Today i received a phishing email trying to convince me that I had a tax refund of $203.59 waiting for me as follows.

( I checked about this Domain at Whois and found that notlong-com is Free Short URL Redirection to make a long URL not long. Since the notlong-com service is anonymous, you can shorten URLs without having to register and provide your identity or email address. The spammer using this short URL to misguide me to get my Credit Card information )

Phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. eBay, PayPal and online banks are common targets. Phishing is typically carried out by email or instant messaging, and often directs users to enter details at a website, although phone contact has also been used. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users. Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical measures.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws.
Website : www.irs.gov

Technorati Tags: Computer phishing