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Internet Safety - Phishing and Spam |
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What is
Phishing and Spam |
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See
what Phishing looks like |
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See what Spam looks like |
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Three
Simple Steps to Help Protect You on the Internet |
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What does Spam look like |
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Because spam takes many forms it is
not possible to show an average example. There are several types of
spam. |
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Discounted drug offers are
usually from overseas or unlicensed pharmacies. In many cases the
"prescriptions" offered are counterfeit and do not contain any real
medicine. In other cases the prescriptions are old outdated
medicines which have been repackaged, or medicines produced for other
countries. Medicines produced for other countries are not controlled
by the United States Food and Drug Commission and may not meet the same
standards as medicines produced for distribution in the United States.
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Offers of free gifts
almost always involve providing personal information about
yourself. Not only will you have to provide this information
about yourself but you will have to get at least 5 or 10 other
people to provide personal information also. That information
will then be used by marketers to try to sell products to you.
The free gift cards or other gifts often come with restrictions
which may make them unusable. Sometimes the offer of a free
gift is a scam by criminals. If you respond they may inform
you can have the gift if you pay the tax on it. Once you pay
the tax you get nothing.
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Notices you have won money or
prizes are attempts by criminals to get you to give them money.
You may receive a notice you have won a lottery in Canada or Ireland or
some other country. If you respond the criminals will tell you
that you must pay the taxes on the winnings. Once you send them
the money you will receive nothing.
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Business propositions may
range from Work-At-Home offers to emails asking you to help a foreigner
invest millions of dollars in the United States. Typically the
investment email will claim the sender represents someone who has many
millions of dollars in a foreign country and they need an American to
accept the funds in the United States for them. They promise 20 to
30 percent of the funds as your fee, usually millions of dollars.
These criminals want your bank account information. If you respond
to them they will steal your money.
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