Phishing is a new online scam, but its concept is familiar. Phishing is just classic deception dressed in a 21st-century version of itself. It is intended to deceive people and trick them into willingly giving out personal information that cybercriminals can later use to access bank accounts and personal details and conduct unauthorized transactions on behalf of the legitimate owner.
The dangers of phishing originate from the fact that many of us have been dependent on the internet. When society embraced the convenience of the internet, we changed how we do things and moved many of the tasks we used to do physically into the virtual space. In the past, you had to go to the telephone company to pay your actual bills, but with the internet, we can now go online and pay using a credit card. People used to be required to be physically available in the bank to sign off transactions and money transfers in and out of their accounts, but today, with online banking becoming more popular, such transactions can be done at home with almost any type of device that can connect online.
The dangerous thing about phishing is that they do not only prey on adults. Kids nowadays have access to the internet almost 24/7 using their phones, laptops, and other devices. Online games are also drawing more and more kids every day, so many children are accessing related sites for a gaming clan name creator, gaming guides, and game cheats that should enhance their gaming experience. Cybercriminals can mimic these sites to let children think that they are accessing the information they are looking for when,, they are being misguided into providing information about themselves.
Phishing schemes have recently become more complex and more challenging to detect. Cybercriminals have also employed the concepts of human psychology to disguise malicious intent in emails and websites being made available to civilians. There are only a few rules that you need to remember so that you and your family will not fall victim to cyber phishing: first, always use complicated passwords for your accounts and never share them with anyone; second, never give out your username and password for your banking accounts to anyone via email or phone; and third, always verify the legitimacy of the website or the sender of emails asking you for information. Cyber phishing may have strengthened their strategy, but the public can protect themselves by staying alert and informed.
