Phishing Scams

Phishing scams are not uncommon phenomenon these days and many innocent Internet users have fallen or continue to fall victims by the end of each day that passes by. It is a growing threat that has left concerned service providers having sleepless nights to find solutions to fight it. Most phishing scams come from cyber criminals who set up websites that imitate the legitimate ones. Unknowingly, internet users visit such sites and transact business which enrich scammers or never materialize at all. It is then that they realize that they have been scammed! Such sites are called Spoofed Sites.

Fortunately, there seems to be certain measures that can be taken by Internet users to protect themselves from such attacks. Some known measures include use of Internet Explorer 8, Safari, Firefox 3.6 etc. These web browsers and several others are designed to help users fight phishing scams, fraud, viruses and introduction of malicious software into your system.

Internet Explorer 8:

According to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8, it is designed to help protect users from such scams by use of SmartScreen Filter which detects potentially unsafe sites. Once you open or visit a site that has been reported as potentially unsafe, it alerts you and also allows you to report such sites to Microsoft.

FireFox 3.6:

Firefox 3.6 helps users to protect from Viruses, Worms, Trojans and Malware threats from the internet. If users access potentially unsafe sites, FireFox warns them to browse away from such such sites. Built to self update the list of unsafe sites at least every thirty minutes (48 times in a day),  users are rest assured of good service and protection from FireFox.

Safari 4:

In addition to its intuitive appearance, Safari offers a wide range of security features which include recognition of websites that harbour Malicious software before you visit them. When a site is identified as a dangerous website, it sends a warning about the suspect nature of the site. Safari also boasts about features that prevent eavesdropping, forgery and digital tampering. In addition to this, Safari uses encryption technology to secure web communication between user and the internet.

Be on guard!  Browse wisely. If you don’t want your PC to be the safe haven of malware and other attacks from Cybercriminals, update your system on regular basis or turn automatic updates on. The text in the address bar is not enough for users to get convinced that they are visiting the sites they think they should.  The first step to ensure maximum security of your PC starts right with you (user).

References: Microsoft, Firefox 3.6, Safari 4.