Protect $$$ from Phishing IMs

It seems there has been a wave of phishing attacks using instant messaging recently. ‘Phishing’ involves the use of spoofed IM and websites to entice unsuspecting individuals into divulging personal or financial data.

Recent phishing attacks have included well crafted Instant Messages that appear to be sent from Yahoo! Instant Messenger, notifying the recipient to follow a link within the message with the following comments:

see this comedy joke click on this link [URL]
Ha ha ha click on link to laugh ... [URL]
what a joke ...... [URL]
nice one see this .... [URL]
what a joke .....click to see [URL]
what a joke ...... [URL]
nice to listen .......... [URL]
what is this ? ......see [URL]
i am busy you click on a link and see ... [URL]
what is this ? ...... see [URL]