If it smells ‘phishy’, it probably is!

During the school holidays I was surprised by the number of people I spoke to who commented that they had received a larger than normal number of phishing emails in their inbox.  But it was a conversation I had with an uncle of mine about a “funny” experience he had had while selling a car via an online advertisement that got me thinking.  He received an email from a respondent who had replied via email saying that they were very interested in buying his boat (not the car he has advertised) and could he please click on the link provided to get in contact with a broker they had appointed to negotiate on their behalf!  He thought to himself, “this smells a little ‘phishy’”!
So over the past couple of weeks I’ve been monitoring what I receive in my email inbox.  I have to say that I’ve been astounded by the number of phishing scam emails I’ve received.  In the course of any given day I normally check my inbox a couple of times, respond to my emails and delete any spam that has made its way through. I’ve been tracking those emails which ask for personal information or request that I click on a link provided. What I learnt is that I could have been very wealthy, if only the emails were true!
 In total I (continue reading...)