You could consider most spam and viruses just an annoyance or inconvenience. However a more malicious type of spam nicknamed “Phishing” – pronounced fishing is on the increase, often operated by organised crime. These scam emails are particularly nasty as they look very official and ask you to log in to what looks like an authentic website of a bank or online business you may deal with. This is usually under the pretence of requiring you to update your account details for their records. Often there is pressure to do so quickly, because of account expiry or some other urgent reason.  The intention is that people succumb before they have had time to think and realise the danger.  It’s often difficult to tell them apart from a genuine business email, as even the website address “appears” correct. This is one of the most dangerous and growing problems because even experienced Internet users can easily be tricked into giving away their credit card details and even their PIN number. Don’t be fooled by the official nature of these emails and websites. The fact is that no bank will EVER ask you for your password or access details by email and no one will EVER ask you for your PIN number over the Internet. Most banks notify their customers of important changes by letter. An email from a bank or financial institution should be treated like the risk of viruses in an email attachment.  ALWAYS assume that there is a high risk that it is a phishing attack.  In the case of your bank, phone them to check.

Not just banks are targets of this scam, eBay and PayPal users have also been victims of these emails as well. These firms are particularly vulnerable, as they rely almost solely on electronic communication. In fact any online business that accepts credit cards could potentially fall victim to having its website fraudulently imitated (Spoofed). If necessary visit their website by opening a new browser window, typing in their website address yourself, and following their instructions about how to identify fraudulent emails.  NEVER click on the links in a suspicious email. For more information on Phishing and how to protect yourself, visit www.antiphishing.org/consumer_recs.html. (Addendum: In the face of increasing attempts to steal eBay users account details, eBay have taken impressive steps to monitor and protect its members. Even still, much of their work is done after user accounts have been compromised. For more assistance on how to detect eBay fraud, please visit www.ebay.com/securitycenter/.)

Another fraudulent type of email that has been circulating for a while now is the Nigerian money scam. Although most people by now see the risk and the high probability that this is a scam, you would be surprised how many people have lost their money. Over the years it has appeared in many variations, not only a Nigerian Bank worker, but wives of assassinated Presidents or high officials from several countries, even in Iraq. Surely everyone has heard of the old saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true!” I have less sympathy for people who get caught by these scams as many are asking you to hide money from other Governments or Institutions in what seems to be dishonest means to say the least. Greed seems to blind these people and they end up with nothing, or worse.

You may think it is too risky to use your credit card over the Internet, but actually the security of SSL enabled websites is very strong. The risks aren’t with the security but with people being tricked into giving away personal banking and login details. If you assume that all emails can’t be trusted, only visit important websites by manually typing in the web address, and follow the instructions of financial institutions that you deal with about detecting and deleting fraudulent emails, then you can feel confident with doing online banking and business. Like me, many people rely on the Internet to do business so following simple rules can help protect you from cyber fraud.