Phishing is online identity theft in
which fraud actors trick unsuspecting Internet users into submitting personal
information to illegitimate web sites. Phishing scams are usually presented in
the form of spam e-mails or pop-ups and are often difficult to detect. Once the
fraudsters obtain your personal information, they can use it for all types of
identity theft, putting your good reputation, credit and good name at risk. Because
phishing is one of the most devious forms of identity theft, it is important to
become familiar with various types of phishing scams as well as to learn how to
guard against them.
There are multiple ways to avoid
identity theft and thus prevent Phishing attacks. To help you protect yourself
from phishing, we offer the following information. Please note that these are
some of the indications that we are presenting. However fraud actors are always
innovating probably at a faster pace than us to trick unsuspecting users.
1. Guard
against spam. Be especially cautious of emails that:
- Come from unrecognized senders.
- Ask you to confirm personal or financial information over the Internet and/or make urgent requests for this information.
- Are not personalized.
- Try to upset you into acting quickly by threatening you with frightening information.
2. Communicate personal information only
via phone or secure web sites:
When conducting online transactions,
look for a sign that the site is secure such as a lock icon on the browser’s
status bar or a “https:” URL whereby the “s” stands for “secure” rather than a
“http:”. Also, beware of phone phishing schemes. Do not divulge personal
information over the phone unless you initiate the call. Be cautious of emails
that ask you to call a phone number to update your account information as well.
3. Do not click on links, download files
or open attachments:
- Most fraudsters send emails that contain links which point you to a phishing site. Refrain from clicking on such links.
- It is best to open attachments only when you are expecting them and know what they contain, even if you know the sender.
4. Never email personal or financial
information:
There have been occasions when emails
of a person close to you have been impersonated and sent to you. In such cases
also do not disclose any of your personal information even if you are close
with the recipient. You never know who may gain access to your email account,
or to the person’s account to whom you are emailing.
5. Beware of pop-ups:
- Never enter personal information in a pop-up screen.
- Do not click on links in a pop-up screen.
- Do not copy web addresses into your browser from pop-ups.
- Legitimate enterprises would never ask you to submit personal information in pop-up screens, so don’t do it.
6. Protect
your computer:
Each
desktop/Laptop should be protected with a firewall, anti-spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware and anti-malware software. Do some research to
ensure you are getting the most up-to-date software, and update them all
regularly to ensure that you are blocking from new viruses and spyware.
7.
Check your online accounts and bank
statements regularly
to ensure that no unauthorized transactions have been made.
We have solutions for protecting your
end-user devices like Laptops, Desktops etc. We have partnerships with leading
providers of Anti-Virus, Anti-Malware, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Spam software. In
addition we know how best to implement it, define policies around it and last
but not the least keep them updated so
that you get unlimited protection against Phishing attacks.
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