Phishing is using fraudulent means
to steal someone’s information. This is usually done using many methods,
including the use of phishing websites.
Along with websites, other common
methods include phishing emails and pop-up windows.
Phishing scams are created by
scammers for stealing sensitive information like login details, credit card
details and social security numbers. These websites look almost exactly like
the genuine ones and often end up stealing information from unsuspecting
customers.
- Bank phishing scams
Scammers send emails which lure you
into giving your personal information. For example, let us suppose that you
have your account at Bank of America.
One day, you receive an email which
asks you to “verify your bank account details”. At the end of the email, there
is an URL which you are supposed to click for doing the same.
The moment you click on that link,
you will be taken to bank phishing websites. You will be asked to enter all
your bank account details.
Unfortunately, most customers fall
for tricks like these. They end up thinking that the email is actually from
their bank.
It
is important to note that:
●
Banks will never ask you for your debit card PIN
●
They will never ask you to give up your online
banking username and password
●
They will never send you email asking you to
open links for verification purposes.
More than 40% of bank phishing scams succeed in stealing all the data from unsuspecting people. A single scammer can
send millions of emails. So you can imagine how much information he is going to
get if 45% of those millions of people respond back to him.
Always call or visit your bank if
you receive such an email. Take a print-out of the email and show it to them.
Most banks have a dedicated email address for receiving phishing emails. Ask
them what it is and forward the fraudulent email to that address. If banks know
what they are up against, only then can they protect their customers.
Why
do these phishing scams succeed?
Most people find it very difficult
to differentiate between a genuine and a fake website. They don’t even
entertain the idea that they could be on phishing scams and that their data
might get stolen. Most people don’t care to look at the address bar or the URL
before giving out their info.
Is it a really good idea to have
such blind trust and that too while you are on the internet?
Phishing websites, no matter how
well copied, will always look different than the genuine one. There will be
some mistake, some error which will be always there. It could be a spelling mistake or a
grammatical one. Or the name of the bank could be spelt wrong in the URL. For
example, www.bankofwest.com might be spelt as “www.bankofvvest.com. “
Notice how there are two “V” instead
of one “W” in the URL. It is these little things which need to be detected on
phishing websites.
