Phishing: Difference between revisions

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Have you ever been in a situation where you log into your account, only to find out that some of your xats, days and/or powers are missing? Do you suspect that an unauthorized user may have attempted to compromise your account and succeeded? You might be a victim of what we call "phishing."
Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to steal personal information, such as your e-mail address and password. On xat, you might encounter users who try to steal your e-mail address, password, xats, days, powers, and sometimes, your identity. Protect yourself whenever using xat by knowing how to recognize phishing attempts so you can report and not fall for phishing tricks.


==What is phishing?== <!--T:2-->
==Common phishing tricks== <!--T:2-->
 
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Phishing is a trick used by criminals to steal personally identifiable information, such as your e-mail address and password for example. It is not a security flaw and you are not getting hacked. As long as you know what to look for, you can prevent yourself from being phished. You've probably been warned before by your online bank about phishing websites, but most users don't think or worry about being phished when using their "xat" account. On xat, there are criminals who want to steal your e-mail address, password, xats, days, powers and most of all, your identity.
* Linking a page that looks exactly the same or similar to xat's registered user account management page.
* Convincing users to click on a link by offering free xats, days, and/or powers.
* An urgent request for personal information: passwords, e-mail address etc.
* A message requiring immediate action to avoid a problem like losing access to your xat account or your account being deleted.
* Asking to download a third party program called ".sol Editor" and to provide the "Value" that's located above the category "Number."
* Impersonating administrators or [[<tvar|1>Special:MyLanguage/Volunteers</>|volunteers]] in an attempt to collect information or purchased items.  


==How does the scam work?== <!--T:4-->
'''NOTE:''' NEVER click on suspicious links/downloads or provide any personal information to unknown users.


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==Tips for spotting a phishing e-mail== <!--T:4-->
A criminal will start off by creating a page that looks exactly the same as xat's registered user account management page. Then, the criminal will create a link (which will redirect to the page) and come up with a convincing way to lure a user into clicking on the link. An example might be offering xats, days and/or powers for free, as long as you click on the link and enter your e-mail address and password into the text box provided. That is definitely a {{Color|#FF0000|'''red flag'''}}. Under any circumstances, you should NEVER click on the link, nor should you enter your e-mail address and password, regardless of whether it's free. Just by clicking on the link itself, the criminal may already have your IP address.


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'''NOTE:''' If you come across a page that asks you for the password that's associated with your e-mail address (not your account), it's a phishing website. xat will NEVER ask you for that under any circumstances. Also, do NOT use the same password for any other e-mail addresses or accounts you may have, even if it has nothing to do with xat. You're only increasing your chances of everything else getting compromised.


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Besides creating a duplicate page, there is also another way that criminals are doing to steal personally identifiable information from users. What they're doing is either asking users for their flash shared object file or asking users to download a third party program on their computer called ".sol Editor" and want users to provide them the "Value" that's located above the category "Number." Under any circumstances, do NOT provide them the value that's associated with your account. Giving them the value is just like giving them the password and you will end up being phished.
* Always look at the 'from' e-mail address, and ensure it isn't suspicious. Even the e-mail can sometimes be spoofed.
 
* Scammers often attempt to make the e-mail look as legitimate as possible by including a logo or professional name such as "Account Support."
==How can I protect myself?== <!--T:9-->
* Hover over links in an e-mail before clicking on them. The link could direct you to a suspicious address completely unrelated to the text in the link.
 
* Never open or download anything unless you are sure they come from a safe source.
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To make sure you don't get phished, you have to understand exactly how it works. When you click on a link in a chat box it may show the image below as a header to warn you not to enter your xat password on this new website.
 
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[[Image:Phish.png]]
 
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Please do not always rely on this warning showing, as the linkvalidator system is not perfect. We place every effort into making the system as effective as it can be.  
 
====Make sure you only enter your username and password on xat.com==== <!--T:13-->
There is only one easy way to know that you are at the real login page. That's by looking at your browser's address bar, the place you view or type in the URL of the website you want to visit. By looking there, you'll know what website you are actually on at the moment. For xat, the only page you should login to is "xat.com" or "m.xat.com". You may think you know exactly what the xat login page looks like and that someone could not trick you into typing your info into a fake page, but it is very easy to fall for this! It's also very easy for anyone to make an exact copy of the xat login page, or the login page of any website you use.
 
====Your email password is only to log in to your email==== <!--T:14-->
xat will never ask you for your email password. Only use your email password to log in to your email. If a login page asks you for your email password it is not a xat page, it is a phishing page.
 
====Turn on account locking==== <!--T:15-->
Account locking will increase the security of your account. See [[AccountLocking]] for details. Note that this is not a substitute being cautious to avoiding being phished (see above).
 
====Use different passwords for different accounts==== <!--T:16-->
You should NEVER use the same password on your email account or xat account as you use for your login to ANY other site. If someone managed to phish your password on their site, they would have control of your email as well. Often this means they can access all your accounts on every site you use and it's more difficult to regain control of them again. If your email password is used on other sites, including xat.com, you should change it right away. If your email account has been phished you should contact your email provider for assistance.
 
