Phishing is a term used to describe a type of spam that aims to steal your identity. It can be attempted through email, instant messages, or pop-up windows. Phishers seek to convince their potential victims to provide personal data such as credit card numbers, passwords or account information.

Sophisticated phishing scams appear to come from reliable sources such as your bank or credit card company. Logos, web addresses and information taken directly from legitimate sites are copied and altered to lead the reader to respond to these requests.

There are a few simple steps you can take to protect yourself from phishing scams. For example, don't follow the links in an email to your bank or credit card's website. Instead, type the address directly into your browser. Also, don't give out personal information on a website that isn't secure. To tell if a website is secure, check for "https://" in the address bar rather than just "http://". The 's' stands for 'secure'. Be wary of any emails that ask you to update, confirm, or validate your account information.

Try to review your printed account statements regularly. If you believe you are an identity theft victim, you can file a complaint with the FTC at www.ftc.gov in addition to filing a police report. You should also call the toll-free fraud number of any one of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies and place an initial fraud alert on your credit reports.

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