scambaiting, scambaiter, 419 scam, nigerian scammer, nigerian scam

Scammers New Technique

2012-02-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-04T03:35:00.004-08:00

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

2012-01-31T22:56:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-26T22:06:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-12T03:26:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-03T04:13:00.000-08:00

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.

Agent passionate by Phishing Scam Shares Lessons is educated

2011-12-31T02:50:00.000-08:00

This is a situation you want to prevent at all expenditures. Someone hackers into your e-mail data source, takes your deal with publication and delivers everyone a concept – from your very own e-mail – that you are trapped offshore and need money quickly. This all-too well known phishing scam lately befell Linda Koch, CTC, operator of Take a trip Workplace, a TRAVELSAVERS organization in Canterbury, N.H. The practical experience offered Koch both frustration and a useful training in making accounts protected. “It could probably have been stopped,” Koch informed Take a trip Market Review. “I have acquired a lot about how to prevent this from developing again.”

Relation of a phishing scam

Koch’s tests started when everyone on her Google data source obtained a fake e-mail concept, supposedly from Koch, saying she was trapped in Wales and required money instantly. Koch was more blessed than others have been in the same situation. First, she was informed within a few a long time of the hoax by a buddy in The European union who found the concept quickly after it was sent out at 4:00 a.m., EST.

Immediate action is dangerous

Koch’s fast measures to get in touch with a protection professional via Yahoo’s stay talk service recommended she was able to access her deal with publication. Had she continued to wait much longer, her data source would have been forever missing, she was informed. “Since it was revealed within an eight-hour time-frame, protection was able to access the software and re-install it in my computer,” she said. Modifying her code instantly was also significant, as it stopped the online hackers from signing back on and doing more damage. (A identical phishing hoax this 30 days hit another broker with a Google account, Cheryl Clear, CTA, operator of War Take a trip in Culpepper. Va. As opposed to Koch, Clear was incapable to get in touch with Google within the eight-hour time-frame and so missing her complete deal with publication.) After finding her deal with publication, Koch easily sent an e-mail boost counseling everyone in her data source that the concept about being trapped was Scams. “I also informed them that this was not a computer malware, but stringently a hoax to get money,” she said.

Safeguards and reduce damage

As serious as the situation was, it could have been much worse. For example, Koch keeps paper data files on each customer, such as their emails, so she would not have lost their entire details even if her address book had been irretrievable. Also, the crooks were unable to access any card details or other data from Koch’s compromised data source. That is because Koch makes it a practice to never put any card numbers from customers – or even home deals with – in any type of e-mail interaction.

Deformed web scam surface in Wood County

2011-12-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Scams to swipe your personality are nothing new. However, this time brazen crooks are just selecting up the phone and asking for you to help them do their title. "Once they get in, they will say 'okay, we've cleansed up your Trojans,' and you'll hold up and you're already attached," said Kirk Wray a technical assistance professional at Wood County Internet Council (WCNet) in Bowling Green. He says it's just that easy. One of his client bowling green got a call from an individual professing to be a technical assistance professional from a Web Assistance Company. The scammer informed the client that their pc was contaminated with Trojans, and confronted to stop Websites until the issue was resolved.

“A lot of people depend on their Internet access, so, if they're confronted with it being flipped off, they're going to anxiety," Wray described. "It's not challenging for them to think they have a computer malware, because Trojans are so unpleasant these days. It's not challenging for one to get in there."

The scammers then demands the sorry victim to do an index look for on their pc, disclosing every file stored on it. They then tell the client, all the information is contaminated, and to fix it, they need to give them distant use of their pc. Then the fraudster creates off with all your information. Wray, though, says there's an easy fix to the issue.

"Hang up on the person! No genuine individual is going to telephone you and say we're from anyone, and we want distant use of your pc," he said. "That just isn't going to occur. Belief, and if you're really concerned about it, telephone you Web Assistance Company."

TPD alerts of e-mail scams

2011-12-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Scammers have been using the Internet to focus victims since individuals were using dial-up connections to check their America Online e-mail accounts. They tailored along with technology and Web lifestyle. International hoaxes artists are now coughing into victim’s social media accounts to reach victims. The Tuscaloosa Police Department has gotten several complaints from individuals who are victims of international scams, said Sgt. Brent Blankley.

Social press has performed a big part in the potency of the hoaxes, Blankley said in an e-mail. Scammers will crack into a Face book or MySpace web page or MySpace web page and access private information about the individual such as where they work or go to education as well as a collection of buddies’ emails. The crooks then create to the individual's buddies, professing to be trapped in another nation with no income to go back home. This con will have great emergency and individuals deliver income because they experience a beloved has been harm or is trapped, Blankley said. One way to prevent this con is to get in touch with your companion who is expected to be trapped. Individuals have sent income manages and the individual they were giving it for was still in Tuscaloosa.

Blankley provide an instance of such a message. Similar to the Online scams, it includes deprived punctuation and capitalization:

“I’m composing this with holes in my face came down here to Manchester, England for a short vacation and i got mugged at gun point last night at the playground of the place where i filed all cash, credit charge greeting cards and cellular were lost off me,” one page starts. “I am even outstanding the place here, the resort supervisor will not let me depart until I negotiate the place costs now am flipped out. So I have restricted access to messages for now, please I need you to provide me some income so I can arrange and go again I am full of anxiety now, the law enforcement only requested me to create a report about the occurrence and focused me to the embassy have spoke to the embassy here but they are not addressing the matter successfully, I will come again the cash come again to you as soon as i get home, I am so puzzled right now’s was not harmed because I complied instantly.”An older, common scam email falsely indicates that the recipient has inherited money or won a lottery in another country. The scammer will request that money be sent to pay taxes on the money before it can be collected. If someone sends money once, the scammer continues to request more to get the money transferred to the United States.

