Gone Phishing (Don't get scammed)
Submitted by jason on Fri, 10/31/2008 - 02:25.
This week I wanted to give you a security tip that may save you a lot of pain. I want to warn you about phishing.
What is phishing? No, it is not some new dance move. It's an internet scam that has grown popular over the last several years.
Phishing Scams
This scam tries to trick you into logging into a dummy website and then capturing you password. For example, you may get an email that looks like it is from your bank and urgently tells you to login and take some action. The link they give you to click on is not your banks website, it actually takes you to a dummy site that looks exactly like your banks. When you try and login in the bad guys get your password and can then access your online banking account. Not good!
Common Craft has a great video that explains it, it is well worth the 2 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqRZGhiHGxg
Here are some tips to avoid this scam.
Be aware. Just knowing this scam exists and how it works is 90% of the battle.
Never click on a link in an email to login to your bank or other sensitive websites. If eBay asks you in an email to login to your account, then just open your browser and type "www.ebay.com" and login there.
Double check the address. An address reads something like "http://www.ebay.com". Whenever you are logging into a sensitive site just make sure the address looks correct. If you see something like "http://208.88.34.1/ebay.com", then RUN!
Use the latest internet browsers. Both IE7 and Firefox 3 have anti-phishing features to help you detect a phishing attack.
Cool Link:
If you have never done mind mapping before, you have to try it. It is a great way to visually brainstorm ideas. Mind Meister is a free mind mapping tool we have recently started to use to brain storm ideas. The coolest part is, since it is web based, multiple people can share a mind map and collaborate on it at the same time from 400 miles away.
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