How Phishing Works
Posted June 27, 2011
Phishing is a method of online identity theft. When an identity theft uses phishing as a way to steal your identity, they first create a replica of a major site which appears to part of the company’s website. They even use the web page code to make it look more official. The next thing that they do is send out a false email with a link to this particular page and ask for the user’s password or credit card data. When the unsuspecting person fills out the form and hits submit, the data is on its way to the scammer. The user is still on the fake company’s website so they have no clue that their identity has just been stolen.
One of the reason’s the user would fill out the information and then submit it is that the replica site not only looks real but the fake email sounds legitimate. When the identity theft sends out the email, they send it out in masses because they have no idea how many innocent users they will hook into their scheme. It could be one or hundreds. It all depends on the email they send out.
They could send out an email stating something to the effect that the user’s eBay account may be suspended if they do not update their account information. If the recipient does not have an eBay account, they will delete it but if the recipient does have an eBay account, it is highly probably that they will click on the information and do exactly what the email told them to do because everything looks so real.
The identity theft could also pose as someone from a financial institution, a government agency, or a legitimate retailer. Phishing can also happen by phone. They could call you or email you pretending they have a job for you and need some personal information to process your application. They get this information by viewing websites that people sign up for in order to receive information about a job.
In addition to stealing your personal information, phishing can also infect your computer with viruses. Phishing can also cause some people to unwittingly participate in money laundering. Phishing is a well thought out online identity theft scam. It not only takes planning but the identity theft has to set it all up. Then they make their attack. Once they have made the attack, then they just sit back and collection personal information that they will either use or sell on the black market.
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