Nasty Stuff First - Fishing!

Well, actually it is spelled "Pfishing" and not nearly as much fun as "Fishing"!

From a financial perspective, this is one of the most dangerous scams on the internet. Pfishing scams account for numerous cases of identity theft every day.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"In computing, phishing is a criminal activity using social engineering techniques.^[1] Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Ebay and Paypal are two of the most targeted companies, and online banks are also common targets. Phishing is typically carried out using email or an instant message,^[2] and often directs users to a website, although phone contact has been used as well.^[3] Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, and technical measures.The first recorded mention of phishing is on the alt.online-service.america-online Usenet newsgroup on January 2, 1996,^[4] although the term may have appeared even earlier in the print edition of the hacker magazine 2600.^[5] The term phishing is a variant of fishing,^[6] probably influenced by phreaking,^[7][8] and alludes to the use of increasingly sophisticated lures to "fish" for users' financial information and passwords. The word may also be linked to leetspeak, in which ph is a common substitution for f.^[9] The popular theory that it is a portmanteau of password harvesting^[10] is an example of folk etymology."

So, you ask, how does one protect against pfishing and identity theft? Actually, it's fairly easy. Your bank, eBay, Paypal and other reputable financial institutions will NEVER ask you to verify your personal or account information over the internet. So, whenever you get an email that asks you to verify any such information - delete it immediately, it's that simple. Don't even consider replying to the email - DELETE. If you suspect that someone in your family may have mistakenly given information in this way, then contact your bank immediately - by phone or in person.

Another safe practice - never, never send password or account information in any email. Email is never secure and should not be used for sensitive information.