Scammers New Technique

Everywhere in the internet world you can see the ads like “Get big money for little work”. Is it possible? No, in real world we can earn money by hard work only. All ads are scam. Normally via email we are getting many spam mails and disregarding them. But on occasion period, the scammers will think masterfully and they will send mail to students regarding occasions. The students will think that it is coming from legitimate site and they are quick to pounce.

This occasion scammers send the mail to check to a potential victim, higher than the price asked. Then the scammer will ask the student to deposit the check and excess amount will send back to you via wire service such as western union. That check is fraudulent and it will be bounced by the bank.

One instance involved a student who was selling textbooks online. One buyer sent the student a check for more than the asking price. After noticing the check was in a dissimilar name than the original buyer, the student called the company issuing the check, who then informed him it was a fake.

Remember that you are not a bank. You must think, why would someone offer to buy something from you for $500 sends you a check for $1,300? Some people are so eager to make money without any hark working.

FBI issues alert for new cyber scam

The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection(DATCP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are warning the public about a new email phishing scam called “Gameover”.

If you affected by latest cyber scam, it may be “game over” for your banking account. The Division Administrator for Trade and Consumer Protection Mr.Sandy Chalmers told that normally phishing scams target is to collect your personal data, but this ‘Gameover’ scam goes straight for your banking accounts. If you prey to this scam, that cause a tremendous amount of damage to your accounts.

This phishing scam will hack your information by sending an unwanted and fraudulent mail contains “claiming to be from the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), Federal Reserve Bank or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)” and you will be asked to click the following link. If you click that link means, you will be redirect to phony website, the browser automatically downloads one malware program called Gameover. It is very harmful for your computer and steals your banking information.

To protect yourself from this scam, if you get an email from any of the agencies listed above, do not click it and delete immediately. No agencies send out unsolicited e-mails to bank account holders. If you think that there is a problem with your account or a recent transaction, contact your banks straightly. Then frequently update your computer anti-virus as possible.

Technology in fraudster hands

Now in the modern world Cyber crime is the biggest fraud. The fraudster turns the technology to cheat others. They cheat others by phishing others data, siphon money and disrupt business. The FBI told that in 2011 they received 300,000 cybercrime complaints a month

In those grievances most of them are theft of consumer’s identities or personal information. As internet users share their personal data’s on social media and other sites, the scammers easily hacked their accounts. The methods used in cyber crimes include stealing personal data from all sources of internet interaction, crowdturfing and malware attacks.

Malware attacks mainly focus on business disruption and hacking, in general affecting small businesses. Today’s the Crowdturfing is the best method for the social media fraudster. Whaling is the collecting of one’s data and sell to other fraudsters for fraudulent scams.


The best ways to protect yourself in the internet world includes keeping your birth date private, securing passwords and using different passwords for every account. Activate privacy settings in social media networks to keep your information safely and avoid downloading mobile and Facebook apps that are not found in the official app store on your device. The important note is secure private browsing. Most of the web browser has a function which prevents cookies from being permanently saved on your computer’s hard drive. Internet Explorer (IE) gives “In Private browsing”, while Firefox has “Private Browsing mode” and Google Chrome sports “Incognito mode” for secure browsing. While giving your personal or sensitive information on any site check that site it has a website security certificate and check either URL begins with “https” or not.

Tips to avoid Phishing scams

Now the main problem in modern world is hacking(phishing) of another person’s personal information. Whether it is cyber attacks on Google, the stealing of secure token information from RSA Security or the hack of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the attackers got their personal information by clicking a link in an e-mail message by user. After that, the users might have entered key information on a fake form or unknowingly downloaded malware that turned over their computers into attacker’s control. Malware mavens are simple method for hacking another one’s personal information. By using this method attacker’s make employee to fall into their phishing tactic.

There are some methods to avoid getting caught in phishing.

