Beware of Phising

Have you recently got
any mail from, say,
PayPal asking you to
claim an amount like
$88.89? If you click to
claim you'll be asked
to put your bank
account number where
they want to transfer
the money. This new
kind of scam using
names of well-known
and well-respected
companies is breaking
out over the mailboxes
throughout the internet
world and it has got a name: Phising.

Phishing is a type of online fraud where the perpetrators attempt to
acquire personal, financial, and/or other account information (such as
user IDs, passwords, credit card numbers, PINs, etc.) from unsuspecting
victims. This type of fraud is typically initiated by sending an unsolicited
but official-looking email claiming to be from a reputable company, such
as a bank, a credit card firm, or an online establishment. The fraudulent
email usually contains an urgent message that tries to lure the recipient
into providing sensitive information.

To avoid being victimized by phishing scams, here are some useful tips:
-- Do not respond to emails asking for any personal or financial information.
-- Legitimate companies will never ask you to verify or provide any
confidential information in an unsolicited email. They may ask you do that
in their secured websites.
-- Be cautious when clicking on links within a suspicious email.
-- Most phishing emails contain a link that leads to an official-looking web
page which requires the recipient to log in or enter some personal
information. Though the web page may contain official logos and look
exactly the same as the legitimate company's web site, any information
submitted via these spoofed web page(s) will be sent to the perpetrators
of the scam.
-- If you have any doubt regarding the authenticity of a web site you have
been directed to in an email, you open a new browser and type the known
URL of the company in the browser yourself, or call the company directly
via telephone.
-- If you take the cursor over the link without clicking, you can read the
address (of the link) at the bottom of your browser or you may right click
and select 'properties' and read the address in a new box. Check if that
address is authentic one or a bunch of sneaky redirects.