Every parent worth their weight in salmon eggs and lures bright has at least a great fishing story, usually on the big game that got away. Unfortunately, very few parents have stories about how to avoid being trapped in a different kind of capers, fishing online variety known as "phishing."

Phishing attacks are perpetrated by criminals use fake Web sites and other tactics to trick people into sharing personal information online. These schemes are helping to drive national escalation in identity theft. According to the Working Group Anti-Phishing, the number of reported phishing sites each month more than quadrupled, from 2,854 sites in April 2005-11976 in May 2006.

"People can prevent phishing attacks by learning the signs of this type of phishing scams and the use of anti-technology," said John Scarrow, Microsoft Corp. , Which provides free technology to help protect people from phishing e-mail and Web sites.

The Microsoft Phishing filter alerts and blocks those known or suspected phishing sites. Now available for free on the toolbar of Windows Live and MSN Search as a toolbar add-in, the filter is also included in Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista. In addition, the e-mail SmartScreen filtering technology available in Windows Live Mail, MSN Hotmail Server, Office Outlook and Exchange helps to block email messages that can attract people to phishing sites.

Weekend Robert Marvin Fisher has learned to avoid phishing scams by applying similar tactics to those who evade their cunning salmon lures. "We carefully reviewed the emails and web sites that solicit personal information," said Marvin, a father of two who runs a mutual fund. "We do not" bite "just because it looks official." It also maintains a credit card with a low limit for all online purchases.

Staysafe.org offers the following tips to avoid phishing scams,

• Never enter personal information such as credit card or Social Security numbers, web sites reached through links on anonymous emails.

• Avoid clicking on links to websites contained in emails, especially when updating account information or passwords change. In contrast, type addresses directly into your browser or use personal bookmarks.

• Check for spelling mistakes in the address line and email addresses containing "@" somewhere other than directly to the "business name or Web site.

• Double - click the yellow lock icon at the bottom right corner of the business websites. The name that comes on the screen must match the name of the site.

Microsoft also recommends that users create different log-in names and passwords for different sites.