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The Bad Guys Are Phishing For Your Personal Information |
by:
Tim Knox |
Do you know what "phishing" is?
No, it doesn't mean you grabpole and head tolate to catch some phish.
The official Webopedia definition of "phishing" is as follows:
The act of sendinge-mail touser falsely claiming to beestablished legitimate enterprise inattempt to scamuser into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directsuser to visitWeb site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, thatlegitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to stealuser’s information.
Phishers prey on ignorance, fear, and emotion. They also playnumbers game. The more bait they email out,more phish they'll catch.. By spamming large groups of people,"phisher" counts on his email being read and believed bypercentage of people who will volunteer their personal and credit card information.
The latest attempt by identity theives to stealpersonal information of eBay members hit my inbox earlier this week and I have to say, this one is pretty convincing. Even this old dog diddouble-take before realizing thatidentity thieves were phishing for my personal information again.
The sender of this email is listed as: eBay Member - rivernick andemail subject line reads: Question from eBay Member.
The email begins: "Question from eBay Member -- Respond Now. eBay sent this message on behalf ofeBay member via My Messages. Responses sent using email will not reacheBay member. UseRespond Now button below to respond to this message."
Listen to me: DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTON
Of courseemail was NOT sent byeBay member or sent via eBay's messaging system, as it appears.
The email then takes onthreatening tone.
It reads: "Question from rivernick: I am still waiting payment for my item for about seven days. What happened? Please mail me ASAP or I will report you to ebay."
The recipient is then prompted to respond to this rather disturbing email by clicking"Respond Now." button.
Doing so will take you towebsite designed to look like eBay where you will be prompted to login using your eBay user name and password.
Once you pass this point you will be asked to update your account information before proceeding. Unknowing souls will offer not only their eBay password, but personal and credit card information, as well, without even knowing that they are about to have their personal information stolen.
The one thing that makes this scam so effective isthreat bysupposed eBay member to "report you to eBay."
The email preys onfear of most eBay members that they are in danger of receiving negative feedback. Many eBayers would rather you cut offpinky than leave them negative feedback. It is this emotion thatnew phishers are hoping to hook.
The phisher is betting that most people will either be horrified bythreat of being wrongly reported to eBay or they will be ticked off that some jerk is threatening them by mistake.
Either wayphisher is counting onpercentage of people to haveknee-jerk reaction and login tofake eBay website he has set up clear matters up.
I've yet to see what percentage of people who receive these phishing emails fall forscam, but ifphisher gets onef recipients to turn over their personal information, he will probably consider his phishing expeditionsuccess.
I've warned you about these phishing scams before, but let's review it one more time.
NEVER reply directly toemail that appears to have come from eBay, Paypal, Amazon, or anyoen else asking you to clicklink inemail to update your account information. If there is any doubt in your mind whether or notemail is really from eBay, for example, openbrowser and type inURL http://www.ebay.com. NEVER clicklink withinemail to respond.
NEVER believe thatemail supposedly from another eBay member is for real. Again, do not clickemail link to reply. Openbrowser and go to eBay directly and log in. Ifemail was fromreal member, there will berecord ofinquiry in your My eBay account.
You must be aware that there are bad guys out there who do nothing but spend time trying to come up with new and innovative ways to steal your information.
Be paranoid. Be aware. But do not be fooled.
The phishers will cast their line, but you do not have to takebait.
Here's to your success!
Aboutauthor:
Tim serves aspresident and CEO of three successful technology companies and isfounder of DropshipWholesale.net,online organization dedicated tosuccess of online and eBay entrepreneurs. http://www.prosperityandprofits.com- http://www.dropshipwholesale.net- http://www.threezerodayblueprint.com
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