Phishing and Your Internet Home Business
A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill
How to Prevent Internet Phishing of Your Home Business
Internet scammers on the web who are looking for home business or individual's financial information have a brand new way of securing this information from unsuspecting victims. It is called phishing.
What is Internet Phishing & What Can It Do to You & Your Home Business?
Phishing is a sophisticated, high-tech scam that uses pop-up messages or spam to get you to disclose your or your home business bank account or credit card information, your tax id number, social security number, or other sensitive information while you're on the Internet.
The wait these phishers operate is to send you what looks to be a legitimate message, purporting to be and looking like an organization that you or your home business regularly does business with on the Internet or in person. They might present themselves as your bank, the Internet service provider you use for your home business, an online payment service, or even a local, state or federal government agency.
The message usually asks that you validate or update your information and then gives you a feedback form to fill out that asks all sorts of private information. Part of the message the phisher sends may be a caution that there are serious and dire consequences for not providing the information. The reason the phisher is asking for the information is so that she or he can steal your identity - perhaps for financial gain, perhaps to protect their own identity while committing a crime.
* Preventing Phishing of Yours and Your Internet Home Business Info
To prevent this fraudulent use of your identity, here are some things you should do:
If you get an e-mail that asks for personal or sensitive business information, leave it alone. Do not reply, do not click on the link. Check with the organization the message is allegedly from. Call a number or email an address you know is a legitimate organization contact. If you have to go to the firm's web site to do this, do it from a brand new browser. Don't just change the URL. And don't forward the link.
It's always best not to email personal or sensitive financial information. If you must, do it through the organization's web site, making sure that the encryption is 128 bit or more, that there is a notation to the effect that the site is secure (a lock icon on the status bar of their browser is a clue, or if the URL starts out https - the s stands for secure.)
Closely review every bank and credit card statement for unauthorized access. If you do this online and the transaction is electronic your bank or credit union's account detail information should include a contact number for every transaction. Should you see something you don't recognize, call the number. And, if you have any problem with the transactor not wanting to reimburse you, or have concerns that they will try again ask your financial institution for a letter of dispute. This will go out to the organization, and they will no longer be allowed to touch your account.
