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If you use email at all you no doubt have received a phishing email or 2 or more. Most times you'll receive more. I know I receive several every week even with filters on my email accounts. So what do you do with them?
If you've received a phishing email, also called a spoofing e-mail, by somebody attempting to get your personal info illegally, follow these steps for methods to report the phishing email:
A. Do not respond to the email. Instead, forward it to the organization involved. For example, if you get a phishing e-mail from someone claiming to be from eBay, you must forward the e-mail to eBay's security department. The email address to use is spoof@ebay.com per the eBay site info listed at http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/questions/e-mail-from-ebay.html
B. Do not click on any links in the email. If you want to visit the website where the e-mail supposedly originated, type that site's address directly into your browser. If you've a relationship with them and they do need some information from you, a request for that information should be accessible in your account.
C. Do not call any phone numbers listed in the e-mail. These may be just one more attempt to get your personal information. Look up the suitable telephone numbers on the company's site.
D. If at any time while you're viewing the email, a pop-up box appears asking you to enter personal info, ignore it.
E. Forward the phishing email to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@antiphishing.org. Follow the instructions here: http://www.antiphishing.org/report_phishing.html.
F. Before entering private information on any website, verify that it has a security certificate. Look for a closed lock icon on your Web browser. This implies any information you enter will be encrypted before being sent.
Actually I've failed to make purchases I wanted on sites which do not have this security on their ordering pages. It's definitely something you should look for and can also be identified by the addition of an 's' to the beginning of the url. Instead of http://www.somesite.com, it would be https://www.somesite.com.
G. Install phishing filters onto your PC and keep them updated regularly. The filters will prevent you from entering personal information if you visit a site known for phishing and will warn you when you visit websites which look suspicious.
If you are already the sufferer of identity theft, the first thing you should do is to change all your online passwords and check the history of all your online accounts to see if there is any fraudulent activity. After securing your passwords, you must contact the organizations and, if required, arrange for new accounts and credit cards.
Furthermore you should file an identity theft complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at their FTC Complaint Assistant website. But, be aware that the "FTC doesn't resolve individual consumer complaints" but your complaint may result in prosecution of the persons who sent out that phishing email..
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