Phishing

Nearly all legitimate e-mail messages from companies to their customers contain an item of information that is not readily available to phishers. Some companies, for example PayPal, always address their customers by their username in e-mails, so if an e-mail addresses the recipient in a generic fashion (“Dear PayPal customer“) it is likely to be an attempt at phishing.
Most methods of phishing use some form of technical deception designed to make a link in an e-mail (and the spoofed website it leads to) appear to belong to a legitimate organization.

Ways to avoid getting hooked by Phishing:

1. If you get an email message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply and don’t click on the link either.  Legitimate companies don’t ask for this information via email. If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization directly, or open a new internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address yourself.
2. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software and update them all regularly. Anti-virus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files.
3. Don’t email personal or financial information. Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information.
4. Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.

Originally published in 2005