by Stephen H

Created on: August 10, 2010   Last Updated: October 21, 2011

As on-line commerce and banking become more popular, criminals are turning to more sophisticated ways of committing crimes.  One of the common forms of internet crime is called phishing.  This is a growing practice with millions of phishing attempts recorded each year.  It is a particularly difficult crime to combat as criminals can easily cover their tracks and steal from you before you even know that the theft has taken place.  It is important that all internet users are familiar with the practice and can identify when it is taking place so that they can protect themselves.

What is Phishing?

It is no coincidence that phishing sounds like fishing, because in effect that is exactly what the criminal is doing.  Instead of dangling a worm in front of a fish to entice them onto the hook, they try to hook unsuspecting internet users into providing personal data using the cover of what appears to be a legitimate email or web-site from a reputable organization. 

One of the most common phishing tricks is to send you an email stating that there is some reason for you to contact an organization, for example to confirm a withdrawal from your bank account for a large sum of money.  They will provide a link within the email to take you to your bank’s website.  You may be panicked by this email, as you have not made a large withdrawal and are concerned that someone is stealing from you.  When you click on the link, you are taken to a web-site that has been carefully designed to look like your bank’s web-site.  Even the address in the address bar appears to be your bank’s web address.  However, when you logon to the site, with username and password, the information is passed to criminals who then use it to pretend they are you.  This form of identity theft works equally well for banks, credit card companies and other organizations that you use to buy things on the internet, such as paypal, amazon and ebay.

How to Spot Phishing

This is not always easy, in fact in can be quite difficult as these criminals go to great lengths to make everything appear normal, however,  there are some tell-tale signs that you can look out for and these can help you avoid becoming a victim of one of these phishing scams.

How you are Addressed.

Most organizations that contact you by email will address you by name and you will know how you are usually addressed by the organizations.  The phishers would find

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