Phishing: How to tell when that E-mail is Fake!!!
Damage to your reputation, your credit report, and your bank account are all symptoms of one of the biggest issues in consumer privacy lately: the safety of your identity!
Most of us can tell what bulk mail is in the postal box, but not everyone is sophisticated enough to "call" a fake, phish, pharm, or spam e-mail.
Here's my advice: Never click on a link!!!
I received a very impressive-looking email from my Bank today, and it even fooled me, for about three seconds.
The bank wrote me back and told me that these are the hallmarks of a "phish" email, which attempts to grab your personal information.
1) Anonymous salutation. Does the e-mail say "Dear Account Holder" or "Dear Customer"? If so, they probably don't know you and are spamming millions in hopes of getting three to five responses.
2) Does the email want you to go somewhere? Again, never click on a link! Oftentimes there will be a request for you to click on a link to "verify" your most trusted information, like your PIN, your bank account number, your credit card number, your SSN, your date of birth, etc. Never respond to an email that requires these.
3) Is the email desperate? Everything can wait a day or two. Does the email require you to take action immediately? Does the email say that you will be cut off, or that your account will be closed? I doubt this will happen if it is a legitimate business. When you have a doubt, type it out, or better, CALL the customer service number of the purported company.
4) Spellcheck is your friend. Does the e-mail include obvious grammatical errors or misspellings? Delete it. No self-respecting company will send out a customer e-mail with incorrect punctuation or misspelled words.
5) Check to see who is actually sending the message. Many fake emails come from an email address that is not the domain name of the company. For example:
info@nameofyourbank.com would be a better bet.
nameofyourbank@someotherwebsite.com will not be legitimate.
In the Real World: Protect your Data
On top of the electronic fraud, you'll want to take some simple steps to protect yourself:
a) protect your physical documents (like checks, packages, and confidential email)
b) shred old financial statements and self-identifying information
c) check your credit report at least once a year for errors: www.annualcreditreport.com is a free source
d) check who it is: if someone calls or emails purporting to be from a particular company, call back and confirm, or request their staff listing or company directory listing. Anyone can act as a financial officer or a bank representative, but only the bank's official website or email address will show the truth.
e) physical theft (if your computer, wallet, or purse is stolen). Make sure to have a backup copy of all pertinent toll-free numbers and account numbers so you can call, report a theft, and cancel.
f) install a password-protected screensaver and a password on sensitive file folders on your laptop. Even if your machine is stolen, yor personal data remains safe.
BONUS TIPS:
I recommend you back up your physical files on an external hard drive so you always have access to a source copy. Anything can and does happen, when you back up and store your information elsewhere, you always have the option to rebuild.
