How to Report a Phishing Site to MSN

When people go phishing on the Internet, they are attempting to perform online fraud. Most of the time phishing takes the form of a bulk email. This message often looks to be from an established company or Web site. In the message the phishers will be trying to get the recipient to give out personal and private information. If given, this information will often be used for identity theft purposes. MSN is trying to do something about this. By reporting phishing emails and sites to MSN, you take a decisive stand against these types of scams.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet access

1. Go to the MSN homepage at www.msn.com.
2. Procedure #1: Click the link at the bottom of the page for “MSN Privacy”.
3. From this page, click the link to their Web form in the box for “How To Contact Us”.
4. Fill out the form in its entirety, which will include telling MSN what country you are contacting them from, what product you are using, the reason for the contact (be sure to state phishing) and any additional comments. Be sure to include the Web site URL where you believe phishing to be taking place.
5. Procedure #2: Click the link at the bottom of the page for “Feedback”.
6. Fill out the feedback form in its entirety. You can rate a particular URL negatively and also list under the comments that this site is a phishing scam.
7. Contact MSN by printing out the Web site in question and sending it to their mailing address through the Postal Service (see below). Include the recipient's first and last name, or the department name.
   
8. Contact MSN by phone to report a phishing Web site (see below).
   

Tips & Warnings

• If you use the Postal Service, be sure to send it via one day mail. Most sites come and go quickly, so to catch the phishers in the act, authorities need the information about phishing sites within 48 hours.
• Be as specific as possible when reporting phishing Web sites. If you received an email and clicked a link, be sure to report both the Web site URL and attach a copy of the email, including the headers.
• 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.