Quezi

Online scammers want your money. Composite photo by D70focus. CC-BY.

If you’ve ever received an e-mail asking you to enter account information at some rogue web site, you’ve been the would-be victim of a phishing attempt. Every hour, thousands of Internet users are targeted. While there is no way of protecting yourself 100 percent of the time from every possible Internet threat, there are some simple safe browsing practices you can adopt that will all but eliminate most threats. Among them:

• Use the most recent browsers available. Current versions of the most popular browsers — Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera — have phishing protection built in. They will automatically block most rogue web sites — but only if you have the phishing protection turned on.
• If you set up a wireless network, make sure you set it up with security turned on. The oldest common type of security, known as WEP, isn’t entirely secure, but it’s far better than nothing.
• Don’t click on links in e-mail if they purport to take you to a site where you might have an account. You’re much better off typing the name manually into the address space.
• Read the documentation for your browser to see how it indicates that you have connected to a secure site. Most browsers place a small lock icon in the address bar and sometimes use color-coding as well. Make certain that when accessing any sites involving sensitive information that the security symbol is showing.
• Do not use easy-to-guess passwords for financial or e-mail accounts. It’s best to use random combinations of letters and numbers.
• Do not use the same password for multiple accounts. If you should get a password stolen, the scammer might attempt to use it on other accounts as well.
• Before entering passwords or crucial information, make certain that your browser displays the correct web address for the site you’re visiting. Although security breaches can result in the wrong address being displayed, this isn’t very common.
• Remember that anti-virus software doesn’t do anything to protect you from phishing attacks (although it might prevent a rogue program from sending someone account information via other means). And even anti-phishing software may not recognize scam sites as soon as they appear; for many systems, it takes victims reporting fraudulent sites to get them put on a blacklist.
• Some bank sites will display a certain picture whenever you access your account. If the picture doesn’t show up, don’t use the site.
• Do not assume that because someone you know sent you an e-mail that it’s legitimate. Your friend may be a scam victim as well, and the e-mail may have been sent by a robot.
• Check all your financial accounts regularly to make sure there aren’t illegitimate charges.

Although it’s easy to become paranoid, you take less risk buying online from a reputable dealer than you do when you hand your credit or debit card to a restaurant server. Following these precautions, and chances are you won’t become another victim.