| |
| |
|
Security Information |
|
|
|
Beware of Imitations! Security, Internet Scams, and the African Real Estate Agenda
Fishing on the Internet has come a long way. However, we TechWeb junkies like to call it Phishing. What I am talking about here is not going after your ordinary, everyday catch. Yet a fine catch it indeed may be to those thieving bandits if they can lure you into giving up your personal and private information. Trickery is vast and common on the World Wide Web. Beware, I say, beware! Email schemes, called "phishing" or "carding", attempt to trick consumers into disclosing personal and/or financial information. The emails appear to come from legitimate companies with whom consumers may regularly conduct business. I have seen scams appear to come from such noteworthy corporation as AOL, Earthlink, Paypal, eBay, or major credit card issuers. Often times the email threatens termination of accounts unless consumers update billing information. Phishing comes around in all forms. How many of you have had some Nigerian Prince that just inherited 35 million US dollars offer to share it with you for one reason or another? How many of you have received an e-mail supposedly from your bank that for "security reasons" requests you to click a link that takes you to an online form to fill out, requesting all your personal and confidential information about your bank account? A word to the wise: there is no Prince in Nigeria that needs your help, and your bank will never ask you for that info in an e-mail! The latest Internet scam appears to come from the South African Department of Mining. "Resources and we are in dire need of a foreign partner to assist us in the receipt and investment of US$15,500,000.00?" All they request is a secure place to deposit the lump sum on US territory, and you will gain a large piece of the pie. WOW, what a deal! Another I received comes from Johnson Mgabe, the son of the leader of the Republic of Zimbabwe Agricultural Commission. His father has just been assassinated, and he, the only remaining heir, is trying to escape. If you help him, he will give you lots of dough! Right on! "Please e-mail and tell me of your decision. I am ready to pay you 25% of the money [$45.5 Million] for your help, 5% shall go for expenses you might incur during the transaction. The remainder [70%] shall be mine." Ok, ok, I am convinced; here is my private bank account, my SSN, DL# and address. Please tell me what I need to do next. Are they for real? Seriously though, if people didn't fall for these types of stunts, there wouldn't be so many floating around. Identity theft has become more and more rampant in this techno traveling world. Again I say, beware. Many of these email schemes contain links to "look-alike" websites that are loaded with actual trademarked images. The websites then instruct consumers to "reenter" their credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank PINs, or other personal information. If consumers actually provide the information requested, the data goes to scammers, not the legitimate company whose name is on the site. Thereafter, the data is often used to order goods or services and/or to obtain credit in the name of the consumer and potentially, steal your identity. Again, I say, beware! Rule for the road: If you receive a precarious e-mail asking you for personal information, chances are it is a scam. It is better to be safe than sorry. By Greg Richburg All past articles written by Greg Richburg are available at http://www.netricks.com/news. Please address article suggestions to: info@netricks.com. Greg Richburg is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and the owner of Netricks, Inc. a network consulting, web design and hosting company located in Fresno, CA. Visit Netricks at http://www.netricks.com Richburg also runs KlickCommerce, anInternet based marketing system for Ujena brand clothing. See http://www.klickcommerce.com for details. More of Richburg's work may be seen at http://www.valley411.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Security - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Identity Theft Article - A Phisher Is Trying To Steal Your Identity! Sooner or later everyone with an email account will receive a phishing attempt from some internet scammer. What is phishing? How can you protect yourself? These are some of the questions this identity theft article will provide, along with some free resources and practical advice on how to protect your online identity. File Sharing - What You Need to Know! File sharing on p2p is soaring despite the music and movie industry efforts to curb the practice. Regardless of which side of the arguement you are on it is likely that sharing of copyright material will continue in one form or another for the