Phishing (pronounced 'fishing') scams and fraudulent websites have become more sophisticated and pervasive, as cyber criminals try to trick you into providing your personal data which they can then use to steal your identity. Tax season has led to a variety of phishing scams in particular, which often send deceptive and forged e-mail pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service and banks. Fortunately, Internet Explorer 7 has new technologies to help better protect you. In fact, Internet Explorer 7 prevents nearly 1 million attempted visits to fraudulent websites every week. Take a look at your address bar. If you're using Internet Explorer 6 or another browser, your address bar is always white. With Internet Explorer 7 and its integrated and dynamic protection from phishing, users are provided warnings of deceptive websites. In addition, Internet Explorer 7 is the first browser to support the new Extended Validation SSL certificate, where the address bar changes to green to indicate the sites authenticity. If the address bar is red, that means the site is a reported phishing site, and you should close the window or tab and be extremely wary of entering any personal data. 
To start protecting yourself right now, download and install
Internet Explorer 7.
In Internet Explorer 7, under the Tools menu bar, click on Phishing Filter and then the option, Turn On Automatic Website Checking. 
Once the window appears, be sure to select Turn on automatic Phishing Filter (recommended) and click the OK button. 
If you are seeing this page, it means you are not running Internet Explorer 7, so download it now.
If you are seeing this page, it means you are running Internet Explorer 7, so your key action now is to make sure your phishing filter is turned on. |  | | | Phishing is a type of deception designed to impersonate a legitimate website and steal your valuable personal data, such as credit card numbers, passwords, account data, or other information. Con artists might send millions of fraudulent e-mail messages that appear to come from websites you trust, like your bank or credit card company, and request that you provide personal information. This tax season has seen a wide variety of tax-related phishing e-mails, so it pays to be careful. Click to see examples of phishing scams. 
www.onguardonline.gov www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft www.irs.gov/efile |
