Not everyone knows what phishing is, but almost every Internet user has encountered it. This is a new type of fraud, based on the search for and retrieval of passwords from all personal information of a person, for further use of it for the purpose of stealing money.
Phishing - what is it?
Let for many it is an unfamiliar word, the problem of Internet fraud does not stand still, but grows. People are trying to find passwords to bank cards, online services and electronic purses to steal money, and the most surprising is that many are being led by it and quietly trust their personal data. This increases the number of deceived users, and fraud flourishes.
Having noticed for yourself what phishing means, you can protect yourself from losing your money. In addition, the problem can affect your friends who receive a request from the swindler to give out passwords, ostensibly on your behalf. Having access to personal data, scammers can perform many operations, and the user can no longer consider this service safe. You have to create new wallets, change and block bank cards, etc.
What is phishing on the Internet?
Until recently, people could not use the Internet in such a mass scale and did not understand what phishing was. Information technology is developing very quickly and this type of fraud is gaining momentum because of its ease of use. Hackers perform simple actions, and receive the necessary information, in a few hours. Knowing what phishing means and how it is used, you can protect yourself from this trouble. Given some of the recommendations, you can see the catch at the very beginning:
- address line mismatch;
- difference in the design of the site, font, color, etc .;
- any passwords and logins are accepted, giving out an error or throwing it on the official site.
What is phishing passwords?
Attackers receive passwords in order to draw money from the user. Especially it's dangerous if they get close to online banks, because there are more serious amounts stored. Knowing what a phishing attempt is, a person will not have to deal with problems related to blocking and re-issuing cards and creating a new personal cabinet. Hackers do their job quickly, performing several points.
- Copies the source address of the site, for further promotion.
- Rent a low-cost or free domain, for the temporary creation of a copy of the site.
- Makes a link to go through them.
- After entering the login / password combination, they automatically fly to the base of the hacker.
What is a phishing account?
Theft of data for access to the account (login / password, secret word, various access codes, etc.) is one of the types of phishing. Inexperienced users who do not know how to check a site for phishing or recognize a phishing scam come across tricks of intruders, go to fake sites or download files containing viruses stealing data from a computer and not just pass the password to scammers, but also allow copying all accounts from your computer. This is much more dangerous, because it is not known what the hacker decides to visit.
The computer stores a history of visits with logins and passwords and among them there may be sites, for example, a bank or electronic wallet, so when you first suspect fraud, you need to change passwords. Unfortunately, it is often too late and in this case it is better to contact the bank to block the card, if it's just a site - write to the technical support of the administration that your passwords are known to attackers and confirm the data specified during the registration to restore access.
How does phishing work?
The goal of these tricks is to obtain personal data. Checking the site for phishing will provide additional security, which in our unstable time is very necessary. Some scammers on the Internet work at a minimum level and receive passwords from social networks to send spam or viruses, while others only deal with financial fraud. In any case, phishing fraud can bring some inconvenience and for yourself you need to know how to better secure:
- Do not follow links from letters;
- do not believe the unexpected lottery winnings in which you did not participate;
- Do not confirm passwords if you report a misunderstood activity on your page.
Symptoms of phishing
Though modern technologies do not stand still and the work of hackers is already very professional, yet they can not do their work without leaving a trace. You can see social phishing, and experienced users do it very quickly. Letters with incomprehensible links immediately go into spam, and their forgery for a large corporation presents itself as an incorrect outgoing address. In addition, you need to pay attention to:
- the name of the site, it may differ from the original by one or two letters;
- indifferent treatment, such as: dear friend, dear user, etc .;
- bank, payment system or postal provider which you use ask to follow the link and enter login / password, to confirm registration;
- the second-level domain does not match.
Types of phishing
Modern phishing attacks are gaining momentum, but they have already learned to recognize in a timely manner. There are a number of signs that scammers quickly give themselves out and remain with nothing, and sometimes they are even found at the IP address. Now there are three main types of phishing, which spreads in the network and prevents easy to live ordinary users.
- Postal address . Users receive spam by e-mail, which can contain links, viruses and various worms. Hackers simply bypass all types of filters and confuse recipients.
- Online . Attackers create a copy of the main page of a well-known site and receive a login and password, subsequently writing off money from online banks and electronic purses.
- Combined . Combines the above two methods. This is how professionals work.
How to protect yourself from phishing?
Since it's very easy to get into the tricks of scammers and there are some tips on the net to avoid problems. Knowing what protection from phishing is, you can protect not only yourself, but your computer from viruses and malware. Remember that all letters and sentences that come unexpectedly can be an attack of hackers, especially information about a significant gain.
- Entering login / password, check if the secure connection is working.
- Do not use online banking and other financial services from an unfamiliar Wi-Fi.
- Check the links, even if they are from friends.
- After finding phishing, report it to the official site administration.