If a stranger came up to you on the street and asked for your banking password, you’d probably think he was loony. Yet, thousands of people feel compelled to hand over their banking passwords when that same request comes through email.

In a practice known as Phishing, scammers send emails that appear to come from your bank, Paypal, eBay, or similar finance-related sites. Unfortunately, the emails are curefully crafted spoofs that try to trick you into visiting the scammer’s site and entering your coverted account name and password.

Legitimate companies never send you email asking you to verify your password. If legitimate companies need to contact you, they’ll send a letter. Or, they simply wait until you visit their  site and log in. The “urgent” requests in your mailbox come from thieves waiting for you to click their links and enter your account information, password, credit card numbers, and anything else they can trick you into revealing.