Clues That May Indicate An Email is From A Scammer

• The email in most times is not addressed to the recipient, probably because the scammer doesn’t know the recipient. The Identifier “Dear Customer” is used so many times.

• When you try to log in to their ‘web account’, it could easily indicate that you have exceeded the number of login attempts allowed, yet you have never even logged in.

• Their messages often contain grammatical errors: Tricking words such as ‘Online Banking’ could all be capitalized. And, if you continue reading keenly, you will find so many wrong sentences that do not make any sense grammatically. Most people usually scan emails quickly, and therefore small grammatical errors could go unnoticed.

• They insist on assuring the recipients by encouraging them to confirm ‘their’ email by using a scammer link they provide.

• A true email address gets displayed when the mouse is made to hover over any link on that particular page. I doubt if there exists a company that has all these kind of actions pointing to the same link. This is just directly a scam!

If you happen to see anyone kind of these flaws, that’s just enough for you to know that email is an attempt of phishing.

How To Protect Yourself From Online Email-Scams

1. Use your own link

In case you use the company often, you most likely have a bookmark for the site you can use. If not, use an online search engine such as Google and type in the company’s name. you can then use the genuine link to go to the correct site. If the email is legit, the information you will see is the same as the one you have when you log into your account on the legitimate site. This is just the ONLY way to guarantee that you land on the legit site.

2.Detection software

Install a software that will help you identify malicious sites so that you can get to know whether the site you found is legitimate. Most browsers now have add-ons that can be turned on to provide alerts if a site you are about to fall victim by clicking a malicious link. Be mindful to only install add-ons from the store and watch out for phishing add-ons for browsers.

If you happen to find out that you have already fallen victim to a phishing scam, the best option is to change all of your passwords, immediately.

The post What is Phishing? appeared first on Spam Daily News.

“With the damage of malicious online activities continuing to rise, new and creative technologies and approaches are needed to stem the tide,” said Nico Popp, vice president, Authentication Services, VeriSign Security Services. “VeriSign is working on a solution that marries Microsoft technology with our intelligent network infrastructure to create a solution to identity theft and make the Internet more secure, more trusted and safer for all of us.”

To help end-users clearly differentiate between a legitimate and spoofed Web site, Microsoft’s IE7 browser and “InfoCard” technology will use VeriSign’s “Enhanced Validation” SSL certificates to provide clear and un- spoofable visual feedback about the sites’ authenticity.

Only organizations that pass VeriSign’s rigorous authentication process will be issued “Enhanced Validation” SSL Certificates for their Web sites. When a consumer visits such a site, the IE7 address bar turns green and shows the name of the organization owning the certificate and the identity of the Certificate Authority, such as VeriSign, in the browser’s interface.

Providers or financial institutions will be able to strongly identify a user with the integration of Microsoft “InfoCard” technology with the VIP network. This integration will form the next generation of solutions for securely authenticating users, utilizing built-in Windows functionality that allows consumers to link any type of strong authentication device to their “InfoCard” and present it as an identity card to any VIP-enabled website.

“InfoCard” is a Microsoft technology that simplifies and improves the safety of accessing resources and sharing personal information on the Internet, and represents a key component of Microsoft’s implementation of an “identity metasystem” — an open, extensible framework based on the Web services WS-* Architecture that spans new and existing platforms and technologies across the industry. With “InfoCard,” consumers can download these credentials from trusted identity providers such as their bank, employer, government agency, or membership organization, or create their own self-issued cards. Moreover, digital identity and related personal information can be more securely stored and managed in a variety of ways, including via the online identity security providers such as VeriSign, which offers a choice of security and portable devices such as USB keychain devices, smart cards, and mobile devices.

“‘InfoCard’ provides customers with the control and flexibility they need to more safely access Internet-based resources,” said Richard Turner, product manager, Web Services Strategy at Microsoft. “This demonstration shows how ‘InfoCard’ can combine the collective strengths of our technology with service partners’ offerings to provide new and unique proactive fraud and identity theft measures.”

VIP is a modern approach to combating digital identity theft targeted at both consumers and online services that enables the use of stronger authentication across multiple Web sites by promoting a shared authentication network approach. With VIP, the same authentication device will work across any network member sites, leveraging a shared infrastructure and enabling everyday devices in consumer hands to become authentication devices.

The post VeriSign and Microsoft tie-up to tackle phishing appeared first on Spam Daily News.