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Web users beware: Phishing attacks on the rise

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By KRISTA KLAUS | News Channel 8

Published: November 16, 2009

TAMPA - With more people on social networking sites, phishing attacks – in which people are tricked into providing personal information online - are on the rise, according to a computer consulting firm.

"We've seen a lot more phishing attacks recently. It's more targeted than it's been in the past," said Andy Swenson of TriBridge Consulting in Tampa.

According to a recent Survey USA News Channel 8 poll, 15 percent of respondents said they'd been victims of an online scam, and another 12 percent said they'd had an online account hacked.

And not only are the number of attacks increasing, so are their sophistication, said Swenson.

Lou McDonald of Venice recently spotted a phishing attack in progress as she tried to sell her van on Craigslist. A person responding to her ad wrote, "I'm interested in coming by to have a look, but I'd like to know what the insurance would run me ahead of time," then went on to ask her to click on an insurance Web site link.

"I knew right away there was something very suspicious about it. I was absolutely certain this was a phishing scam where they were trying to get personal information," said McDonald, a freelance Web site designer.

McDonald checked the link, and discovered her instincts were right.

According to IBM's X-force research team, phishing attacks were up 200 percent in the second quarter of 2009.

Swenson said the phishers are dressing up the e-mails to make them look like they're coming from government authorities such as the Federal Trade Commission or district court. They're also staging more attacks through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace by sending video links to friends that infect your computer when you click on them. Even YouTube videos aren't immune.

"That's just typical. They're doing it everywhere. There's no haven that's safe," Swenson said.

Tips to avoid phishing

Computer experts offer the following tips to protect yourself:

• Think before you click.

• Confirm the origin of the email with the sender before opening it.

• Regularly run reliable spyware and malware.

• Don't have the same passwords for all your accounts, and change your passwords frequently.

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