Phishing for Credit Card Accounts

1
Phishing for Credit Card Accounts

• By Danielle Pante
• MGS 3040

2
What is a phisher?

• an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire
  sensitive information, such as usernames,
  passwords and credit card details, by masking as
  a trustworthy entity in an electronic
  communication

3
Phishers Target

• On-line payment services
• Pay-Pal
• Ebay
• Large financial institutions
• Smaller financial institutions
• Community banks
• Credit unions

4
Link Manipulation

• Most methods of phishing use some form of
  technical deception designed to make a link in an
  email appear to belong to the spoofed
  organization
• Common tricks
• Misspelled URLs or the use of subdomains
• make the anchor text for a link appear to be
  valid, when the link actually goes to the
  phishers' site.
• A further problem with URLs found in the handling
  of Internationalized domain names (IDN) in web
  browsers, might allow visually identical web
  addresses to lead to different, possibly
  malicious, websites.

5
Damage caused by Phishing

• ranges from denial of access to email to
  substantial financial loss
• Going to their site may install spyware, adware,
  or malware to your computer
• phishers may use a person's details to create
  fake accounts in a victim's name
• They can then ruin the victims' credit, or even
  deny the victims access to their own accounts
• It is estimated that between May 2004 and May
  2005, approximately 1.2 million computer users in
  the United States suffered losses caused by
  phishing, totaling approximately 929 million

6
Protect Yourself

• Watch out for phishy emails
• Never give confidential data to unsolicited email
• Account numbers
• Social Security Numbers
• Drivers License Numbers
• Credit Card Numbers
• Be wary of unsolicited email
• Even if it appears legitamate
• Contact company directly (not through email)

7
Protect Yourself Cont.

• Dont click on links within emails that ask for
  your personal information
• Never enter your personal information in a pop-up
  screen
• Protect computer with spam filters, anti-virus
  and anti-spyware software, and a firewall--keep
  them up to date
• Only open email attachments if youre expecting
  them and know what they contain
• Know phishing can also happen by phone

8

• Any Questions/Comments on Phishing?
• Thanks for paying attention!!