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Pharming is one of the latest online scams and rapidly growing threat that has been popping up lately on the Internet. It's another way for criminals to try to get into your computer so they can steal your personal data.

Phishing and pharming are related online scams but pharming is much more sophisticated. Phishing scams involve sending you bogus e-mails that appear to be from a bank or another online business.

The criminal wants you to click on an e-mail link that takes you to a web site that looks authentic.

They want you to enter your password and account number. Once they get your sensitive personal data they help themselves to your money.

The new pharming scam is similar to phishing scams but with a new twist. The pharming scam works by redirecting your Internet browser.

A computer user types in a legitimate website address into a web browser but is redirected without their knowledge to a bogus site that looks identical to the genuine site.

Once a user logs in with their login name and password, the information is immediately captured by the con artist. The real danger of the new pharming scam is that you no longer have to click an email link for your personal information to be stolen.

To avoid becoming a new victim of the new pharming scam here is a list of recommendations that you can use.

Always use a secure website when you submit credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser. The beginning of the Web address in your browsers address bar should be "https://" rather than just "http://"

Log into your online accounts on a regular basis. Check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate. If anything is suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers immediately.

Regularly check that your browser is up to date and new security patches are applied. Go to the Microsoft Security home page at http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx The best recommendation that will make it easy to stay updated is click on the "Get updates for Windows automatically" link.

Always report an entire original phishing email with its original header information intact to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov . Then, notify the Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint at FTC - File Complaint

New security measures must continually be added to the Internet as criminals probe for any weakness they can capitalize on. It's important to be aware of the latest online pharming scam to avoid becoming a victim of this new threat.