Software Targets Identity Theft

Phishers Under Fire

ATLANTA -- EarthLink has developed a program to fight phishers -- phony Web sites designed to deceive e-mail users into providing personal information such as passwords and credit card or Social Security numbers.

Phisher sites are called that because they "fish" for personal information that can be used in identify theft. They work by telling an Internet user via e-mail that there is a problem with the service-provider account and providing directions to a Web site for clarification.

The link takes the user to a hoax Web site that may be a perfect copy of a real page used by Earthlink, eBay or another legitimate business. That is where the user is deceived into providing personal information.

EarthLink receives about 40,000 telephone calls or e-mails each month from subscribers who have received one of the fraudulent e-mails, said Scott Mecredy, the project manager for the free anti-phisher toolbar the Atlanta-based company plans to introduce.

"They're either reporting that they've been taken or concerned that the e-mail is a fraud," Mecredy said.

EarthLink's anti-phisher program will rely on a list of known fraudulent sites. When a subscriber responds to the e-mail message, he will be linked instead to a special Web page that warns the e-mail is a fraud. The site also will provide a chance to report the hoax attempt.

EarthLink and eBay are sharing internal lists of fraudulent Web sites to make their anti-phisher toolbars more effective. The companies acknowledge that the service is not perfect because it relies on lists of known sites, and those not on the list will not be detected.

from WSBTV