====Use strong passwords==== <!--T:17-->
To make a strong password that cannot easily be guessed, combine letters and numbers into a lengthy password of at least 8 characters, though 14 characters is ideal. Avoid using your name, username, birthday, repeated characters, and common words in your password.


==What do I do if I think I've been phished?== <!--T:20-->
==Protecting yourself== <!--T:6-->


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If you think your account has been phished, immediately change your password for your xat account, and your password for your email account. Use the forgotten password feature on xat if you can't login. Changing your passwords will keep out the phisher. For other problems please contact us by ticket at http://xat.com/ticket with "xat I may have been phished" as the subject of the message.


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To prevent yourself from getting phished by a criminal, we recommend the following:


== Logging into other users' accounts == <!--T:29-->
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*Consider reading the [[<tvar|3>Special:MyLanguage/Password</>|Password]] wiki article for tips on creating a strong password. Do NOT use the same password for any other e-mail addresses or accounts you may have, even if it has nothing to do with xat. You're only increasing your chances of other accounts you have from being compromised.
*ALWAYS make sure that you are on xat's registered user account management page by looking at the URL bar. The link should appear as https://xat.com/web_gear/chat/register.php or https://xat.com/login.
*Enable xat's account security features: [[<tvar|1>Special:MyLanguage/Account protection</>|Account Protection]] and [[<tvar|2>Special:MyLanguage/Account_Protection#Account_Locking</>|Account Locking]].


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==How to report phishing== <!--T:20-->
Under '''no''' circumstances should you ever log in to someone else's account. This is a direct violation of xat.com's terms of service and discovery of this may lead to your own accounts being deleted. If another user needs help they should open a ticket.


==How can I report suspected phishing sites?== <!--T:23-->
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Go to http://xat.com/ticket and report the site to the "Report Phishing Site" department and xat will take appropriate action.
If you think you may be a victim of phishing or an unauthorized user may have compromised your account, change the password to not only your account, but your e-mail address as well.


==Think you're a pro on avoiding being phished?== <!--T:25-->
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To report a phishing website, submit a [https://util.xat.com/support/open.php ticket] under the "Report Phishing Site" help topic. Provide proof about the occurrence, such as the date and time of when you went on the phishing website. The sooner you report the phishing website, the faster the phishing website will be shut down.


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If you think that you're now educated on phishing, why not prove it? To test your knowledge, take the [http://util.xat.com/quiz/ xat Phishing Quiz] now.
NEVER log into another user's account, even if you've been granted permission to. You will be in direct violation of xat's [<tvar|1>https://xat.com/terms</> Terms of Service]. Failure to follow xat's terms of service will result in your account being torched and/or deleted.


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[[Category:Security]]
{{Category|Security}}

Revision as of 02:26, 5 June 2019

Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to steal personal information, such as your e-mail address and password. On xat, you might encounter users who try to steal your e-mail address, password, xats, days, powers, and sometimes, your identity. Protect yourself whenever using xat by knowing how to recognize phishing attempts so you can report and not fall for phishing tricks.

Common phishing tricks

  • Linking a page that looks exactly the same or similar to xat's registered user account management page.
  • Convincing users to click on a link by offering free xats, days, and/or powers.
  • An urgent request for personal information: passwords, e-mail address etc.
  • A message requiring immediate action to avoid a problem like losing access to your xat account or your account being deleted.
  • Asking to download a third party program called ".sol Editor" and to provide the "Value" that's located above the category "Number."
  • Impersonating administrators or volunteers in an attempt to collect information or purchased items.

NOTE: NEVER click on suspicious links/downloads or provide any personal information to unknown users.

Tips for spotting a phishing e-mail

  • Always look at the 'from' e-mail address, and ensure it isn't suspicious. Even the e-mail can sometimes be spoofed.
  • Scammers often attempt to make the e-mail look as legitimate as possible by including a logo or professional name such as "Account Support."
  • Hover over links in an e-mail before clicking on them. The link could direct you to a suspicious address completely unrelated to the text in the link.
  • Never open or download anything unless you are sure they come from a safe source.

Protecting yourself

To prevent yourself from getting phished by a criminal, we recommend the following:

  • Consider reading the Password wiki article for tips on creating a strong password. Do NOT use the same password for any other e-mail addresses or accounts you may have, even if it has nothing to do with xat. You're only increasing your chances of other accounts you have from being compromised.
  • ALWAYS make sure that you are on xat's registered user account management page by looking at the URL bar. The link should appear as https://xat.com/web_gear/chat/register.php or https://xat.com/login.
  • Enable xat's account security features: Account Protection and Account Locking.

How to report phishing

If you think you may be a victim of phishing or an unauthorized user may have compromised your account, change the password to not only your account, but your e-mail address as well.

To report a phishing website, submit a ticket under the "Report Phishing Site" help topic. Provide proof about the occurrence, such as the date and time of when you went on the phishing website. The sooner you report the phishing website, the faster the phishing website will be shut down.

NEVER log into another user's account, even if you've been granted permission to. You will be in direct violation of xat's Terms of Service. Failure to follow xat's terms of service will result in your account being torched and/or deleted.