February 5, 2020

What Is Phishing?

What Is Phishing?

Phishing, pronounced “fishing” is a technique used to steal personal information by directing online consumers to fraudulent websites that look nearly identical to the actual sites. Many times emails will warn of accounts being closed or fees incurred if the user information is not updated or verified. The links within these emails direct the recipient to forms or fraudulent websites that ask for account information, PIN numbers, passwords or Social Security numbers. To protect yourself from phishing:

  • Do not click on links in emails that request confidential information. Instead, call the company or go to the website directly by typing the web address into your browser.
  • Before submitting confidential information through forms, make sure you are using a secure internet connection. Verify the web address begins with “https://”, which indicates a secure connection.
  • Install and run updated anti-virus and anti-spyware regularly
  • Watch for misspelling or grammatical errors in emails or forms requesting confidential information. Hackers often make errors while rushing to get a fraudulent website in place.

By nature, email is not a secure form of communication. Never enter private, personal information in a form sent to you by email. Brentwood Bank will never send or request confidential account information through regular email channels. If you receive an email or phone call requesting your personal, confidential information that appears to be from Brentwood Bank, do not respond, contact us at 412-409-2265.