What are phishing emails?

Although I consider myself to be quite Internet savvy, I still receive emails from time to time that throw me a little. You always hear people warning about phishing emails and saying not to reveal too much about yourself online. But do you know what a phishing email is and how to spot one?

Phishing emails
Phishing emails are emails that pretend to be from a genuine company or organisation and attempt to trick recipients into disclosing their bank account details. Often these emails look very realistic and contain the logo and colour schemes of the company they claim to be from.

As a rule, never tell anyone your bank account details by email.

Some phishing emails will ask you to follow a link and confirm your internet banking login details – never do this. These links might be taking you to a fake website, made to look identical to the site you normally go to for Internet banking. Always type in the regular URL you use to login to your internet banking into the address bar of a new browser window as opposed to following links you receive by email.

Some people that I’ve spoken to who have been victims of phishing scams have said that as well as feeling angry and worried, they felt a little embarrassed to have fallen victim to a scam in the first place. If you think you have been the victim of a scam, don’t be embarrassed – it is not your fault.

Those that run scams are despicable and need to be caught. If you know of anyone involved in criminal activity, including scams, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously through the online form on the charity’s website. If you are worried you might have been a victim of a phishing scam or you want to know more about them, visit the Bank Safe Online website.

Please rob me

A new website, Please rob me, is highlighting how much information people are unwittingly sharing via social networking websites. Please rob me shows tweets from Twitter in which users are disclosing that they're out of the house. Tweets on the site are updated in real time, demonstrating that every minute people around the world are revealing too much to potential criminals.

While it may seem like a drastic approach, Please rob me is making a valid point - any information posted online is essentially available for the world to see and use. It seems that some people get so caught up in posting and communicating online that they don't think about the potential consequences of their actions. Think twice before posting anything that could leave you vulnerable to crimes including burglary and identity theft.

You wouldn't hang a sign on your door saying you're in Thailand for two weeks, so why would you post this online?

Next time I’m heading out to fight crime, I’ll be sure not to post it on Facebook until after I’ve safely returned home.

Where do you keep your ID?

I've been in the crime-fighting industry for a few years now, since well before tv or mobile phones were around. In my opinion, the introduction of the internet has changed crime-fighting immensely. The internet helps fight crimes, for example by allowing organisations such as the charity Crimestoppers to publish images of Most Wanted individuals, but it has also made others more common.

There's new research out today finding that in three quarters of burglaries, some form of identification is amongst what is stolen. In one in seven burglaries, ID is the only thing stolen.

Now I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want other people getting their hands on my passport or drivers license. The idea of someone else traveling or opening up bank accounts in my name makes me feel pretty sick. If my passport is going abroad, I certainly want to be going with it!

To reduce the value of your ID if it is stolen, make sure you report all stolen or lost documents as missing straight away. Insurance company LV suggests you store documents in secure but separate places in your home so if someone finds one document, they won't have them all. Check out the Crimestoppers website for some great tips that can help you prevent becoming a victim of identity theft.

Stay safe.