Be Proactive Against Phishing Scams

Security experts are warning that consumers are primed and ready to be phished. With the holiday bills due soon, bogus offers to consolidate debts into a low-rate, easy payment plan should be expected as this is what many people will need.

In a related note, Netcraft has confirmed that more than 450 URLs used for phishing presented a connection with Secure Socket Layering. This was seen in 2004, but more so in 2005. This SSL connection shows the user that they are in an "https" (secured) page and the lock in the lower right of the browser will also show. Many consumers are taught to look for these as evidence of validity and security. While internet shopping should only be done when these are present, this will no longer provide an automatic sense of security.

Teach your customers to look closely at the sites they shop from. Ask what took them to that site. Was it an email asking to validate information or did they use a bookmarked address from their list of favorite sites? Did a window tell them the certificate on the "secured" site was in question and did they just click "Yes" to proceed?

Train your employees and customers to be on the lookout. BOL has provided sample scam letters you may want to use in training and for customer reference.