Anti Phishing Tools And The Lull Of False Security

From Buzz Bruggeman, here’s another tool that may help fend off phishing attacks (here’s an earlier post on similar software): SpoofStick, a browser extension that sits in either IE or FireFox and tells you what website you’re really visiting. It works like this: Many phishing scams conceal the real website in a link behind tricks … Read more

Double Checking A Phishing Scam

Sometimes the usual checks to see whether an email is a phishing scam or not don’t work. Here’s an example. This morning I received a quite credible looking PayPal email. Of course it had all the hallmarks of a phishing scam too, but then again I’ve received some genuine emails I thought were phishers, so … Read more

Contestant For Worst Phisher Of The Year Award

Phishing carries on, but it seems to be attracting the dregs of the scamming world as well as its masters. Here’s one I just received which must be in line for Worst Phishing Scam Of The Year Award: From:  Branch Banking and Trust Company[SMTP:SERVICE@BBANDT.COM] Subject:  Online banking issue Dear Branch Banking and Trust Company valued … Read more

Phishing And The Pop-up

Speaking to Well Fargo Online’s Wendy Grover this morning, I realised there’s a dimension to the debate about pop-ups that hadn’t occurred to me before: Phishing. The central argument used by companies such as Wells Fargo in their long-running litigation against the likes of WhenU and Gator (now Claria) is that they confuse the user. … Read more