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Phishing is a technique used by criminals on the internet to secure personal information and financial information from innocent internet users. It is very important to be aware of how to prevent phishing. Most of these phishing emails will be addressed to people who are new to the internet or who are not aware of phishing frauds. These emails will contain a link, which would look like it's a real link, but actually it is not and which the mail would ask you to click on.
When the users click on the link you will be asked to provide personal information like name, user id, date of birth and address, credit card number, etc. The mail will also state that failure to provide the required information would entail cancellation of the services. This would create a fear factor in the minds of the unsuspecting users and they would be tricked to provide the information.
Once the information is provided, it will be used to steal the identity of the user and in all probability funds would be siphoned from the bank accounts. The poor unsuspecting user would only realise that he or she has lost all savings when they get their bank statement or try to use their ATM card to withdraw money.
This is why we have to be careful not to click on links in emails, which are sent by people whom we do not know at all. Doing this is one way to prevent phishing. Even if the email is from a bank or credit card company, we should first call up the bank using the listed number provided in the bank statements and not from the phone number provided in the email. Once we come to know that the email is fraud we should immediately alert all our friends and relatives about such emails doing the rounds and ask them also to be careful. Another thing we can do to prevent phishing is to install an effective anti phishing software on our systems. This ensures that you are alerted every time something suspicious comes up. We should also inform the anti phishing web sites where there are people who are working towards saving people from phishing. To prevent phishing we should always keep ourselves updated on all that is happening in the internet world and how to we can avoid getting phished. Prevention is always better than cure. Therefore, take all the precautions before it is too late.
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