Phishing - pronounced 'fishing' - emails are a very serious threat to your financial well-being. Phishing emails are the emails that appear to be from your bank or credit card company telling you that you must log into your account immediately to update your information or your account will be suspended or terminated. Many reproduce the bank's logo and style perfectly, they steal the banks' web page code. Too many of these messages appear very real and sound urgent enough for you to answer. Once you do, someone in cyberspace may have all the information they need to steal your identity. Identity theft is a serious problem, costing individuals and businesses billions of dollars every year.

The FBI calls phishing the "hottest and most troubling new scam on the Internet." Scammers have even used the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's name and logo in a fraudulent phishing scheme. "These thieves are very good at convincing you that you are receiving a legitimate message or using a Web site from a trusted source," says Michael Benardo, a manager in the FDIC's Technology Supervision Branch.

The goal of phishermen is to steal some valuable information like your credit card number. But, they don't have to ask for your number directly. Recent phishing scams include email that appears to come from eBay or PayPal telling you that you must log in or your account will be terminated. Of course, the links in the email go back to the phiserman's site. When you log in there, he'll have your username and password. If he's a smart scammer, he'll redirect you back to eBay's or PayPal's site. You may never realize you've given the scammer your info. Once he knows how to log into eBay with your info, he can read your name, address and credit card number from your account. The same idea applies to PayPal, but there he gets your bank routing number and account number.

Common sense is the best protection against phishing. Be very stingy about giving out personal information over the phone, fax or email. And never give out the information if someone calls, faxes or emails you. If you get a request for your personal information either call the organization that the request appears to come from or open a new window in your browser and type their address in the address bar. Do not believe anyone who phones you and tells you they're from your bank. Tell them you'll call them back. Don't take their number, call the number in your phone book and ask for them. For the Internet, never copy & paste links from emails or web site ads. Type the address in yourself so you know who you're dealing with.

If you think you may have been tricked into revealing your personal information, contact the authorities immediately. Don't wait to see if the phiserman cleans you out. You also can file a complaint by going to the Federal Trade Commission Web site at www.ftc.gov.

The name 'phishing' apparently comes from the analogy that the spammers are using email offers as lures to fish for your personal information in the sea of Internet information.