Defense against Phishing Attempts

Although there are many legitimate websites, emails and searches, there are also many opportunities for "phishers" to try to steal your personal information. "Phishing" is the use of fraudulent emails and websites to trick recipients into disclosing personal financial information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, account names, passwords, and addresses.

One common way to "phish" people's information is by getting people to unwittingly click fake links that will direct them to fraudulent websites. Even when you are using a popular search engine to find a website, you may run across fake links. Some search terms are commonly tagged as ‘high-risk.'

According to McAfee's recently released report "The Web's Most Dangerous Search Terms," the most dangerous keyword to search for using public search engines these days is "screensavers." McAfee's research also concludes that lyrics and anything that includes "free" has the highest risk percentage of exposing users to malware and fraudulent websites. On the other hand, their research states that the category with the safest risk profile is health-related search terms.

Be wary when you click on links from a search engine or within a website. Never enter your personal information into a website unless you are sure that it's legitimate.

For more information about the legitimacy of a URL or link, please visit our Online Security page.

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