E-mail: Phishing and Spam

Phishing refers to sending illegal e-mails whose format and content usually resemble e-mails from banks or business partners. The victim clicks a link to a fraudulent (bank) Web site, where he or she is prompted to enter confidential information, such as a user name and password or PINs and TANs from online banking accounts. If the victim enters this information, the scammer “fishes” sensitive data from the victim and can access his or her account.
Scammers can also obtain confidential data when users surf manipulated Web sites (cross-site scripting). The unsuspecting user opens a Web page with embedded malware. Another way criminals can access information is by placing themselves between the sender and recipient to intercept the electronic communication including the information transmitted (man-in-the-middle).
Keep in mind: There is no single method for protecting yourself against phishing. But you can take a few precautions to minimize the risk of data theft.

Here’s how to protect yourself

	Important: No serious credit institutes or online auctions such as eBay prompt their customers by e-mail to enter confidential data. If in doubt, contact your bank or business partner immediately. This is also the first step to take if you suspect that you may have already been the victim of phishing.
	Enter Internet addresses yourself or use bookmarks. Do not click the links included in e-mails.
	Ignore e-mails that prompt you to enter PINs, TANs, passwords or other sensitive data.
	Watch out: While phishing e-mails often contained grammatical and spelling errors in the past, now they are often well written.
	Before entering confidential data, always make sure that the URL in the address line starts with “https” and not just “http”. The “s” indicates that the connection is secured using the SSL encryption protocol. Watch out: This does not ensure 100% security, however, since resourceful scammers can theoretically also manipulate the address line.

By the way: Less dangerous, but nevertheless annoying for users are undesirable advertising e-mails (spam). A rule of thumb: Enter your e-mail address on the Internet (for example, in forums or guest books) with caution or use a separate e-mail address.

Here’s how AVM protects you

	Always use the latest firmware for your FRITZ!Box.
	Protect your FRITZ!Box interface with a password.
	The included software FRITZ!DSL Protect prevents unintentional transmission of data to the Internet, preventing malware from sending themselves.
	Also use a virus scanner and update it regularly.