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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(NAPSI)-You receive a seemingly legitimate e-mail from your bank asking you to update your personal information-social security, account number, mother's maiden name. You wonder why your bank would be asking for this information, especially your account number, but you trust your bank, so you comply. The next day you learn that your identity has been stolen and the thief has wiped out your checking account and maxed out all of your credit cards. You've just been "phished," along with millions of other Americans who use the Internet for shopping, banking or just surfing.
Phishing attacks are "spoofed" e-mails and fraudulent Web sites that fool people into divulging personal financial details that can be used for identity theft. Each year, 10 million Americans have their identities stolen and then spend an average of 30 hours and $500 trying to clear their good names, the Federal Trade Commission reports.
Stealing Trust And Dollars
According to consumer and business advocacy groups, phishing attacks grew 5,000 percent last year to almost 18 million, costing consumers $500 million. But consumers are not the only victims of phishing schemes. Online retail stores and auction sites lose trust and goodwill when their customers get bamboozled when doing business online.
According to experts at RSA Security, 70 percent of consumers feel that online merchants fall short when it comes to protecting their personal information and around 25 percent let security fears curb their shopping behavior.
"Knowledge is power," said John Landwehr, director of security solutions and strategies for Adobe Systems, Inc. "The more you know, the safer you are while shopping and banking online. Legitimate businesses won't solicit verification of your private information via e-mail. Companies that are serious about preserving their good name and customer loyalty are looking into technologies that safeguard sensitive information within the documents themselves independent of the Web browser."
Banks A Big Pond
For Phishing
More than 50 million people in the United States bank online, and that number is steadily growing, up 50 percent since 2003. It's no wonder that, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, 80 percent of the 140 brands that have been hijacked since November 2003 for phishing schemes are in financial services.
Although banks are getting better at protecting their customers' data by using digital signatures and other security controls built into electronic document technology such as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), it's still up to you to be smart while online.
Here are steps you can take to protect yourself from phishing attacks:
1. Unless an e-mail has been digitally signed, or is a certified electronic document-technology that guarantees the sender is who they say they are-be suspicious of urgent requests for personal financial information or messages that are not personalized. Typically,
e-mails from legitimate banks and e-commerce companies are personalized with your name, partial account number or order number.
2. Don't use the links in suspect e-mails to go to Web pages. Instead, call the company by telephone to respond to requests for personal information.
3. Do not fill out forms within an e-mail message that ask for personal financial information. Only use electronic forms that can be transmitted securely, such as an Adobe PDF form. Adobe PDF is a file format that builds integrity, authenticity and confidentiality into the e-form itself.
4. Log into your online financial accounts and check your bank statements regularly. If any transactions seem suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers immediately.
5. Report phishing to the FTC (spam@uce.gov), the Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI (www.ifccfbi.gov) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (report phishing@antiphishing.com).
"'Bait and switch' has long been a favorite criminal tack," said Adobe's Landwehr. "One way to stop phishers is to lock away the bait in the first place."
For more information, visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a nonprofit organization committed to wiping out Internet scams and fraud (www.antiphishing.org).
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