April 2005 Issue
Page 3

News

"Phishing" the Clever Imposter
Source: eWEEK Magazine

Phishing appeared more than 10 years ago and is essentially another vehicle for identity theft. In its simplest form, phishing involves sending out fake email messages that ask recipients to reply back with or enter personal information, such as bank account numbers, PINs, or credit card numbers into forms on Websites that are designed to mimic bank or e-commerce sites.

They look so "official" in your inbox, but these messages are frauds that are well disguised and designed to appear to come from legitimate companies like ebay, Paypal and sometimes even eGIX.

Once the scammers have the information they have been known to withdraw money directly from victim's bank accounts or have new credit cards made under false names and go on frantic shopping sprees.

Do not be fooled. Even though these emails look real, they are not! Most companies will NOT email you requesting personal information. If ever in doubt, call the company in question and confirm that they did in fact send you an email.

Please beware that Phishing is becoming more and more prevalent today. See below for a few red flags you should keep an eye out for.

Within an email message:

• Unusual characters in the From: field. Phishing emails often contain characters such as exclamation points in the From: fields.
• Over-the-top threats of disaster. To play on people's fears, phishing emails often warn of terrible consequences if action isn't taken soon. In reality, failing to verify an account rarely results in such dire repercussions.
• Poor grammar & misspellings. Legitimate emails can contain misspellings and poor grammar, but when combined with other red flags, they are often a good indication that the mail is a fraud.
• Rich content & embedded ads . Promotional emails from businesses often contain these rich HTML elements. However, when a business sends emails dealing with registration or account changes, the email format typically is plain text or very basic.

(Source: eWeek Labs)

Remember, eGIX will NEVER email you requesting personal information. Every communication we send is followed by the image below. If you have any doubts, please contact us at (800) 489-6655.

Example:

Check out the links below to find out more about phishing:

This website includes examples of current phishing attacks and contains other helpful information.
www.antiphishing.org

Click here for the Federal Trade Commission's consumer alert on "Phishing".
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm

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