Beware of email 'phishing' scam
 
 
canada.com, Thursday, November 10, 2005

If you use the internet alot, you probably use the search engine google.

That's why a new email phishing scam is fooling a lot of people.

Phoney emails have been sent to millions of people using a copy of the Google home page.

It says "You've won 400-dollars" for being the latest visitor to the Google web site.

Then you have to click on a special link to get the prize.

The catch is that the money will be transferred to your credit card and you have to give them your  number and mailing address to get it.

There's even a special link for people who don't have a credit card.

Of course, the whole thing is a fake and if you fill out the forms,  police say someone will either steal your identity or drain your credit card account.

If you want to read more about this new scam and see what the phoney email looks like click on this link

This prize scam is one of many types of phishing emails.

Someone actually copies the logo or graphics from a big name, recognizable company and then mass-mails a message to millions of people on the internet.

It could be from a bank, a retail store or an on-line business like e-bay or google.  

The message may be something they're giving away, asking you for a donation to charity, it could be a security warning,  a notice about an unpaid bill or just updating your account information.

Many of the people who get these emails aren't even customers of the company but the people behind them know it will reach someone who is.

That's why it's called phishing.

There are ways to tell when it's a fake.  The first clue is that they are not personalized.
The message may be addressed to "Dear Valued Customer",  instead of your full name.

There will often be a threat to scare you, like, your account will be terminated if you don't respond or, you won't be able to access your account unless you update the personal information.

Legitimate businesses don't mass mail these kinds of messages to customers.

If your still not sure, close the email and log on to the companies web site yourself.

If it's legitimate, the exact same message will be posted on the companies real web site.

If you want to know how to spot a phishing scam, block them from your Inbox and protect yourself from identity theft, here's a link with lots of useful information and security tips.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/phishing/video1.mspx

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