Anti-phishing filter

Abstract

A method operates to detect personal identifying or account information exchanged in a real-time electronic communication occurring between computer network users, such as electronic chat. A detected personal identifier may be recognized as an attempt on the part of one user to engage in a phishing attack upon another user or to otherwise steal the other user's sensitive personal information. Upon recognizing the communication as an unwarranted attempt to collect such information, the electronic communication may be monitored, and communication of the personal information may be prevented.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 parsing, by a computer server operating a pattern-recognition algorithm, text chat data exchanged between a first user and a second user during an electronic chat room data exchange session hosted by the computer server,   detecting, by the computer server operating a pattern-recognition algorithm, a defined type of personal identification comprising at least one of a government-assigned identity number or an account number in text data received from the first user, wherein the detecting does not require recognition of any defined keyword or phrase in the chat data;   altering, by the computer server, a user interface associated with the text chat data, in response to detecting the defined type of personal identification number, prior to providing the personal identification number to the second user, wherein the altering comprises including an announcement indicating at least one of that the first user opted not to provide the personal identification number, that the chat room data exchange session is being monitored for phishing activity, or that the users' registration information is being logged.