“We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account.
To ensure that your account is not compromised,
please click the link below and confirm your identity.”
“During our regular verification of accounts, we couldn’t verify your information.
Please click here to update and verify your information.”
Have you ever opened up your email to get an official looking email from eBay, your bank, Credit Card Company or even the IRS that reads like one of those quotes? I am sure most of you have. It’s an internet scam known as phishing.
What is phishing? The scam is pronounced fishing and that describes exactly how the scam works. Through pop ups or email spam or even sometime instant messenger spam, a person or group will pretend to be someone they are not. They usually ask you to go to an official looking website and confirm or enter your credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information. Many times there are threats of serious consequences if you do not fill this information out. Due to the way websites are created they are very easy to duplicate exact matches from the sites we are used to using and trusting.
There are a few tips to help prevent you from falling victim to this type of scam.
1. If you get an email or an instant message DO NOT respond and DO NOT click any link provided in the message. There are ways to be tricky with the website URL’s that can look almost real and legit. If you are concerned that it may be a real email, contact the company or organization with a telephone number that you know is correct or open up a new browser window and type in the address manually.
2. Do not email personal or financial information. Email is not 100% secure communication. If you start a transaction with a website that you wish to give personal or financial information look for signs that it is secure, a small lock icon on the web browser 
or a website URL that starts with https://. The extra “s” stands for secure. These aren’t always fool proof as some scammers have been able to forge the security icons.
3. Review your credit card and bank statements right away. Keep an eye out for any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a few days contact the bank or Credit Card Company and confirm your mailing address and account balances.
4. Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any file from an email. These attachments can be hazardous viruses or other pieces of software that can weaken your computer’s security.
5. If you get one of these emails forward it to spam@uce.gov and also the organization it is claiming to represent. Most organizations that are misrepresented by phising scams have contact information on their sites to report these emails.
6. If you think you may have accidentally given out personal information on a site that was phishing for your details, please don’t hesitate, go file a report at ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
The internet can be a dangerous place if you aren’t aware of its hidden dangers but keep checking back here at the Families.com Computer and Internet Blog and we will do everything we can to keep you safe!