What are phishing sites? How to avoid and report the site to Google, Yahoo and MSN?

If you go with the recent studies, then you will be surprised to know that cybercriminals are developing thousands of fake and phishing sites every week. What makes these sites dangerous is the fact that they are branded as banks, eBay, and other companies and look authentic as well. Phishing sites are websites, which are created for tricking users to give out their personal information. These also lure them to click on links that unleash viruses into the system providing access to user information and damaging the files at the same time.

Tips to avoid phishing sites

The best way to protect your system from such phishing sites is to avoid them, and the best way to avoid them is to identify these sites and stay away from them. The main ways of checking these sites include:

  • Look at the web address: When you will check the address of a phishing site, you will definitely find something strange. In general, these sites do not have ‘https’, which is common in sites of firms and banks.
  • Check the company name: If you visit such a site or get phishing emails, then you should check the URL or contact the company through phone to verify the site.

Reporting a phishing site to Google

Sometime when you search for a website through popular search engines, you can be redirected to phishing sites. In such situation, you should report it to the concerned search engine. For instance, if you have visited a phishing site through Google, then you should report it instantly. For this, you should go to the report phishing page of Google, and then enter the URL in the given place. You can also leave any comments if you want and then enter the security code and submit the report.

Reporting to MSN

Phishing sites are designed to appear like other sites for stealing user’s personal details, so it is important to report such sites. Just like Google, you can also report phishing sites to MSN. Just visit MSN homepage, and then click on MSN Privacy. Then click on “How To Contact US” to get to the web form, and fill the form giving all details including the URL of the phishing site. After this, click on “Feedback” and fill this form completely. One can rate a specific site negatively and can add comments about the phishing site. One can also contact MSN through phone and report about phishing sites.

Reporting to Yahoo

Apart from MSN, you can report about the sites to Yahoo as well. The steps that you will have to follow include:

  • Go on yahoo help and then click on the link for reporting a phishing site
  • Fill up the form of Yahoo security phishing report
  • You can also report any instant messages, which you have received along with the links of phishing sites you wish to report

Thus, reporting a phishing site to search engines will always help you and other users to stay away from phishing attacks.

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