Nov 12 2008
Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are fraudulent emails sent with the specific intent of getting your personal information. This information could be your address, phone number, or bank account information. It could also be your login or password information to a popular web site.
Ebay and Paypal users are very popular targets for these types of scams, but nearly any large web site or banking institution could be the target.
The typical phishing email will have an appearance very similar to the official web page of the site or bank. They will usually have a similar color scheme and may have stolen the logo as well. Many times these emails have mixed up colors or the logo is wrong. If the email doesn’t quite match what you remember about the site then it is a good bet that it is a fraud. Notify the company right away and do not reply to the email.
I’ve been a member of PayPal for a few years now, during which time I have received two phishing emails. Both of which I forwarded to the PayPal address for suspect phishing (read their information regarding phishing and where to send suspect emails.
Their response is quick in confirming whether or not it was a phishing email and they will tell you that they are presently attempting to disable it.