Easy Guide to Phishing

What is Phishing?

Phishing is defined as the criminal act of fraud that is covered under the jurisdiction of Cyber Law. Phishing is the illegal and unlawful attempt to obtain restricted, privileged information on the part of an unauthorized party. Phishing is typically committed with the intent of the participation in and facilitation of fraudulent activity.

Phishing and Cyber Law

Phishing is classified as a Cyber-crime, which is legally defined as any criminal activity that takes place, utilizes, or relies on a computational network terminal in order to commit criminal activity. Phishing can be committed in many ways, including the use of the internet, the hijacking of online or digital data, or the participation in online-based fraud.

Types of Phishing

The following are the most common forms of Phishing, all of which are considered to be illegal acts that are punishable by law:

Email Phishing is the attempt to illegally solicit information through email communication. This can be achieved through the deceptive transmission of informational requests, as well as the fraudulent misrepresentation of the perpetrator as an official, privileged party for such information.

The unlawful emulation of official documentation, ranging from government forms to corporate forms, to defraud the unsuspecting victim into volunteering personal or private information. Phishing scams can include a fraudulent request from a perpetrator posing as a government official or representative from a widely-known company or business.

Avoid Phishing Scams

Individuals are encouraged to investigate the nature of all email communication and transmission that they receive. Typically, individuals will never be prompted for private information through online communication.