More phishing… Paypal is the target this time
Well, truth be told, your money is the target. Phishers are using information on a real class-action settlement to try to lure people in to entering sensitive information. The FBI is warning on these emails. Essentially they cite a (real) class-action settlement (with links) and claim that in order for PayPal to ensure that you receive payment, enter your information here….
It’s the same old try. Even if you think an offer may be legit, contact the company (using contact information found through other avenues than the “come on” letter. EVEN if it’s supposed to be urgent.) In the above article at the SecurityFix Brian mentions the Netcraft toolbar which is available for Firefox and Internet Explorer. It has several features to protect against getting stung by phishing sites. There is a database of known phishing sites to start out with, and a “risk rating” for each site. The idea behind the risk rating is that phishing sites are likely to have several earmarks that would increase that risk. (The risk rating shows up as a red->green bar which indicates a 10 point scale, 0 (green) being considered a safe site.) It also tells you neat information like, what country the site is hosted in, who owns the Netblock, how long the site has been around and it’s rank among netcraft toolbar users.
One of the features I like is the ability to report a site that should be blocked by the toolbar as a Phishing site (or report an improperly banned site.) It might be a good way to either protect you from yourself, or to protect those you know may not be as descriminating about where they type in important information.