Phishing: How to avoid the bait
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 10:45AM By Catherine Zende
Catherine ZendeOdds are that when you open your Winthrop email there will be more than just messages from professors. Emails about enhancing physical features, winning contests, and pre-qualifying for credit are all likely to pop up in your inbox. And while you may be wise enough to know these are misleading spam messages, you may not be able to recognize another type of malicious message.
A more common attempt to hack your private information comes in the form of phishing. If you associate this spamming with the sport of fishing, you are not far off. Phishing is much like fishing; both sports lure prey with tempting bait.
A phishing email will use hooks to attempt to hack all of your most important personal information including passwords, bank account information, credit card numbers, and even your Social Security number.
However, unlike the more obvious fake message of winning a contest you never entered, certain phishing schemes disguise themselves as businesses you regularly use.
According the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, phishers send emails asking you to “update” or “verify” certain information by clicking on the link provided.
To pressure you further, they often claim that there will be serious consequences for not responding.The FTC outlines specific points to avoid becoming the prey of these schemes.
First, never reply to an email requesting your private information and never click on any link provided. Legitimate companies do not use emails to solicit this information.
For example, the Winthrop Student Technology handbook specifies that the IT department will never ask for your password so you should ignore any emails requesting your login information.
In addition, make sure your computer has updated antivirus and firewall software to block spammers and scammers. The IT handbook states that students are required to have updated antivirus programs to access the Winthrop network. There are many different antivirus programs you can download to protect your computer, some of which are even free.
Thirdly, never email personal or financial email. While you may think that email is a private conversation, email is not always a secure form of communication.
Other types of phishing schemes will tell you that your computer is in immediate danger. They may insist you open their email to download a certain program to solve the problem. Before you click away in desperation, do some research to be sure the source is reliable. If in doubt, don’t.
Using these tips you can avoid falling for a phishing scheme. But if you do open a suspicious email and feel that your privacy has been breached, contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. However, if you remain skeptical and use these tips you can avoid the bait and protect your identity.
