Compared to some of the phisher e-mails I've received this one scrapes the bottom of the barrel. It's pretty much old school thinking in that it tries to use scare tactics to motivate the recipient and is missing many of the touches that add a sense of legitimacy to more modern scam e-mails. If you've seen any of the e-mails that make heavy use of graphics, formatting, and logos you're aware of how realistic they can appear. They accurately duplicate the format that companies use to send legitimate e-mail and can easily fool even the trained eye into thinking they originated from a legitimate source.

What can you do to protect yourself against phishing and other scam e-mails? Again, use common sense and follow these suggestions.

• Be suspicious. The days of innocence on the internet are over. Just because the e-mail says it's from [insert company name] and has all the official looking logos and graphics, it isn't necessarily so. I've been at this a long time and can honestly say, with one exception, I've never received an e-mail from a legitimate organization that wanted to update my personal information. The one exception I mentioned was a newsletter from one of the major internet publishers threatening to cancel my no cost subscription if I didn't update my personal information. I saved them the trouble and cancelled it myself.

• What do you do if you think the e-mail might be legitimate? Look and see who the e-mail is from, or at least who the address claims it's from. In the example e-mail I used above, it was so poorly done that the senders e-mail was actually a Yahoo e-mail address. Here comes the common sense thing again. Do you really think a legitimate organization entrusted with your personal information would have a Yahoo, Hotmail, or other throwaway type e-mail address?

• However, just because the e-mail address looks like it's genuine that doesn't mean it is legitimate. It's a simple matter to 'spoof' an e-mail address so it appears to come from one place when in reality it's as fake as [deleted plastic surgery body enhancement reference].

• Understand that in spite of all the work that goes into a phishing e-mail to make it realistic, the sole purpose of it is to separate you from your personal information that can be used to steal your identity, bank accounts, credit, cards and whatever else a thief covets. That is done by enticing you to click a hyperlink within the body of the e-mail that takes you to a fraudulent website where the information is collected. The solution is simple --  don't click. Delete the e-mail.

If it was that easy the phishers would be out of business, but human nature being what it is, there are going to be those that go ahead and click the hyperlinks anyway, or at least those users that will be tempted to click just to see what happens. Rest assured that whatever happens it's not going to be in your best interest.

Using the hyperlink from the example e-mail above, https://www.usbank.com/account_verify/cgi/index.htm, it seems pretty straightforward that you'll be taken to a web page on the bank site. That isn't the case. Although I've deactivated the hyperlink for this article, if it was a working link and the mouse was hovered over it you could see that the real address for the link is http://www.usbank.com%01@bos.es.kr/index.htm.

Even though the second address starts out the same way as the one in the e-mail, the real link contains "%01" and "@" characters that can basically redirect an unsuspecting user to fraudulent websites. This is accomplished by exploiting a known flaw in Internet Explorer that has yet to be addressed by Microsoft. I suggest you read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 833786 / Steps that you can take to help identify and to help protect yourself from deceptive (spoofed) Web sites and malicious hyperlinks for a full explanation. I have no idea why this issue hasn't been addressed by Microsoft, but given the severity of the consequences I think it's past time for some action.

Finally, the question always comes up about what to do if you receive one of the scam e-mails, or even worse, if you are the victim of one of the phisher scams. I've read tons of advice on e-mailing organizations and agencies to report the e-mails, but if I was a scam victim I'd pick up the telephone and call the company. It's too easy for them to ignore your e-mail and you want to get the issue resolved immediately, not when someone feels like getting back to you at their convenience. In cases like this, time really is of the essence.

As for reporting the e-mails you receive I really don't see much point in bothering. Go to almost any of the major websites that are targeted by phishers and try to find a link to send in a report about security breaches or scams. If you do manage to locate an e-mail address the chances are it will be buried deep within the bowels of the site. Combating these scams seems to be a very low priority for most companies, almost as if admitting scams exist somehow sullies the company reputation. There are also government agencies where reports can be filed, but again, I don't see the point. Learn to recognize phisher scams, delete them without response, and the problem will disappear.