Educate Yourself about Online Security
Common Online Security Scams & Terms

Phishing (fish’ing) (n.) Also known as “Spoofing” – The act of sending an email to recipients in an attempt to get them to visit a fraudulent website and enter sensitive personal information. This information is then used by the phisher to attempt to steal people’s money or identity. Phish emails and websites try to fool the recipient by mimicking a legitimate business or financial institution. Read more about phishing.

Sensitive personal information – Any information about an individual that can be used to verify their personal financial information or identity. This includes: Social Security Numbers (SSN), credit card numbers, PIN numbers, usernames and passwords, birthdates, passport & visa documentation and account numbers.

Fraud (frôd) (n.) - A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.*

Hacker (n.) – 1) One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff. 2) One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file (cracker).*

Pharming (farm’ing) (n.) – The scammers create a fake, malicious website that looks like the site of a real company. These skilled hacker criminals then use Domain Name Server (DNS) “poisoning” to redirect your browser to their fake site. When you are unknowingly directed to the malicious site, you seem to be on a legitimate site. You think you’re on your bank’s website, for instance, so you enter personal information such as your PIN number or password. Bingo, you’re broke. Or worse, your total identity is stolen. - Elevation's RealityBites site

Identity Theft (n.) – The crime of obtaining the personal or financial information of another person for the purpose of assuming that person's name to make transactions or purchases.

Computer Viruses (n.) – A computer program that is designed to replicate itself by copying itself into the other programs stored in a computer. It may be benign or have a negative effect, such as causing a program to operate incorrectly or corrupting a computer's memory.

Useful Sites for Phishing, ID Theft & Security
* Definitions from Dictionary.com