November 15, 2006

For the last couple of months everyone has been getting emails asking you to update your account.  When you get an email from a credit union, which you don't belong to, it is obvious that it is a scam.  But what if you just bought an item on eBay, and shortly after you get an email asking you to update your Pay Pal account?

Well the phisher's are getting very ingenious getting people to fall for their scams.  Sometimes it's a mystery as to how they get some of the information they do, so make yourself one rule, never click on a link in an email to go to a site to update any account information of any type.  Remember, no matter how official the email appears, it could be a scam.  Some of the emails are designed to mimic the layout of the real site's pages, so be careful.

If you receive an email saying something needs to be updated, go to the site through the normal Internet favorite or bookmark, login the way you usually do, then if it asks you to update something, you can be more comfortable it is a legitimate request.

Another thing you will notice about the fake sites, look at the address of the page.  Most banking, etc., sites are secure sites.  The address will start out with https:// rather than http://, but don't rely solely on this item.

Also don't fill in any forms in an email unless you are absolutely sure it is a valid request.  Either call or email the business before you fill out and send a form back.  Most banks, credit card companies, etc. don't ever ask for personal information in emails because they already have that information.

If you try to be careful and use a little common sense, you won't have any problems.

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