet criminals to successfully "phish" your personal information, they must get you to go from an email to a website. Phishing emails will almost always tell you to click a link that takes you to a site where your personal information is requested. Legitimate organizations would never request this information of you via email.
Examples: Phishing email / Phishing website
What to look for in a phishing email
1. Generic greeting.
Phishing emails are usually sent in large batches. To save
time, Internet criminals use generic names like "First Generic Bank
Customer" so they don't have to type all recipients' names out and send
emails one-by-one. If you don't see your name, be suspicious.
2. Forged link.
Even if a link has a name you recognize somewhere in it, it
doesn't mean it links to the real organization. Roll your mouse over the
link and see if it matches what appears in the email. If there is a
discrepency, don't click on the link. Also, websites where it is safe to
enter personal information begin with "https" — the "s" stands for secure.
If you don't see "https" do not proceed.
3. Requests personal information.
The point of sending phishing email is to trick you into providing your
personal information. If you receive an email requesting your personal
information, it is probably a phishing attempt.
4. Sense of urgency.
Internet criminals want you to provide your personal
information now. They do this by making you think something has happened
that requires you to act fast. The faster they get your information, the
faster they can move on to another victim.
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