The growth of the Internet has offered greater flexibility for us all, but it also brings new risks that must be guarded against. One of the scams perpetrated by fraudsters that is prevalent on the internet is ‘phishing’.

What is Phishing? 
Phishing is a type of Internet fraud that is designed to steal sensitive information from you – such as your PINs, usernames and passwords. The fraudster then uses this information to access your account.

How it works? 
The fraudster sends you an email that looks exactly like the emails you normally receive from your bank. The email usually leads you to a website that looks like the bank’s website and asks you to provide your personal details like Internet Banking username and password. With this information, they have access to your bank account through Internet Banking and can perpetrate frauds to the extent of transferring money out of your accounts.

How you can protect yourself? 
Upgrade your internet browser to Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). IE7 gets you another layer of protection with sites that use Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates. An EV SSL certificate not only helps ensure that the communication with a website is secure, but also includes information about the owner of the website, which has been identified by the Certification Authority (CA) issuing the SSL Certificate.

• When you visit a website, the address bar turns green to alert you that there is more information available about the website. The identity of the website owner is also displayed on the address bar.
• If you visit a suspected phishing site when you surf the web, the IE7 Phishing Filter displays a yellow warning.
• If you attempt to visit a known phishing site, the IE7 Phishing Filter blocks you from visiting the site and displays a red warning. This alert will advice you about the suspicious nature of the website and you will be prevented from entering any information into that site.