Phisher Attack!

You're checking your incoming email messages, and you see a message with the subject line reading: eBay New Unpaid Item Message from JohnDoe: #48249x99x -- response required.

Chances are the message is bogus. It's called phishing, which is a computer term meaning an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as user names, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Even a message, supposedly from your ISP can be phishing. The following is one such example:

Dear Email Account Owner,

This message is from ...the... messaging center to all ... email account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused email account to create space for new accounts.

To prevent your account from being deactivated you will have to update it.

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT

• Email Username : ................
  
• Email Password : ................
  
• Date of Birth : ......................
  
• Country or Territory :............
  

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this email will lose his or her account permanently. Thank you for using ...

Warning Code:ucrV64MT1

Thanks,
WebMailTeam

Yeah, right. If you receive such an email, Don't Go There!

To lure the victim into revealing a password or other sensitive information, a phisher might pose as above, or the message might appear as being sent by such firms as, PayPal or a retailer you commonly deal with. Phishing messages often appear as being sent by a bank stating in the subject line: "verify your account" or "confirm billing information", and in the body of the message say something like: "During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your account information. . ." Again, Don't Go There!

Phishers even pose as a governmental office, such as the IRS, DMV, etc, requiring the victim to disclose information that can be used in an identity theft scheme. The IRS reports that fraudsters have increasingly targeted tax payers using phishing attacks that masquerade as messages from the IRS.

Phishing on the web will continue to rise in 2008, particularly:

• e-greeting card scams
  
• e-mail messages directing the victim to a fraudulent telephone number
  

Right, Don't Go There!

Herb