What are phishing scams?
Phishing scams are fraudulent email messages that appear to come from legitimate businesses, such as your Internet service provider or your bank. These messages usually direct you to a false website to get you to divulge private information (passphrase, credit card, or other account updates). The perpetrators can then use your private information to commit identity theft.
How can I avoid phishing scams?
Be suspicious of any email message that asks you to enter or verify personal information, through a website or by replying to the message itself. Never reply to or click the links in such a message. If you think the message may be legitimate, go directly to the company’s website or contact the company to see if you really do need to take the action described in the email message.
What should I do with suspected emails?
If you believe you have received a phishing message, the best advice is to login to your email through webmail and then mark the phishing message as spam. When enough reports are turned in from the offending email address it will become black listed, which will block the originating email address from sending out future emails.
