what is Phishing?

phishing is a term used to describe a malicious individual or group of individuals who scam users. They do so by sending e-mails or creating web pages that are designed to collect an individual's online bank, credit card, or other login information. Because these e-mails and web pages look like legitimate companies users trust them and enter their personal information.

How to identify a phishing e-mail.

1. Company - These e-mails are sent out to thousands of different e-mail addresses and often the person sending these e-mails has no idea who you are. If you have no affiliation with the company the e-mail address is supposedly coming from, it is fake. For example, if the e-mail is coming from Wells Fargo bank but you bank at a different bank.
2. Spelling and grammar - Improper spelling and grammar are almost always a dead giveaway. Look for obvious errors.
3. No mention of account information - If the company were sending you information regarding errors to your account, they would mention your account or username in the e-mail. In the above example, the e-mail just says "eBay customer", if this was eBay they would mention your username.
4. Deadlines - E-mail requests an immediate response or a specific deadline. For example, in the above example, the requirement to log in and change your account information within 24 hours.
5. Links - Although many phishing e-mails are getting better at hiding the true URL you are visiting, often these e-mails will list a URL that is not related to the company's URL. For example, in our above eBay example, "http://fakeaddress.com/ebay" is not an eBay URL, just a URL with an "ebay" directory. If you are unfamiliar with how a URL is structured, see the URL definition for additional information.

                                                                                 source:Computer Hope