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PHISING (Like fishing with an h added) - DON'T BE TRICKED INTO GIVING INFORMATION TO CROOKS!!

"Phishing" (like fishing with an h added) refers to spam forgeries that impersonate the identity of a company with which you may have an account, such as PayPal, AOL, many banks, etc. I regularly get emails spammed to entice me to give away my address, social security number, bank account number, and or birthdate.

Both the e-mails themselves and the web pages they link to may look very much like the real thing, complete with corporate logos and some authentic links. The only way to be sure you don't fall prey to one is to never provide sensitive information on a form you've accessed through a link in an e-mail. In other words, you have to be a touch paranoid about every e-mail you get. Keeping current with Windows (or Apple) software and anti-virus software helps a lot, but it isn't foolproof.

"Can you imagine if nine out of ten pieces of mail in your mailbox at home was a forgery, or if when you went to the mall all floors but one were a front for some kind of scam?"

"This is a problem with a more and more victims, and causes a lot of pain." And perhaps the greatest frustration for those victims is that the perpetrators of phishing scams are almost never caught. Enforcement efforts generally have to focus on getting the bogus websites taken down as quickly as possible to minimize the number of spam recipients who might be fooled.

Eastern European crime syndicates, Russian crooks, and Asian crime rings -- which experts think are responsible for many of the sophisticated spoofs - are essentially untouchable.

The Federal Can-Spam Act has superceded and actually weakened the better California laws. That law says you are supposed to opt out - DON'T - A BAD IDEA!The MyDoom virus and the FDIC phishing scam only serve to point out all the more starkly what a joke the Can-Spam Act can be. The Federal Can-Spam Act has superceded and actually weakened the better California laws. Fortunately, a number of convictions have been successful using this new law. The biggest spammers in the US have been caught. But - don't forget, if you ask to be removed from their mailing list, you may get all the latest viruses, etc. You make the inquiries, don't ever believe an email unless you were expecting it!

Innocent users face the possibility of having their identities stolen, their computers enslaved, and their bank accounts bilked if they are too trusting about their e-mail. Don't even believe that something from a friend can be trusted. Their computer can be used to send viruses to your computer without them knowing it!

BE CAREFUL. DO NOT CLICK ON ADDRESSES IN EMAILS AND GIVE ANY INFORMATION AWAY! Only give information over the internet if you have typed in the website address or used your bookmarked address (and the gold lock shows locked).

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