Blog b Class Content Phishing and Internet Scams

The word phishing comes from the analogy that Internet scammers are using e-mail lures to fish for passwords and financial data from the sea of Internet users. The term was coined in 1996 by hackers who were stealing AOL internet accounts by scamming passwords from unsuspecting AOL users. Since hackers have a tendency to replace "f" with "ph", the term phishing was derived. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2005/phishing.asp

The Webopedia Definition of phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as password and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information.

I have received odd e-mails over the years at school and home but so far I haven't been scammed. I remember being warned about certain Internet Scams and told not to open the e-mails. My school system does have a system in place to block e-mails that shouldn't be coming through. The article "All About Phishing" says the golden rule to avoid being phished is to never ever click the links within the text of the e-mail. Always delete the e-mail immediately. Once you have deleted the e-mail then empty the trash box in your e-mail client as well. You can also visit the Web site of the company from who the e-mail appears to be from and notify them of the suspicious e-mail. Many companies do want to know if their company name is being used to try and scam people. You can also report phishing to the Federal Trade Commission, or the Anti-Phishing Working Group who is building a database of common scams to help inform people of the risks.

My thoughts on this topic are that there have always been scam artists who try to steal from people. This is just a new method, phishing, an outcome of the advancement of the internet. People do need to be informed of these
scams and know what they need to do to protect themselves from identity theft. We need to constantly be on the lookout to safeguard ourselves against the evil forces that permeate our society.