Experience how phishing can hook you up

I have been talking about phishing for a long time, but its threat is still very serious. The user's experience below can be said to be a classic case. It is not difficult to find out that it is not difficult to prevent phishing.

Judy Bodmer, a famous American writer, published her articles in several magazines, including Readers Digest. She used to be the chairman of the Northwest Pacific Writers Association and author of two books, including how to save a disappointed marriage when love dies. Her experience of being caught by the spyware program can give many people a warning.

Here is her personal experience.

Judy Bodmer: Recently, I received an email from a friend asking me to update my contact information. Because I have known him for a long time, I do not hesitate to do so: log on to the website, enter the form, and then press <next> to refresh to the next page. To my surprise, I became a registered user of the Plaxo website and wanted to enter the <my contacts> list. I hesitated, but I pressed the key based on my trust in my friends. One name after another is output from my directory. What did I do? Where will these materials go?

In fact, I don't know at all. In just a few minutes, I have created several classic errors. I not only shared my personal data with unknown sources, but also shared my personal data from friends, relatives, and business partners. The best result is that our mailbox is crowded with a large number of new spam. The worst result is that this can lead to more serious situations.

What are the classic mistakes that Judy Bodmer has made? She realized it herself.

Judy Bodmer: My first error was that the email was not verified as legal. It seems to be sent by a trusted friend, but is it true? From then on, I gradually learned a mean fraud technique "phishing ". This is an email sent from an illegal source, but it seems to have been sent from a legal source. They are typically disguised as emails from financial service providers and ask you to update your account number or password.

In my example, I should send an email or call to my friend before I take action to confirm whether this is the case. Spam makers know how to do this in the "sender" column. I also sent this email to 60 people, but only six people replied to the email and asked me about it. What about other people? Of course, you are fooled like me!

Another mistake I made was to ignore the privacy clause of Plaxo. This is an old saying. However, if you click on some privacy terms, you will find these terms are full of annoying technical terms. Most people just read the first part and feel that we can come back even if there are any accidents. Please wait and learn how the company will process the information we provide. In fact, it is very important.

The vulnerabilities on the Web page are even more noteworthy. They are hidden behind images to track your webpage views. They are often used as ad publishers to track customers. Once you open a mail they send you, the vulnerabilities on the web page will send a message to the source of the spam, telling them that this is a valid email address, then he will send more emails to you.

What should we do from Judy Bodmer's experience? Creating an anti-spam list for your website mailbox is the first step. Some free mailboxes should also be used for custom mail and services. Only your relatives and friends and trusted business partners can know your company and private email address. Fill in only the required parts when entering the form on the network. Install anti-spyware and use it frequently. Never disclose your email address to an invalid email address.

If a user can do the above, the possibility of spam harassment will be greatly reduced. Based on Judy Bodmer's experience, I immediately applied for a new mailbox and planned to only tell people who are familiar with it. For those so-called custom services and workbooks, leave them an email address that I would never log on.