CDC H1N1 Phishing Identity Theft Scam
Phishing scams are one of the easiest ways to get personal information from people. If you can’t steal information from the public trick them into give it to you. Phishing scams are website that request personal information from you who pose as a legitimate company or organization. They typically prey on people’s fear of hackers and password security to motivate their victims to visit the fraudulent website and enter their information.
H1N1 and the CDC is no exception. A phishing email and website has gone viral and has reached a lot of people telling them they need to fill out a Personal H1N1 Vaccination Profile. The website asks for personal information as well as health information. The site also has links on it that install viruses on your computer, which also might be something spreading the emails around.
The best way to prevent phishing attacks is to be skeptical of links in emails and be aware of the URL you visit when going to a website. You can do a simple search for the company like the CDC to find the real URL of the company. This is a good way of checking whether or not a website is real or not. Having said that never give out personal information on a website unless you know for certain it’s a legitimate business or organization that is going to protect it.
Tags: identity theft, phishing