PhishGuard for Internet Explorer

PhishGuard is a free software service that runs on computers operating on Windows 98 through XP and any version of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater. This software harnesses the collective observations of Internet users to detect and rapidly disable Internet Phishing or Spoofing attacks designed to steal critical financial data.

Phishing attacks are rampant today where fraudulent websites and emails mimic well-known organizations to trick unsuspecting Internet users. Users unwittingly reveal financial information, including sensitive details like credit card numbers, bank accounts, passwords, and social security numbers, through a simple login or account number entry screen. Scammers' emails and websites mimic the exact style and graphics of legitimate companies to make it very difficult for typical users to detect such scams, leading to long-term identity theft and fraudulent financial transactions.

Once PhishGuard is installed on a computer, it quietly monitors sites on the Internet that users visit with their browser. When trying to visit a harmful site, a warning window immediately appears, giving information on when the site was discovered and why it is considered harmful. Although users can still choose to visit the harmful site, PhishGuard strongly recommends against it.

The first person to discover a suspected phishing scam can use PhishGuard to report the offending email or URL (website address) to our monitoring team literally in seconds, without divulging any confidential information to the scammers. Within minutes, our team verifies the scam and adds it to the ScamBase database. These updates are then rapidly distributed to every participating computer, immunizing them against the newly discovered scam.

Overall, PhishGuard provides a simple and free solution to combat phishing attacks that target critical financial data. By harnessing the collective observations of Internet users, PhishGuard acts as an anti-phishing solution, providing timely information to users about harmful sites and updating them against any phishing scams in real-time.