Cyberhygiene

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Pharming
November 29, 2005

"Pharming" is becoming common in the world of email. You may have received cleverly disguised emails in you email account that appear to be from a bank or more commonly eBay. You can protect yourself by recognizing what a "pharming" email is.

Pharming emails often:

  • Look like they are from a valid company. This can be from a familiar bank, store or online shopping site like eBay. This means you should not rely on the sender of the email as this is easy to imitate.
  • Ask you for personal information. These emails may say that your account has expired or that you need to renew your membership. They may ask you to send your information to them. Remember, banks and other valid companies will never ask for your personal information in an email.
  • Send you a link to a fake web site. This web site may look just like a valid web site but they are using the information you type in for fraudulent use.
  • Send you a link to a real Web site. Sending you to a valid web site may lead you to believe the email is valid.