- Terrorism and Identity Theft
- Who Are Identity Thieves?
- What Do Identity Thieves Do?
- College Students and Identity Theft
- Malware and Macs
- Dumpster Diving
- You Are Only As Safe As the Places That Have Your Information
- They Should Know Better
- Hackers
- Identity Theft Risk in Old Gaming Consoles
- The Drug Connection
- Phishing
- Federal Express Phishing Scam
- Newegg Phishing Scam
- Former Good Advice
- More Good Advice to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Phishing
- The Dangers of Aquaman
- Iron Man 3
- Nude Photos of Carla Bruni
- Debit Card Phishing Scam
- Another Debit Card Phishing Scam
- Phishing with a Large Net
- Phishing Around the World
- Spearphishing
- How Do You Know That You Have Become a Victim of Phishing?
- Reloading
- Identity Theft Through Internet Phone Calls
- What Do Kim Kardashian and Michelle Obama Have in Common?
- USB Sticks and Identity Theft
- Internet of Things
- What You Can Do to Prevent Identity Theft
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Spearphishing
Most often phishing e-mails are not directed at you by name, but rather to you as “customer” or “consumer.” They also might appear to come from companies with which you do not do business, such as a bank where you have no accounts. However, with the epidemic of hacking of large companies and governmental agencies, many identity thieves are able to use the hacked information to send you a personal, phony e-mail that contains your name and is definitely from a company or agency with which you do business, making you more likely to respond to the urging to click on the dangerous link contained in the e-mail. This type of targeted phishing is called “spearphishing” and it is extremely dangerous.
Never click on links in e-mails unless you are absolutely sure they are legitimate. If you get a link-containing e-mail from a company with which you do business, you should always be skeptical and make sure that you call the company before considering clicking on the link to confirm whether the e-mail is legitimate. The mere fact that the e-mail uses your name and even your account number does not necessarily mean that the e-mail is legitimate.