Phishing is an illegal online scam where scammers send fake emails to obtain personal and financial information. To prevent phishing, check the email address, read the email for errors, never click on links, and verify with the bank or credit card company. Use common sense and report any suspicious activity.
Phishing is a common but illegal online scam in which scammers send people emails in hopes of obtaining important personal and financial information. This information can then be used to steal someone’s identity, make false charges to a credit card, or empty a bank account. The emails sent by scammers are designed to appear to come from a bank, credit card or other financial institution, but are in fact fake. It is important to be able to recognize these emails to prevent phishing.
With a little effort, it’s easy to prevent phishing. When you receive an email that appears to be from your bank, start by checking the email address. If it seems strange to you, delete the email immediately and contact your bank directly if you feel the need to. If the email address seems legitimate, read the email to determine what its purpose is. Many phishing emails will have misspelled words or strange grammatical sentences, as many of these emails are from foreign countries.
The most important thing to remember when trying to prevent phishing is to never click on a link in an email, even if it looks legitimate. For example, the email may ask you to click a link and enter your username and password, the most common phishing scam. If you click on the link and enter your credentials, the site will appear fake and you will have just granted the scammer access to your account. Instead of clicking directly on any link in a suspicious email, close the email and type your bank’s web address into your browser.
Once on the bank’s official website, you can enter your username and password to see if the information was required. Another option is to call your bank or credit card company to see if they sent the email. Not only will this help you prevent phishing, but it will alert your bank that someone is trying to illegally target their customers. Remember, most financial institutions will never email you for personal information. The best way to detect and prevent phishing, however, is to use common sense.
If an email is from a bank where you have never opened an account, do not click on the email. If you’re concerned about identity theft, check your credit report; this can be done every year for free. Check that the web address in your browser is the bank’s actual address, and not a slight spelling mistake, often just a letter or two. If you believe you have been the victim of a phishing scam, notify your financial institution immediately, change your usernames and passwords, and place a fraud alert on your credit report.
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