Who hasn’t received an email directing them to visit a familiar website where they are being asked to update their personal information? The website needs you to verify or update your passwords, credit card numbers, social security number, or even your bank account number. You recognize the business name as one that you’ve conducted business with in the past. So, you click on the convenient “take me there” link and proceed to provide all the information they have requested. Unfortunately, you find out much later that the website is bogus. It was created with the sole intent to steal your personal information. You, my friend, have just been “phished”.

Phishing (pronounced as “fishing”) is defined as the act of sending an email to a recipient falsely claiming to have an established, legitimate business. The intent of the phisher is to scam the recipient into surrendering their private information, and ultimately steal your identity.

It is not at easy as you think to spot an email phishing for information. At first glance, the email may look like it is from a legitimate company. The “From” field of the e-mail may have the .com address of the company mentioned in the e-mail. The clickable link even appears to take you to the company’s website, when in fact, it is a fake website built to replicate the legitimate site.

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When the The Sims 3 went on sale in the midst of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, some worried it might be overshadowed by the event. They shouldn’t have. Buoyed by sterling critical praise, the game has sold over 1.4 million copies in its first week on the market, Electronic Arts announced.

Sims 3 includes several new features. Players can customize their characters’ personalities, choosing among traits, such as brave, artistic, absent-minded, and kleptomaniac. Furniture and clothing can be customized based on color and pattern. The game also sports a new dynamic, real-time neighborhood system where households are seamlessly integrated.