From Jennifer Mulrean at MSN Money:
Crooks use official-looking e-mails and fake Web sites to get your personal data, then steal from you. Here's how to protect yourself from phishing frauds, the Net's biggest scam.
The Federal Trade Commission’s No. 1 tip for avoiding this rip-off: DON'T provide any personal financial information via e-mail. (Banks and other companies frequently remind customers that they don't ever ask for sensitive financial data via e-mail.) Other tips from the FTC and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG):
Be extremely suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information.
Don't fill out forms in e-mail messages that ask for personal financial information.
Don't use the links in an e-mail to get to any Web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic. Instead, telephone the company or log onto the Web site directly by typing its Web address in your browser.
