Pharming

Pharming, like Phishing, illegitimately gathers your personal (e.g., banking) information. Pharming gathers your information by automatically misdirecting the users of genuine online services.  This maybe done through abusing the domain name system, which links web addresses to web servers, so that you are led to a fake website (DNS hijacking) or by installing malware on your system that similarly leads you to a malicious site. As an analogy, it’s like dialing your friend’s phone number, but getting connected to a stranger who then pretends to be your friend and asks you to share personal details.

The illegitimate website may ask for your personal information and record it for criminal intent.

Although not a guarantee, checking that a website displays the lock in the address bar is one way to be more certain that you are on the correct page before entering details. Furthermore, trust your browser’s warnings. If it advises that a webpage may be dangerous, it is best to avoid that site. Sometimes even well-known legitimate websites get compromised by pharming and your browser may recognize this threat.

To protect yourself against identity theft and learn what you should do if you are the victim of identity theft, check the tips section (link) of our website.