Organizations such as Phishing.org and Anti-Phishing Working Group offer sound information for protecting your systems and information, along with updates of present scams. For instance APWG reports that a new round of phishing e-mails claim to be from US-CERT. The instruction includes keeping browsers and antivirus software’s up to date, using a firewall, and installing an anti-phishing toolbar that matches a link you are clicking against known phishing sites. APWG says that the newer versions of Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 have such toolbar and EarthLink offers its Scam Blocker for free. But this software protection is part of the protection. The spammers have the social engineering as biggest weapon, so users have to strengthen their personal defenses.

Indian Wi-Fi Networks may hack

Indian computer security analysts have founded and warned Wi-Fi users in the country against a possible virus attack that could lead to crashing and hacking of protected networks.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), country's national agency to respond to computer security incidents, has detected that the "Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) contains a design fault that could allow a weaker-than-expected defense against brute-force attacks, which could allow an attacker to gain illegal access to the affected system."

A brute-force attack, in computer terminology, is a program that is used to hack and stealthily enter into an encrypted and password protected system while WPS is a best method for locate a new wireless router for a home network.

A computer security analyst with a government agency said that the virus is streaming in the Indian Internet networks with a high sternness.

An unauthorized remote attacker within range of the wireless access point may use the PIN (password) to access the device to retrieve the password or change the configuration of the device via the wireless network.

At last the agency told some WPS devices; it does not implement any kind of lockout policy for a brute-force attempt greatly reduces the time to achieve a successful attack.

Spammer’s new target to hack QR code using mobiles

    Quick response (QR) codes are a two-dimensional matrix barcode used to hide the secret information. By using special application that can be scanned by a mobile camera to view the information. Some users share the site links in QR code. Spammers hack that code and they modify that original site link to counterfeit links. Unknowingly user view that code and enter into scams site and they give their personal information such as bank password, mail password,etc…

    According to Security firm Websense, scammers mainly trying to hawk the male enhancement drugs. In this case, original manufacturer give QR code having legitimate site to buy online drugs. The link leads to an already created QR code, which can be scanned by a mobile reader application available in places like Android Market. It scans the QR code and load counterfeit goods including Viagra and cialis.

    According to a current study by Chadwick Martin Bailey, around half of the 1,200 consumers surveyed that one of 21 per cent consumers share their personal information on QR code. Curiosity and information-gathering were the primary reasons for wanting to scan a code, with the promise of discounts and special offers a particular incentive, just the sort of interest that cyber crooks often exploit for their own nefarious ends.

    QR codes are mainly used as a marketing tool for advertisers so that customers can get more information on products or services, cyber criminals know that services that pique interest or offer 'special deals' are often prime targets for spreading malware, stealing identities and phishing for personal information.  QR codes make things run faster and easier, but they can also pose a threat to your mobile security.

    In Russia, there is a one famous malicious attack using QR involves Trojan disguised as a mobile application called “Jimm”. If it once installed, “Jimm” sent a series of expensive text messages to premium-rate numbers, leaving victims out of pocket as a result

Army Knowledge Online users warned following Strategic forecasting website scam

The United states military’s website for defense force is asking a person who registered usernames with open-source intelligence provider Strategic Forecasting , or Stratfor, to look at for uniqueness robbery and report any credit card scams to the Army’s Criminal Investigative authority.

On Friday, hackers united with the group AntiSec published thousands of email addresses and Stratfor usernames online, along with thousands of credit card numbers.

The lists have information of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and many others, according to media information.

AKO suggested to users check their credit card statements also change all online passwords, particularly if they used their Stratfor password with other accounts. If users find fraudulent activity on their credit cards, AKO recommended contacting one of the three main credit bureaus and submitting a fraud alert. The web portal also provided information for contacting the appropriate investigator in emails to its users, if they were victimized by credit card fraud.

Some media news contain also attributed the hacking to the loosely knit Anonymous hacking group, but a statement purportedly from the group posted on Pastebin Dec. 25 disavowed the Stratfor attack.

Stratfor publishes strategic intellect on international business, financial, safety and geopolitical relationships, according to previous reports on the company’s site, which is presently shut down.

It offers liberated information to anyone who signs up, other than also offers premium information for a fee.

According to the statement, Stratfor is presently performing a safety examination and will begin publishing again at its conclusion, according to a company report. Stratfor is giving 12 months of identity theft protection to every of its genuine clients.