How to recognize a phishing scam
As scam artists become more sophisticated, so do their phishing e-mail messages and pop-up windows. They often include official-looking logos from real organizations and other identifying information taken directly from legitimate Web sites. The following is an example of what a phishing scam e-mail message might look like.  Example of a phishing e-mail message, including a deceptive URL address linking to a scam Web site. To make these phishing e-mail messages look even more legitimate, the scam artists may place a link in them that appears to go to the legitimate Web site (1), but it actually takes you to a phony scam site (2) or possibly a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site. These copycat sites are also called "spoofed" Web sites. Once you're at one of these spoofed sites, you might unwittingly send personal information to the con artists. If you suspect that you have inadvertently send information to a phishing site, see What to do if you’re the victim of phishing scams or credit card fraud. |
