Are the United States Federal and State Governments ready to Prosecute Phishing Attacks?
IBLS Editorial Staff Monday, April 16, 2007 First, what is Phishing? Phishing is a type of Internet fraud that has increased tremendously. It involves two separate acts of fraud. First, the phisher steals the identity of the business which it wants to copy and afterwards, the phisher obtains the confidential information of the innocent customers who become easy targets. Cyber criminals often seek personal data from unsuspecting victims through the Internet, such as personal IDs, passwords, credit card numbers and PINs, and in turn sell this information to new criminals who utilize it for their financial gain. Further, these criminals can also access a customer’s account through online banking and set up false bill payments that send checks to the criminal or a conspirator. Sometimes, depending upon the circumstances, offenders transfer funds from available customer accounts, including credit cards, savings accounts and home equity loans into their checking account. Later, the copy of t