foreseeable future. What is Hacking? Are You a Hacker? WHAT IS HACKING?Hacking, sometimes known as "computer crime" has only recently been taken very seriously. The activities undertaken by the real hackers have been criminalized and they are now being legally persecuted on a scale disproportional to the actual threat they pose. Phishing Recently I have received email from my bank/credit Card Company, eBay & pay pal saying that my account has possibly been compromised and I need to confirm my details and password in order to get continued access.Spam email now has a new and more frightening variant, it's called phishing and it has been made by criminals and hackers who aim at getting unwitting consumers to reveal account numbers and passwords. Internet Scams: Dont be a Victim As the number of people using the Internet as an integral part of their daily life grows, it is inevitable that the number of Internet Scams will grow. Unfortunately there are many forms of scams but in this article we will look at three of the most prominent. Dont be a Dork - Protect Yourself There are folks out there who use their powers for evil, not good. Let's not give them the opportunity to sneak into our lives and wreak havoc. The Never Ending Spyware Story It's been with us since 1993, it's gotten more intrusive, more complicated.It's created a whole ecosystem, so to speak. The Saga of the Annoying Adware When we think of adware, what comes to mind are those annoying and pesky ads that pop up out of nowhere whenever we are surfing the net. Anybody who has surfed through the net has encountered those irritating pop-up adwares advertising everything from computer software down to Viagra. Another Fine Mess! I'm in the Anti-Spyware business, and I'm doing a lot of advertising to promote my website, but here I am online and on the phone, giving my personal information to.. Securing Your Accounts With Well-Crafted Passwords In the past I've never really paid much attention to security issues when it comes to user names and passwords. Frankly I figured it was all a lot of overblown hype. Lottery Scam, What It is and how to Avoid It? Internet scams and frauds are on the rise! The quantity of scam emails with various fraud schemes any email account receives today is simply overwhelming! There is this infamous Nigerian 419 scam, which is by far the most widely circulated one. I wrote about it in one of our ezine articles not long ago. Parental Control - Dangers To Your Child Online & Internet Child Safety Tips Did you know.. Computer Viruses, Worms, and Hoaxes In recent days, I was one of the unfortunate persons to receive the "Mydoom" worm emails. Not just one, but at least forty appeared in my popserver mailbox. Top Five Spyware Fighting Tips Spyware and adware are becoming major problems for online surfers and PC owners. Some highly respected sources such as AOL, Earthlink and Webroot place the rate of infection at 80-90% of all computers. Web Conferencing Readers - So What Do We Do with the PAYPAL SPAMMER From: "Paypal Security" Subject: New Security Requirements Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 19:20:51 -0800Dear valued PayPal® member,Due to recent fraudulent transactions, we have issued the following security requirements.It has come to our (attion)**Spelling Mistake**, that 98% of all fraudulent transactions are caused by members using stolen credit cards to purchase or sell non existant items. How to Fight Spyware If you are wondering how to fight spyware for safe web surfing, this Internet privacy article will answer some of your questions. By now you have probably heard about the dangers of spyware. Eliminate Adware and Spyware Everyone should eliminate spyware and adware from your hard drive for your computer privacy protection. Spyware and adware programs also slow down the speed of your computer by cluttering your hard drive with annoying programs. How Did This Happen to Me? Top 10 Ways to Get Spyware or Viruses on Your Computer If you use the internet, you have probably been infected with a virus, trojan or spyware. According to the SANS Internet Storm Center, the average unprotected PC is infected within 20 minutes of normal internet usage. Behavior to Stay Safer Online 1. Importance of a Virus Scanner: A Antivirus program can help to prevent you from becoming infected with a Virus or Trojan. Why Malicious Programs Spread So Quickly? It seems that nowadays cybercriminals prefer cash to fun. That is why malicious programs of various kinds (viruses, worms, Trojan horses, etc.
|
|
home | site map Visit our other sites: GamesBlog | GamingDepot | GimmeaRide | GimmeNetwork | Golf Biz | HotorNotGame | I Want Computers | I Want Games | I Want Hosting | I Want Music | I Want Security | JokeBox | ScriptShock | Wantedfonts | Webalize |
| © 2006 |
