Identity Theft

The word “phishing”, applies to criminals who look to victimize people by use of the internet. They literally fish for your personal information by using bait such as innocent looking emails. They cast their nets on the World Wide Web, in an effort to reel in information that can be used to steal your identity.

One way that criminals attempt to do this is by sending you an email that is designed to look like that of an actual bank or company. Naturally, if you receive an email that states that they need you to update your bank records and it’s not from the bank that you frequent, then you’ll know something is amiss. Remember that these thieves may not actually know your information, which is the reason that they are fishing for it. They send that same email to millions of people, knowing that at least some portion of these individuals are likely to respond. If you get an email from the bank that you do have accounts with, contact your bank immediately to verify the email. Don’t use the phone number listed on the email; obtain it from the phone company instead. The bank will tell you the steps to take to report the fraudulent attempt to gain your information.

These types of emails are also sent using companies such as paypal, or eBay. Go directly to these companies and report the attempts. Most have a department that handles this type of fraud.

Another way that criminals can net your personal information is by sending you messages that have a trojan horse attached to it. One you open the message, the trojan will then infiltrate your computer and this will allow thieves to obtain information that’s stored on it. People do a lot of transactions over the computer and keep records that contain their banking and credit information. If a trojan is let loose in your computer, a thief can actually monitor the sites that you visit and see the information that you input.

It’s important to make sure that you have the most recent antivirus software available, as well as a firewall and anti spyware. Never give out your personal information online, unless you have verified the company. Don’t open emails that are from people that you don’t recognize, since trojans can be attached.

You can also report phishing attempts and spoof emails to agencies that will investigate them. You can report them to, reportphishing@antiphishing.com. Another such agency is spam@uce.gov. Be sure to also report them to the companies that they appear to be from.

Be diligent and protect yourself from identity theft. A few quick and simple steps to avoid it, may prevent you from having to recover from it for years to come.