NACS continues to work hard to identify unwelcome, unsolicited commercial e-mail. No filtering technique is 100% effective, however, and it is therefore worthwhile to highlight a common threat that a seemingly legitimate message may pose.
One of the most disturbing trends in online crime today is known as “phishing” — fraudulent messages that appear to be from legitimate vendors but are actually well-disguised attempts to steal your passwords, account numbers, social security numbers, and other private information. Frequently, such messages appear to be from well-known companies such as eBay, Citibank, Amazon, and the like.
Often the sender will ask you to log into the company’s web site via a link provided in the body of the message to “confirm” your password or credit card information. These links actually direct your browser to the sender’s web site — well disguised as that of the legitimate vendor — which captures your private information as you type it.
If you are uncertain about a particular message, you may wish to contact the vendor in question by calling them, or going directly to their web site without using any links provided in the body of the message in question. Of course, you can also always contact NACS at nacs@uci.edu or (949) 824-2222 and we’ll help you figure it out.