The entire objective of phishing is to steal your identity and thus get your money. Knowing this can save you from a lot of trouble and pain. Don’t click on links from strangers (don’t take candy either). These scams are called phishing because they “fish” for your dough and ID. There are precautions you can take, most importantly learn how to recognize a scam when you see one.

Con men say that “a sucker is born every minute”. On the Internet, it seems that a scam is born every minute while simultaneously recycling the old. I still get emails from Nigeria alerting me to the funds they have waiting for me.

The phishermen will attempt to alarm you. They will tell you the sky is falling and your account is about to be shut down. Don’t fall for it. Banks do not send emails to folks telling them their bank account is going to be closed. They just don’t operate that way.

The phishermen will promise you that you can go from rags to riches with very little effort on your part. Just sign on the dotted line…

The phishermen will present you with a deal that sounds too good to be true. And you know what – it is too good to be true. Don’t fall for that con.

The phishermen in times of trouble like a natural disaster will humbly request your donation to some charitable organization. Make sure they are really a valid charity before dispensing your hard-earned cash.

Alas the phishermen does not spell all that well and is guilty of some atrocious grammar. You don’t have to pull out your grammar text to recognize the tortured English you are reading.

The phishermen love scams like tech support, lotteries or sweepstakes. They often use famous names in their emails. Keep the delete button handy.

As we have discussed so many times, please watch out for the Rogue security software scams a favorite of the phisherman. Rogue security software, aka “scareware,” is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure you into participating in fraudulent transactions. These scams can appear in email, online advertisements, your social networking site, search engine results, or even in pop-up windows on your computer that might appear to be part of your operating system, but are not. These guys are most insidious so stay suspicious.

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