Phishing is a term used to describe a type of spam that aims to
steal your identity. It can be attempted through email, instant
messages, or pop-up windows. Phishers seek to convince their
potential victims to provide personal data such as credit card
numbers, passwords or account information.
Sophisticated phishing scams appear to come from reliable
sources such as your bank or credit card company. Logos, web
addresses and information taken directly from legitimate sites
are copied and altered to lead the reader to respond to these
requests.
There are a few simple steps you can take to protect yourself
from phishing scams. For example, don\'t follow the links in an
email to your bank or credit card\'s website. Instead, type the
address directly into your browser. Also, don\'t give out
personal information on a website that isn\'t secure. To tell if
a website is secure, check for \"https://\" in the address bar
rather than just \"http://\". The \'s\' stands for \'secure\'. Be wary
of any emails that ask you to update, confirm, or validate your
account information.
Try to review your printed account statements regularly. If you
believe you are an identity theft victim, you can file a
complaint with the FTC at www.ftc.gov in addition to filing a
police report. You should also call the toll-free fraud number
of any one of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies
and place an initial fraud alert on your credit reports.
