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By: Simon Burdett

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Phishing (definition) (FISH.ing) pp. Creating a imitation of an existing web page or HTML email participation form to bamboozle a consumer into submitting private, financial, or password data. -adj.

In our day phishing seems to be one of the most grim new scams on the Internet. Now hackers and spamming companies are not only bothering users with thousands of unnecessary emails every day, but in addition, you might be the dupe of a phishing strike! Phishing refers to the activity by hackers who fake a legal business, and use e-mails to win over people to share their individual and confidential financial information. No, this is not a bad practical joke: phishing attacks imply the mass delivery of "spoofed" email letters with return addresses, links, and branding which appear to come from well known banks, insurance agencies, retailers or credit card companies. The consequence of these scams is that consumers suffer credit card scam, identity theft, and financial damage.

So what’s the deal here? Clearly, for starters, to most Internet users the emails and web sites are indistinguishable from rightful company communications. Secondly, trusted sources show that by hijacking the brands of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to induce up to 5% of recipients to respond to them. How far can these shady companies and persons get? Farther than most of us would think. Last Nov. 8, a man in Sydney, Australia, was imprisoned for more than five years for duping people into sending him millions of dollars in a worldwide Internet hoax known as the Nigerian con. He presented himself as someone who needed access to a Western bank account in order to transfer a large sum of money out of a politically troubled country. Criminals taking part in the Nigerian scam would then promise the innocent email recipients a share of the money, but ask for a smaller upfront cost - in the notion of an ‘management fee’ - ahead of the larger sum can be transferred. This way they make millions! Even though this man pleaded guilty at the Sydney Court, chances are it will take much more than one individual locked up to get this problem under control.

According to APWG’s Phishing Attack Trends Report (July 2004), the most under attack industry sector for phishing attacks continues to be Financial Services, both from the viewpoint of total attacks and the amount of companies under attack. Retail is second, while ISPs are third. Citibank appears to be the company whose brand was hijacked most often by phishers. Some other recent phishing targets include AOL, Suntrust, Earthlink, Wells Fargo, MBNA, Charlotte's Bank of America, Paypal, Fleet, Best Buy and eBay.
Although the United States is the chief country in terms of the total number of hosted phishing web sites, further nations engaging in phishing attacks include Russia, the UK, Mexico and many Asian countries such as South Korea, China and Taiwan - among others. APWG’s report indicates that that around 35% of phishing web sites are hosted on exploited technology, unbeknownst to their owners. Since they are false, phishing web sites normally do not have a lengthy life span. The typical life span for both phishing and scam sites, measured by how long they continue to respond with content, does not go further than a week.

If you think you are protected because you know what phishing is and you have an outline on how to manage these attacks, get comfortable, seeing as you have not heard it all. Study indicates that the extraordinary increase in the number of fraud-based websites over the past few months could result not only in identity theft, but also in the bogus self-belief that you have purchased something online when in truth, you have not! Nothing like phishing attacks that hijack the brand of trusted e-commerce or financial institutions, these web sites are offered as generic ecommerce sites. How do they work? Well, users believe they are purchasing legitimate products or applying for a rightful mortgage when in reality, they are becoming scam victims. The most common fraud-based web sites are fake loan scams, mortgage frauds, online pharmacy frauds, and fake online banking institutions. In addition to the direct cost of scam and the permanent effects of identity theft for consumers, the growth of criminal spam threatens the integrity and brand of organizations that do company online.

Phishing attacks are growing rapidly both in number and sophistication. If you have been tricked this way, you should assume that you will turn out to be a dupe of credit card scam, bank scam, or identity theft. Some basic advice on what to do in this condition if you have given out your credit, debit or ATM card, or bank account information, is to inform the theft of this information to the card issuer or the bank as rapidly as possible. Canceling your account and opening a new one is advisable in addition to reviewing your billing statements carefully after the loss.

How can you solve your company’s email problems and keep the right information flowing? Phishing is one of the most treacherous forms of spam, consequently if you are concerned about the problem of phishing, online scam, and email spoofing, you should first administer the spam in your mailbox and report those who are sending it.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

The authors name is Simon Burdett from South Australia, who is 40, male, and is trying to earn a living on the 'net. For more information, please go to: www.bestclickbankstore.com

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