In case you didn't know, "Phishing" is an e-mail scam aimed at getting your personal information by luring your into believing you are giving it to a legitimate company.

For example... You recieve an official looking email from "Wells Fargo" it has their logo, it says their name in the from line... The email informs you that they are attempting to update their records and they are missing some information. If you simply click on the link conveniently provided, you will be able to update said information and all will be peachy keen. If not, you will no longer be able to access your money and Santa Claus will leave a lump of coal in your stocking this year...

Once you click on the link, you will be transported to a website that is a replica (some are more convincing then others)of the actual Wells Fargo site (or Paypal, or whatever the case may be)that will have instructions on how to update your information.

Of course this is not really the Wells Fargo site (or whatever site the scam is proporting it to be) It is actually sending whatever information it can gather to the scam artists database. The scam artist can then use the infomation (credit card info, or God forbid your social security number) himself OR he can sell it to criminal organizations (including terrorists) that will use it for any number of evil purposes...

Pretty nasty huh...

BUT WAIT! It gets worse.

It is quite possible that the phoney web site you visited has infected your machine with viruses & spyware in the process. This makes it convenient for the cyber-crook to gather even more information about you and anyone that uses your computer for their nepharious uses...

It used to be easy to spot due to grammatical errors and poor graphics, however they are getting more sophisticated and the con is becoming tougher to spot... If you are not sure about an email, then call the institution and talk to somebody that actually works for the company...(get the number from 411 NOT from the email. It could be a bogus number that goes to the con man's phone...)