The world of Internet phishing is on the rise. The emails often ask you to visit a website to update your credit card details, password, social security number, or bank account. They appear to look familiar, but why would a legitimate company request you to confirm a password that is private to you? Phishing is a simple and effective way for computer hackers to gain access to your personal information, and this type of fraud is on the rise. Other types of phishing emails state that your account has been suspended and you need to update your personal information. Do not fall for this trick. Is it possible, however, to stop phishing emails by changing your address? If you suspect you have received one of these, click onto the legitimate website and forward the spoof email to their fraud department.

How often have you input the wrong data into your online banking account? There is no way a bank will log you into online banking without the correct information. To test if it is a phishing email, you could always type in bogus information, and if you receive an email stating that your personal information has been updated, the email is from a hacker.

Even the most expensive of virus protection programmes cannot prevent these phishing emails from arriving in your inbox without a good anti-spyware tool. Most phishing emails will arrive in your spam mail. If you are having problems with particular programs and have deleted them, but they still open after restarting your computer, it is probable that your computer is infected with spyware.

Spam emails are a nuisance for Internet users. It is a popular option to change your email address to avoid receiving junk emails, as there are so many free programmes to use. However, this is also an inconvenience since you will have to contact all of your friends and family and give them your new details. There is no guarantee that you will never receive spam or phishing emails again.

There is a wide range of email programmes to choose from. Choose one with a filter so that phishing emails will be sent to your spam email rather than your inbox. Google Mail, Hotmail, and Yahoo are all good options as they have an email-filtering device. It can be good option to change your email address to prevent phishing attacks, but it can also be an inconvenience. To prevent phishing attacks in your current email programme, click onto mail options and add the suspected email(s) to your spam filter, but this can be time consuming. Most of the time, spammers guess email addresses by using automated software. If you do decide to change your email address as a way to prevent phishing, create a name that will be difficult to guess.

Most of the time, you will have to be vigilant and avoid opening a suspicious looking email. Do not even open the link, as it will take you to a website that looks very much like the legitimate website, however, the log in details will be different and should arouse suspicion. Changing your email to avoid phishing is a very wise option, but it can be time consuming to contact your friends, family, and colleagues with your new address.

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Extra Vision Experts in Email Marketing

Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Extra Vision Experts in Email Marketing (http://www.extravision.com/)

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of Extra Vision Experts in Email Marketing

Category: Internet
Keywords: prevent phishing, stop phishing