Email

Phishing is usually an attempt to deceive you into thinking a legitimate organization is requesting information from you. These requests for information may look innocent at first glance or may seem to come from a legitimate source, but do not. These scams request you reply to an email, respond to a request by phone, or follow a link to a website.

Email phishing attempts often give clear indications that the request is not legitimate. Links to web sites (sent to you through email) often take you to web pages that look very similar to the legitimate service the email is faking. Banks, eBay, and online e-cash services like PayPal are common targets; however, phishing attempts are sometimes targeted against specific groups or lists of individuals and are called “spear phishing.”