What can people do to protect themselves against phishing?

Answer 1

Never do anything contained IN an email or click on any link in an email. If you are concerned look for the website to use on paperwork you have, or independently go to the official website using a web address that you know works, outside of that contained in the email.

Never provide IDs, Accounts, PINS, Passwords to anybody emailing you, phoning you or coming to see you.

If you get an email or phone call that you were not expecting saying you have won something or offering you some get rich quick opportunity - do not answer it - if it too good to believe - it is a scam.

Never answer unwanted phone calls or emails, and with emails mark them as SPAM then delete them without opening them.

Answer 2

Be wary of clicking links within emails. You may get an email that appears to be from a real company, but it was actually created by scam artist. This email will ask you to click a link and log in to your account. Don't do it - if you click the link it will take you to a site that looks exactly like the real thing, but isn't. When you enter your user name and password, the scam artist will have it. Then they can log on to you account and steal any personal information you have.

There is a clever new phishing scam called

tabnabbing. Hackers have developed a method to take over an inactive computer screen and transform into something that looks exactly like the log in for an email, credit card, bank or another account. You may click on that screen (or tab) and think you need to log in, but if you do the scam artist can get your personal information.

If you get a phising email, notify the company that appears to have sent it.

Answer 3

To prevent phishing:

Guard against spam emails. Do not answer them and absolutely do not give out any personal information in emails.

Only give out personal information on secure websites or over the phone. Only give out personal information over the phone to a trusted caller that you know, absolutely not to anyone promising a windfall of cash or making some other big promise. The cliche "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true" is right in almost ALL cases, and I say almost all only because there might be an exception. If there is, they will be happy to give out their information, a physical address that you can confirm, and a valid way for you to confirm they are legitimate.

If you do not know a sender, do not click on links or download attachments. Delete the email.

Never enter personal information on a random pop-up. Likewise, never click on any links on random pop-ups.

Protect your computer with a firewall, spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

Check your online accounts and bank statements regularly. If possible, use your settings on each account to receive an email when a change occurs to your account.

Answer 4

* Creating the spam folder in mails.

*Do not convey confidential information through mails.

*Do not open suspicious mails or sites.

Answer 5

"Phishing" involves the use of fraudulent emails and copy-cat websites to trick you into revealing valuable personal information - such as account numbers for banking, securities, mortgage, or credit accounts, your social security numbers, and the login IDs and passwords you use when accessing online financial services providers. The fraudsters who collect this information then use it to steal your money or your identity or both.

To protect yourself from these types of scams, learn what to do and not do on the computer, never give information away, always log in the the site directly, without clicking any kind of a link, and have a good anti-virus/anti-spam/anti-phishing package installed and running on your computer. Know that all real websites will NEVER send you eMail that offers to allow you to logon by clicking a link.

Answer 6

It can't be prevented (that you won't get these emails). You can only prevent yourself becoming a victim.