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Cybercriminals have been capitalizing on the global financial crisis in the past few weeks by increasing the volume of phishing and spam messages being sent. The emails are not much different from older attacks, but because they are topical and look authentic, nervous consumers are at risk for falling for the scam. Security experts have warned that phishing and social engineering ploys are the highest risks currently facing the financial industry and consumers.

Web of Trust, WOT has produced a short video about the current wave of phishing attacks and what users can do to protect themselves.

Internet users should be on alert for fake emails that look as if they have come from an authentic financial institution. These phishing messages are seeking personal information – account numbers, passwords and Social Security numbers -  which cybercriminals will use to empty out accounts and then sell on the underground market. Many of these look quite genuine, but users should be very wary of any email that requests their login details to be processed either by replying to a supplied fake email address or links that lead to fake sites.

BEFORE you click on a link in your Email,  go over it with your mouse and ALWAYS look at the left corner at the bottom of your mail. The LINK will show. If that link is not what it presumes to be eiher if you do not recognise it DON’T CLICK on it.

WOT is a FireFox Add-on. I’ve installed is. It takes only a few seconds.

Additional information on the safety of Email can be found in http://thewingsofthecarp.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/how-save-is-your-email/