quote:Originally posted by region2:Not true - there are viruses (viri?) around that record key strokes but you have to have the virus on your PC for that to work!quote:Originally posted by Mrs.M.:
I think someone posted that you should not even answer them at all as they can sometimes pick up things just from your typing.
When I was on my Computer Science course in about 1980 I wrote a program that mimicked the log on 'screen' (it was on teletype but you know what I mean) and it recorded the next user's id and password into a file then logged off. I was then able to log on as them and steal their 'budget' (ie. time on the mainframe). Somehow I came top in my class! I guess this was an early example of phishing!
[_ONE OFF VIRUS CHECK_] <-- check for viruses here!
R2
These dreadful little beasties are known as 'Trojans' cf the siege of Troy.
They usually arrive by running a link from a website, maybe by email when users are a bit careless or think they have found a free lunch.
They sit on your computer and wait for a particular window, such as your ebay login form, and grab the keystrokes.
Less sophisticated ones just simulate a Paypal/bank/ebay form, and grab the details.
Moral?
Be aware what is on your PC - cookies, registry entries, startup programs \Program Files\, Task Manager processes, everything.
Anything you do not recognise, google it!