About Internet Fraud and Spoofing - Learn About Spoofs

LEARN ABOUT SPOOFS

Every Internet user should know about spoof (a.k.a. phishing or hoax) e-mails that appear to be from a well-known company but can put you at risk. Although they can be difficult to spot, they generally ask you to click a link to a spoof website and provide, update or confirm sensitive personal information. To bait you, they may allude to an urgent or threatening condition concerning your account.

Even if you don't provide what they ask for, simply clicking the link could subject you to background installations of key logging software or computer virus.

Keylogging is method used to capture your personal information. Clicking on a link to a website or opening an attachment can start a secret software installation on your computer.



Once installed, it records everything you type, including any User IDs, Passwords and account or personal information. Thieves know how to retrieve this information, or even set it up to automatically have it sent back to them! This is a very real risk when using public or shared computers such as those in libraries and Internet cafes.

Even if you don't provide what they ask for, simply clicking the link could subject you to background installations of Spoofwebsites mimic a company's website to lure you into disclosing confidential information. To make spoof sites seem legitimate, thieves use the names, logos, graphics and even code of the real company's site. Thieves fake the URL that appears in the address field at the top of your browser window.