Ask The Pro: What is “phishing”?
Thursday, July 1st, 2004This month’s pro discusses “phishing,” a common email scam.”Phishing,” pronounced “fishing,” is the newest buzzword being used to describe a scam that is nearly as old as email itself. The con is simple but insidious – claim to be a legitimate authority in order to get someone to divulge privileged information that can then be used for identity theft. The simplicity of this attack is what makes it so effective. Phishers take advantage of a number of simple tricks that allow them access to your most sensitive information.
One of the most common tricks that phishers use is to take advantage of HTML email to trick their targets into visiting a web page designed to install spyware (see the July 2003 PromoSupport for more information on spyware) onto their target
