There are some easy steps you can follow to avoid phishing scams, including:
Don’t use email to send your personal and financial information
Don’t reply to email or pop-up messages that ask for your personal or financial information
Don’t click on links or cut-n-paste a link from an unfamiliar message into your browser. Phishers can make a link look like it will take you to one place but actually sends you to a different site.
Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges.
Be cautious about opening email attachments or downloading email files, regardless of who sent them to you
Use firewalls and anti-virus and anti-spyware software, updating them all regularly
