Phishing - For You!
By Laura Quarantiello

They call it "phishing" - trolling for information using spam, trying to catch -- you, or rather, your identity. A recent survey estimated that 7 million adults in the U.S. were victims of identity theft, a 79% increase over last year. Although identity theft is mostly practiced off-line the online world is experiencing this crime at an increased rate.

Dubbed "phishing," scam artists send fraudulent emails to customers of service providers or retailers with whom customers regularly do business (recent targets have included eBay, Pay Pal and Earthlink). The emails look as though they came from the provider and claim they need the consumer to verify his or her account information. Customers are asked to click on a link that directs them to a page designed to mimic the service provider's site. This fake page asks the customer to re-submit their personal information for the account, sometimes including passwords and even the social security number.