Phishing? Don't let them catch you!

A phenomenon that is a relatively new threat to consumers in the Netherlands is the so-called 'phishing'. Phishing is quite simply 'fishing' for personal data such as pin codes, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, etc. by illegal organisations. These illegal organisations then try to use this personal data to steal your bank balance.

The illegal organisation pretends to be a well-known institution, e.g. an e-money institution where you have an e-account so that you can pay via the Internet. For this purpose, the organisation uses e-mail and website addresses that are (very) similar to those of a well-known institution. A nasty business, since it damages people's trust in these institutions.

How does it work?
You receive a SPAM e-mail that appears to come from a financial institution. The e-mail pretends that the institution needs certain personal data for verification purposes and asks you to fill in that data. The reason given is often improving the service, installing a software upgrade or a sort of standard check of current data. The e-mail contains a warning that if you do not react, the service will be terminated. The e-mail also includes a link to an Internet page (the link usually includes the name of the financial institution). Once you click on the link you are diverted to a fake website and the 'fish' has been caught.