Phishing on the network - one of the most common types of fraud on the Internet. Phishing Krupa constantly exposed to financial institutions and organizations around the world. The purpose of phishing - to deceive people in order to obtain confidential personal information such as credit card or bank details.

How do phishing schemes

To get the information they need, phishers send fraudulent messages in the form of a formal request for information from a particular company, which is their goal. Usually, they also create a site very similar to the official website of the company - the style, logos, images, menus, and other structural components may look the same as on the official website.

Recipients are asked to fake messages go to a hyperlink. Then fake site opens in the browser user. There may be a form that asks for personal information such as credit card details and bank accounts, home address and telephone number. Most visitors are asked to enter the site using your username and password. All the information goes to the fake website can be used by fraudsters.

Options include using phishing schemes form inserted into the body of the fake letter. Victims are invited to enter into the form details such as passwords and bank account number and send a letter back to the sender. Another option - an attempt to force the install on your computer Trojans by opening attached file, or download a trojan from the site. Fraudsters can then use the Trojan to gather information from the infected computer. Fake e-mails are sent en masse to many thousands of Internet users in the hope that their bait will fall at least a small number of victims. Most people who have received such a letter, most likely, are not even clients of institutions hunt fraudsters. However, phishers rely on statistical probability that at least some of the recipients of the letters:

• Have an account in the financial institution.
• Do not know about such schemes and believe that the letter is official.

Even if a very small percentage of recipients will fall for the bait scams, the scheme would be profitable.

Scammers use the information obtained through phishing to:

• Take hold of the victim's account. After the fraudsters to hit information such as passwords, user names, account numbers, they get direct access to the victim's account. They can then transfer funds to other accounts, conduct transactions, write checks in the name of the victims and generally manipulate the account as well as it could do its rightful owner. They can also change the password, the victim lost access to your account.
• Use the credit card details of the victim. If the crooks stole credit card information, they can then use them to make purchases at the expense of the victim.
• Stealing personal information of the victim. If the crooks got enough personal information about the victim, they may be able to steal her personal data. Then they will be able to conduct criminal activity on behalf of the victim. Identity theft can have serious and lasting consequences. Victims can spend months or years trying to restore his good name, to deal with legal problems, recover from the debts and restore credit reputation.

Common characteristics of phishing emails

• Unjustified requests sensitive information. The purpose of a typical phishing email - master the personal information of the recipient. If you get any unjustified letter, supposedly from a bank or other institution that asks you to click on the link and enter your personal sensitive information, you should take this report with great suspicion. It is highly unlikely that a legitimate institution has requested personal information in this way.
• Content seems genuine. Phishing emails are made to create the illusion that they had sent a legal institution. It can come in HTML format and have a logo, style, contacts, and copyright information, virtually the same as that used by an institution that is their goal. To enhance the appearance of legality, some secondary references in these fake emails can lead to a genuine site facility. However, one or more hyperlinks inserted in the body of the message, point to the fake site.
• Camouflaged hyperlinks and address of the sender. Links in phishing schemes are often disguised as links that lead to the genuine site. Address the message sender can also look as if it belongs to this company.
• The e-mail consists of a clickable image. Some phishing emails can come in the form of a clickable image file. That is, everything is composed of an image that contains a false request for information. This is particularly dangerous type of phishing emails because any click inside the message will open the fake site.
• Generic greetings. Since phishing emails sent to multiple recipients, they begin greetings such as "Dear account holder" or "Dear customer (name of institution)." If the establishment of a genuine need to contact the customer for some issues related to his account, most likely, in a letter addressed him by name.
• Using a variety of tricks, forcing the recipient to click on the link. Phishing emails used many tricks, explaining why the recipient should provide the requested information. Often the letters imply that require urgent action by the recipient.

Here are some of the most common tricks:

• Details of the account of the client needs to be clarified because of software updates or security.
• Customer account can be frozen, if within a certain time will be refined details.
• It was listed for suspicious activity associated with the user account, and so it should make urgent information.
• The usual security check requires the user to confirm account details.

What to do if you receive a suspicious letter

Do not click on any links in the email. Do not enter any personal information requested in the letter. Do not respond to the letter and did not attempt to contact the sender. Do not enter any information on the fake site, which may appear in your browser, if you still have followed a link in the email. Do not open any attachments attached to the letter. As quickly as possible remove the letter from the computer.

If you need more information about a suspicious letter, please visit the official website of the institution from which it supposedly came, or contact him. If you have already provided information to fraudsters as a result of a phishing scheme, you need to immediately contact with this agency and ask for advice. This must be done very quickly to protect the account.

Usually people become victims of phishing simply because they do not know how to operate such schemes. You can tell your friends and colleagues so they know about phishing. You can also report suspicious letters special anti-phishing sites and institutions that have been targeted by fraudsters.