Spear Phishing

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Spear phishers gather information, usually on the Internet, about an individual, and then craft a personalized e-mail more likely to dupe the mark. According to the FBI, the personalization method has proved so profitable that a significant number of spear phishers, principally located outside the United States, began applying it to death-threat extortion emails for the first time last December. FBI spokeswoman Cathy Milhoan says the problem is "huge."

Here's how it works: A spear phisher collects information on an (often wealthy) individual, then writes a chilling e-mail. The sender, posing as a hit man, offers to spare the recipient in exchange for a large sum of money. If the ploy doesn't work, the target receives a second e-mail, purportedly from the police, explaining that his or her name and address were found on a recently arrested murder suspect. "The victim gets scared, gets paranoid, he gets a lot of things," says Alan Paller, a cybercrime expert with the Bethesda, Maryland, SANS Institute who has testified before the U.S. Congress on the matter. The target provides personal details�including financial data�to aid theinvestigation. A Dangerous Game of Phishing - Newsweek: International Editions - MSNBC.com