Ok – so what is phishing (NOT Fishing) anyway? Put simply, it is an attempt by criminals to obtain personal information from you, such as bank details, passwords, credit card details etc which they would then use to sell onto other criminals or use it themselves to commit fraud.
Phishing scams often take the form of a hoax SPAM email that looks very authentic and appears to have come from an official source such as the bank or building society. The email may ask you to email back some of your personal account information and may even ask you to click on a link. That link would take you to a fake website that looks not unlike the “real thing”. If you were to enter your personal details and any banking information into this site then you would be handing this “on a plate” to the criminals.
Remember, banks and building societies NEVER ask you to send personal information by email to them either via email or via a link in an email.
The best thing to do with suspicious emails is to DELETE them – don’t even open them as they may contain a virus that will upset your computer. IF something sounds too good to be true then it probably is. For instance have you ever been informed that you have a HUGE lottery win waiting for you ……..but you never even entered into it!
If something seems official and you are not sure if its spam or not then find your bank statement (or other official documents from whoever has contacted you) and ring them up and ask if they have contacted you. If they say no, then delete the email.
We hope that this information will help you to avoid Phishing Scams 
Eileen and Suzanne
