In the past couple of months my Spam Filter has been filling up with fake e-mail from PayPal. In the month of February, I have received 24 of them, so far. Other's I seem to be receiving a lot of also are "Microsoft" security updates and "Wells Fargo On Line."
Granted, I am only a humble user of the WWW, but if I am receiving this many attempts, perhaps it is a concern.
The intention of all this e-mail is to commit phishing, where someone is duped into giving up personal AND or financial information. This information is is then used in the crime known as identity theft.
In addition to this, malware (malicious software) is often injected on a system, when these "spoofed sites" are visited.
Here is a link from PayPal, which describes the activity relevant to PayPal and it's sister company, eBay: PayPal - Protect Yourself from Fraudulent Emails.
The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) is a known authority on Phishing. Besides being a wealth of information, they offer some relevant information for consumers:
How to Avoid Phishing Scams
What To Do If You've Given Out Your Personal Financial Information
Phishing is becoming a huge problem and can cause severe financial hardship. PayPal and eBay are certainly not the only organizations that are spoofed. In fact, any site dealing with people's financial information is a potential target.
With computers and internet access becoming cheaper all the time, the number of potential victims is growing daily. Knowledge and awareness are key to defeating internet crime. You can do your part by learning and then sharing this awareness with those you care about.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
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2 comments:
How you can tell this?
This phissing is not directed to paypal members, but to every email holder.
For myself, I use a specific address for Paypal, and I never received any Phissing attend at that address. But my others emails is flood with anykind of Phising attend.
For the record, Paypal, it's a real paradise for Phising and Spamming gang.
Dear Anon,
The best way is to educate yourself, but here is a search engine you can use.
http//:trustwatch.com/
Best thing is to never click on a link and use a search engine like Trustwatch, which tells you if the site is certified.
Good Luck.
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