How to Report a Phishing Site to Yahoo

Phishing is a new catchword when it comes to the Internet, but its real name is fraud! Anyone using a Web site in order to acquire the personal information of someone else, usually in the form of passwords, account information or a Social Security number, is using it for phishing purposes. Even the simple act of gathering a name, address and phone number can help a crook make you an unsuspecting victim. Yahoo! is trying to clean up their small portion of the Internet by allowing its users to report those sites. If you suspect a Yahoo! site is phishing, here is what you need to do.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet access

1. Make sure the site is a Yahoo! site. Yahoo! cannot help if the site is not.
2. Go to Yahoo!’s main page and click on the “Help” button at the bottom.
3. From the list of options choose “Phishing Sites On Yahoo!” This will take you to an online form which will need to be completed.
4. Enter your name in the space provided.
5. Enter your email address in the space provided.
6. Enter the URL of the site you believe to be a phishing site in the space provided.
7. Enter some details about the phishing site in the space provided. Give specific examples of why you believe this site is phishing for information. Tell them how you came to be on this site (whether an email sent you to it, or a link from an email or another site). Give them as much information as possible.
8. Hit the “send” button at the bottom of the page to send your completed form to Yahoo! for review.

Tips & Warnings

• Report any and all sites you feel are phishing. Only fed-up consumers will bring an end to this kind of fraud.
• If an offer seems too good to be true, it is! Phishing emails and sites will try to draw you in with these types of offers.
• Don’t give out your information to a phishing site in order to catch them in the act! There is no telling just how many will receive that information. Simply report the possibility that it is a phishing site and leave it at that.
• Avoid clicking links in phishing emails. Report the site by putting the link address into the reporting form.