Are You Smart About "Phishing"?

This is my second posting about the dastardly practice of "phishing". Phishing is where bogus e-mail is sent out mimicing a legitimate bank or other online business.

The point of the message is to convince you that the online business that's contacted you needs some of your personal information -- PIN, account number, credit card number, address, or other personal information -- updated or confirmed.

Although this practice is sometimes happening legitimately, far too often it's an attempt to steal your personal information, which can lead to identity theft.

A company called MailFrontier, which markets "e-mail security products," offers a free online quiz to test your Phishing IQ. This will give you a chance to test your smarts about various very legitmately-looking messages and challenging you to assess each one's legitimacy.

I recommend you take it. The results may surprise you!