by Angelica Hidalgo

Created on: July 30, 2010

Phishing through email involves the act of sending a fraudulent email requesting personal information on behalf of a seemingly legitimate company. These emails can be tricky to spot nowadays, as most are getting more and more authentic in their presentations. As a general rule, one must be wary of any emails that ask for personal information upfront, despite how legitimate the email may appear. Most of these emails pass as being from an actual company, such as a bank, established online site, etc. Most of the time, the email will include a story of why they need the information they are requesting, and ask you to either reply to the email with the information or click on a link they have provided and enter the information there.

To ensure that the email is authentic, always notify the company they are trying to pass as first. Give them a call, or send them an email through their actual website informing them if the story behind why they require your information is true. If it is, ask to deal with the situation over the phone or through their actual website to ensure that the other email isn't a fraud. If the story is not true, delete the email immediately and/or place it in your spam folder so it can be detected as spam.

Also, a good rule of thumb is to check for any possible discrepancies within the email. Sometimes, there will be grammatical errors, differences in the logo of the supposed company, etc. These are all signs of poor construct and is most often always a fraudulent phishing email. Also, check the story on why they require your information for any signs of suspicion. Sometimes, phishing emails are poorly made and the reasons for why they require your information are either too drastic to be true or just plain absurd. If it sounds suspicious, then it most likely is.

Never reply directly to the email with the information they say they require. This is almost always a bad idea. Even if the email were authentic, most of the time companies require the respondent to click on a separate link to enter the said information. This is because the email account from which the email was sent from is usually automatic, and so it is unable to recognize such information, at best. At worst, you would have just sent your information to an unknown phisher. Speaking of the link, it is always a good idea to analyze the link they make you click on carefully. Watch out for any changes in the original link URL of the company; if the link they make you click on is not related to the original URL of the website, chances are high that it is a phishing scam. Also, make sure the link has an HTTPS as opposed to an HTTP at the beginning of the link URL. A legitimate company would ensure that the information you submit is secure, and so they would provide a link with an HTTPS prefix. A phisher would most likely not include such a prefix.

In the end, it is always best to notify the company directly to verify the accuracy of their supposed claims. This is the best and surefire way to ensure that you are not dealing with a phishing scam.

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