EarthLink Inc. plans to begin offering on Monday a free Web toolbar that can protect consumers against rampant "phishing" identity-theft scams. The toolbar will be available to all Internet users for download at EarthLink"s Web site, www.earthlink.net, and at general download sites like Download.com and ZDNet.
The toolbar takes the guesswork away from the consumer. If a surfer goes to a known phishing site, he will be automatically redirected to an EarthLink site with information about the specific phisher scam, if available, and general information about such scams and how to defend against them. The user will still be able to go to the potentially fraudulent Web site, if he chooses, by clicking a button to navigate there.
Features