Phishing, or trying to “fish” for your personal information, is a tried-and-true favorite of the cyber bad guys. Here's how it works: They send you an official-looking email from your "financial institution" telling you that their online banking system has been upgraded. The catch? In order to reactivate your account, you must first visit the look-alike financial institution's website and re-enter all of your personal information — including passwords, mother's maiden name, Social Security number and so on.

Scammers work hard to mimic the website of the financial institution, including similar colors, similar fonts and even fake logos. Once you're at the fake website , you are asked to supply your name, account number, passwords and other personal details. Scammers then use that information to access money in your real account.

The key to banking safely online can be as simple as paying attention. Make sure you enter every letter of the website correctly — scammers often use web sites that are just a letter or two away from the real Internet address (instead of ABC Bank, for example, the scammers might have a bogus website at ABC Banks). Never send personal or account information in an email (even if it's a reply to an email claiming to be from your financial institution). And if you are at all suspicious, contact your financial institution directly.

Just because a website has an "s" in its "https" (the "s" stands for "secure") or shows a lock symbol doesn't mean it's real. When in doubt, log out!