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Thousands of internet users are being fooled into providing their personal data and financial information to thieves on the internet without actually knowing they are doing so. This is what is termed as phishing. As part of a phishing scheme tricksters send out emails to individual users asking them to verify their user name and password and provide other personal information like name, date of birth, address, bank account details, credit card details etc.
The email looks very authentic and makes one feel it has been sent by the company itself. There is a fear factor induced in the mail which says the account of the user in question will be immediately frozen if the details asked for was not provided immediately. The fear of their bank accounts being frozen leads many unsuspecting people on the internet to be tricked into providing all vital information about themselves to criminals who would then use the information to siphon out all their money effortlessly.
In phishing schemes the criminals employ scams which are specifically designed to trick the users to provide all valuable information about them. This is done by instigating them to click on an email attachment or follow a link on a website where they unwittingly give away important personal data like bankcard PIN numbers, credit card information, social security numbers etc.
There are many phishing schemes, which are doing the rounds on the internet today. Here are some examples of such phishing schemes. You may sometimes get emails saying you have won the state lottery ticket through a random draw. The prize money offered would be in millions and this would entice you into providing vital information. They would have provided a link asking you to provide information like name, bank details etc in the link. Thinking of all the millions you are going to receive, you would innocently provide your details only to be left bankrupt. Another phishing scheme involves setting up of fake escrow and auction sites where innocent users would be lead to make payments to these fake accounts. Another popular phishing scheme is the email you may receive from your bank or the company you are dealing with asking you to verify your personal details related to your account. Failure to do so would entail the account to be suspended. This creates a scare in many users and they provide all the information
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