Perhaps you’ve heard of “phishing.” You’ve probably already been a recipient of it. (Hopefully, you’ve resisted.) It is devious and dangerous. And people fall for these scams every day.

Phishers use fake e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. By pretending to be well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them.

Protect yourself:

>  Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information.

>  Phisher emails are typically NOT personalized, while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are.

>  Don’t use the links in an email to get to any web page. If you suspect the message might not be authentic, call the company or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web address in your browser.

>  Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information.

>  Always ensure that you’re using a secure site when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser. (To make sure you’re on a secure Web server, check the beginning of the Web address in your browser’s address bar – it should be “https://” rather than just “http://”)