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You’ve probably received emails from eBay or PayPal asking you to update your information online or telling your account will expire unless you act now. The problem is, eBay and PayPal never sent them. These are popular phishing schemes played out by individuals and groups who sole purpose is to steal money or private information from you.

$2 billion dollars are lost each year on phishing schemes alone. More than 1.2 million computers users each year fall victim to these scam artists. Often the phishers steal personal data, credit card numbers, social security numbers to create fake accounts, ruin a victim’s credit or prevent the user from accessing their account.

How do you protect yourself from phishing? Well, there are some things you can do to prevent from potential heartbreak.

1. Never enter a financial website when solicited.
2. Memorize valid financial URLs.
3. Get to know the phishing schemes and techniques.
4. Never give out personal information.
5. Get involved. Report fake email and websites.

Phishers have become sophisticated each passing year. In the past, phishers sent out crude emails usually full of spelling errors to lure computer users to login to fake websites. Those email schemes were easy to spot. But now, the email quality has gotten better. The words used are almost down to the teeth.

Take a look at this email sent to me this past week:

You have added Riley619@yahoo.com as a new email address for
your PayPal account.

If you did not authorize this change or if you need assistance
with your account, please contact PayPal customer service at:

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr=_email-login_

Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot
be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose
the “Help” link in the header of any page.
—————————————————————–

PROTECT YOUR PASSWORD

NEVER give your password to anyone and ONLY log in at
https://www.paypal.com/. Protect yourself against fraudulent websites
by opening a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape)
and typing in the PayPal URL every time you log in to your account.
—————————————————————–

If you look at this email carefully, there’s something wrong here. This email is trying to get me to login to the link provided. This is always a good clue. Remember rule #1. Never enter a financial website when solicited. Legitimate companies will never ask you for financial information via email. If you are really concerned about your account, use a telephone or open up a new browser and type in the valid URL yourself.

That leads me to point #2. Memorize the valid URLs of financial websites you use. The link provided in this email looks valid. In actuality, it was spoofed link because it is pointing to another website called “paypalusersonline.com” which by the way, is now shutdown. Mousing over the link provided will usually reveal the destination URL.

Most browsers and email clients nowadays will have status bars telling you the destination URL. Always pay attention to this. It’s usually located in the bottom right hand corner just above the Start button if you are a Windows user. The valid URL for PayPal is http://www.paypal.com. Remember, always use valid URLs in a new browser yourself!

Rule #3. Get to know the phishing schemes and techniques employed by scammers. The Wikipedia website is a good place to learn more about phishing. Also, you can scour Google for phishing articles and learn the latest information on combating phishing schemes.

Rule #4. Never give out personal information online. Legitimate companies will never ask you for personal information online.

Finally Rule #5. Get involved. If you have received a fraud email, report it to the financial company being spoofed. Financial websites usually offer an email address to report fraudulent activities. In my case, PayPal has an email address available on their website. If you have been scammed, please report it to Federal Trade Commision as well.

Be safe! Happy browsing!