Phishing is a very common method used by cybercriminals to kidnap and mislead confidential information. In general, victims tend to fall for this type of illegal act, giving the cybercriminal information related to their bank account, be it: passwords, credit card numbers or personal banking information.

This term also refers to the English word “fishing”, which means “to bite the hook”.

These cybercriminals are usually called Phisher, a term that translates to a person who impersonates the identity of another, be it: company, institution or another person. This Phisher uses emails, instant messaging, social media, malware, phone calls, or any method that aims to steal your personal information.

What information do these cybercriminals steal from us?

• Personal information
• Financial information
• Account numbers
• Credit card numbers
• Access credentials
• Location and contact information
• Mail accounts
• Social media accounts

What means does the Phisher use to steal confidential information?

• Phone calls
• Text messages
• Use of e-mails
• Use of social networks
• Computer virus infection

How can we avoid being attacked by these types of cybercriminals?

• Do not click on links that ask for personal information.
• Verify that emails do not contain malicious links or misspellings.
• When we enter a web page, we must make sure that the page has a security certificate, we can see this in the upper left, you will see a padlock, if we click, it will tell us that the connection is secure.
• Many times these cybercriminals ask for personal information beyond what we are used to giving, therefore, we must be careful what type of personal information we are giving.

A classic example is; Banks will never ask you for your personal banking information via email, therefore, before doing so, call the bank or go to the nearest branch to validate this information.

We must be careful what type of information we are giving to companies or institutions via the internet, since this system works worldwide as a way to steal personal data.