Image via Wikipedia
As per legal authorities, phishing is making a replica of a legitimate web-page on the Internet, and conning people into providing sensitive information. Phishing can be done by lone phishers or they can operate in groups.
The first step of a phishing attack is an email. The email will have fake contents. The reader of the email is enticed to a web page, and then enter personal details. Spamming is easy. The phisher can send millions of spam email with one single mouse click. There is not much effort involved here.
By ways of spamming, phishers reach millions of people. And out of these millions it is rare that not one person is gullible. Such gullible victims are caught in the phishing net.
The spamming emails that are sent look original. Even on close examination. They are almost replicas of mails sent out by banks and companies. Such is the level of detail of spam e-mails.
Phishers use excellent copy-writing skills to get responses. The wordings of spam emails are carefully crafted. Even alert email users are sometimes enticed to surrender their personal details to these attractive Venus-traps.
Most phishing emails are designed to elicit and immediate response. This is the first thing to keep in mind. The email content will sound extremely exciting. Email users are advised to remain prudent and circumspect.
Phishing is a lucrative business for phishers. They sell retrieved personal information to hackers. Hackers use this to exploit Internet users in many ways. Phishers are sometimes a foil to hackers.
