Computer Identity Theft - How to Avoid Phishing Scams

The widespread use of personal computers and the internet is a godsend for many identity thieves. The days of rummaging through trash cans looking for personal details like bank account details or a social security number has gone. For today's thieves the tools of trade are the computer and countless bogus email ids. And their pool of potential victims has spread from the local area to the whole world. So it is no wonder that computer identity theft is on the rise and one of the fastest growing crimes to date.

Although it might appear like a high tech crime, the most common form of computer identity theft is in fact one of the oldest crimes going. It is a simple confidence trick that can be blatantly obvious or elaborately cunning depending on your experience of these things.

So, the most common types of identity theft target an individuals fear or greed. These are two very powerful emotions that will make people take action. Once these emotions are triggered, the identity theft simply tells the potential victim what to do.

A common fear that many people that use computers have is that they will be a target of computer identity theft. They use computers a bit but know that there are some smart people out in the world who can do all sorts of things with computers. One day they receive an email from their bank saying that their bank account was hacked into last night. Please enter their details and then change the password so this can't happen again.

The immediate reaction is "what has happened to my account ?" or "has money been taken out ?". The email says that you should login to your account and change the password. Conveniently, this can be done by filling out the login details supplied in the email.

The email looks genuine. The logo at the head of the mail is the bank's logo. The wording of the email has that official sound to it. Some people may fall for this but if you look slightly closer at the mail you will see some things that don't seem to add up. The sending email address has a yahoo suffix to it. The name of the person and title of the person signing the email don't quite sound right. You are wise to be wary.

Phishing scams work by presenting an official looking email or directing the intended victim to an authentic looking website. This is the process of building trust or confidence. With trust established the thief will ask for important details from the potential victim. This may be anything from bank account details to a social security number. They can then wreak havoc on their finances or apply for things like credit cards using their identity.

The common practice for most companies is never to ask for personal details via an email. If you receive anything like this it is a hoax and you are best advised to delete it. If a website does ask for personal information it should be secure. A secure website will have a lock logo on it which will lead to information about how they secure their website. Also the name of the particular web page will start with a 'https'.

Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/

Get more advice on how to prevent identity theft online and some things to consider when buying a paper shredder.

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