Phishing : Examples and its prevention methods

What is Phishing ?


Phishing is the illegally fraudulent process of attempting to steal the recipient’s sensitive and important information, such as credit card details, username and password. In other words, phishing is also an internet scam designed to trick the recipient into revealing personal important information to “phishers” who intend to use them for fraudulent purposes.

Examples of Phishing

Phishing is normally carried out by e-mail, instant messaging, or a fake popular website. The communication purporting to be from some famous and popular websites, such as Facebook, eBay, PayPal and etc are used to attract the unsuspecting.



Example of Phishing Email





Example of Phishing Website






Prevention Methods

How to prevent? What to look in phishing email and website ?

1. Generic greeting. Phishing emails are normally sent in huge batches. To save time, Internet criminals use generic names like "First Generic Bank Customer" so they don't have to type all recipients' names out and send emails one-by-one. If you don't see your name, be suspicious.

2. Requests personal information. The point of sending phishing email is to trick you into providing your personal information. If you receive an email requesting your personal information, it is probably a phishing attempt. Legitimate organizations would never request this information of you via email.

3. Sense of urgency. “Phishers” want you to provide your personal information NOW. They do this by making you think something has happened that requires you to act fast. The faster they get your information, the faster they can move on to another victim.

4. Poor resolution. Since they are created with urgency and have a short lifespan, phishing websites are often poor in quality. If you feel the resolution on a logo or in text are in poor resolution, be suspicious.

5. Forged URL. Even if a link has a name you recognize somewhere in it, it doesn't mean it links to the real organization. Read URLs from right to left — the real domain is at the end of the URL. Also, websites where it is safe to enter personal information begin with "https" — the "s" stands for secure. If you don't see "https" do not proceed. Look out for URLs that begin with an IP address, such as: http://12.34.56.78/firstgenericbank/account-update/ — these are likely phishes.