[citw150] CITW 150 L3 Q5
- From: Sue Petrisin <suepetrisin@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: citw150@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, suepetrisin@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 10:43:21 -0700 (PDT)
Dear Classmates:
Phishing - not fishing... although they are pronounced
the same, phishing has become more and more prevalent
for those of us who use email regularly. Phishing,
according to webopedia.com, "is the act of sending an
e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established
legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user
into surrendering private information that will be
used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user
to visit a Web site where they are asked to update
personal information, such as passwords and credit
card, social security, and bank account numbers, that
the legitimate organization already has. The Web site,
however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user?s
information."
When you first see the email address, it appears to be
a legitimate address - one that you should answer.
However, after looking at the address closely, and
opening the email, one will notice that the message is
a 'fake'. It amazes me that people have the time to
develop this type of message and send it to everyone.
I often wonder what positive could result if these
people put their talents to good use, instead of
trying to steal other user's information. And, look
at the amount of time it takes legitimate businesses
to clear up the calls, emails and fears from those
phishing emails.
I take extra time when first opening email to verify
the message is from someone I know. If it appears to
be a phish, I delete the message immediately. I know,
for example, that several banks now provide you with a
common phrase - that the user determines - to verify
if a message from them is "legitimate" or a phish.
A web search indicated over 31,400,000 websites on
phishing. Here's just one link for your perusal.
Have fun!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/phishing.mspx
Sue
"Leadership is going where nobody else has gone." - -Bob Galvin
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sue Petrisin
petrisin@xxxxxxx
LCC CITW 150
(o) 517.355.7466
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Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
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