Blankley said that there are red banners that are simple to area. It’s often obvious that Vocabulary is not the writer’s first terminology. Sentence structure is often very bad, he said, and the authors often use thoughts together that people never normally use. Messages will be sent from a totally free Google, Gmail profile, not an authorities profile or your buddy's real e-mail.

“Once you deliver income through American Partnership and give the person the purchase number the income can be found anywhere on the planet by anybody. Before you deliver any type of income please take a small and think about the circumstance,” Blankley said. “If it does not seem right or is too good to be real then it is probably a con. Subjects of these hoaxes have missing countless numbers.”

Police warns forged Face book email scams

2011-12-04T23:37:00.000-08:00

Palos Park police are caution populace about a Facebook scam that attempts to take users’ financial and personal details, police said.

Users take delivery of an email claiming to be from the Face book website, significant them that their account has been reported for irritating or abusive other users, and tell to someone know his or her account will disabled if he or she does not verify account details within 24 hours.

Another parallel scam tells individuals that his or her Face book consideration has been compromise, and that he or she must adhere to a web link to authenticate their consideration information within 12 hours or risk having their consideration deleted.

The individual is then requested to click on a web link in the mail that will take them to an “account reconfirmation” website. On that website, the individual is requested for their mail, password, a Face book Protection question and answer, and the first six numbers of their card, along with the type of card. False graphics from “Face book Security” and “Face book Safety” accompany the web link. Face book Protection demonstrates a shield, and Face book Safety demonstrates silhouettes of four individuals inside a circle. Once the individual has completed the first kind, they are taken to a second fake kind that demands login information — the individual's mail consideration. The next screen demands the individual's username and again, the first six digits of their card number. The website states that if an individual “ignores this warning, then our stability system will block your consideration automatically.” On the website, the word Face book is not capitalized, like it is on the actual website.

Police said all of information provided on the forms can be collected by thieves, and then the thieves can take over an individual's real Face book consideration and send more con information to the individual's Face book friends. The thieves can also use the individual's card information to commit identity fraud, law enforcement said.

Users should be very cautious of any message that demands them to adhere to a web link to authenticate username and passwords, law enforcement said. People should always log into their Face book consideration directly using their web browser rather than by following a web link in a mail. Scams can sometimes be identified by examining the web link in the information. The links are not genuine Face book web addresses.

Following steps to hold off the online scams

2011-11-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

Fraud is one of the main lively online "industries," incessantly changing to keep pace with an ever-more-skeptical population. According to a statement from the National Consumers League, in the delayed 1990s, when the internet was at rest in its nascence, the majority regular way to steal money online was to sell services and not at all delivers them. Now a day’s scammers are more indirect, if just as diabolical.

It's not possible to decide the most successful online scams in olden times, largely because their perpetrators don't precisely suggest detailed records. But, judge from the duped marks that go community without panic of being mortified any additional, the most successful online scams are tiny potatoes. They comprise eBay transactions, in which a buyer tries to swap your new item for a lower item, and fake PayPal charge backs. (Buyer claims the thing was not as delivered, petitions their credit card issuer, and information you won't bother to argument it.) Even on Craigslist, where people regularly list what they have and where they live, the numeral of thefts is minuscule compare to the number of transactions.

Like their avenue counterparts, online thieves take plenty of small amounts, quite than a few large ones. Almost no one has had their life's savings stolen online. But, as public get more complicated, scammers have to get more resourceful. The most recent genius efforts merge all the elements you'd require to keep things somewhat reasonable:

They Don't demand a Grandiose Sum of Money

The number of people who will be duped by an email effective them they require to pay $5,000 to claim $4.3 million is nonzero, but small.

They Don't push the Victims to hold happiness as Much as Encourage Them to Alleviate Pain

At the same time as almost no one will propel $5,000 to a ghostly solicitation, for a possibility at resources, the number of people who will pay $125 to evade a fake arrest warrant, or other legal problem, is superior.

How can I notify against online scams?

2011-11-21T05:08:00.000-08:00

Until recently I managed to stay away from Internet fraud throughout a mixture of concern and good luck. However I became a small careless and prepared an item from a website with a .co.uk address, which I consequently discovered was really a business in China. I am worse off to the tune of £36 and recognize that I will never recover this. My question therefore, is there everything I can do to caution others, separately from leaving advice on the site’s review page?

Posting negative comment normally only works if the comments page is unmonitored, or else it will almost certainly be swiftly removed. You must surely lodge a complaint with whoever you used to relocate the payment. Credit and debit card organizations and PayPal, for instance, have fraud investigation departments and if mistaken doing can be proved you may get a repayment. They must also hang their account, though dodgy websites have a nasty habit of popping up once more with new identities.

Though, in the end, the responsibility is on you to be watchful, before placing an order online. Even though a site has a .co.uk web address, it’s frequently quite noticeable that they are based overseas. Prices quoted in dollars and dodgy spelling and grammar are caution signs to watch out for and the require of a UK landline phone number or address be supposed to ring alarm bells.

There are also conducts to decide the location of a website and who owns it. If you are using the Firefox browser a free add-on called Flagfox shows wherever in the world the site’s server is based and a numeral of safety and security checks. It’s moreover worth Googling the company name, by the side of with words like scams and deception. If they have been up to no good there is a fair possibility that particulars of their activities will have appeared on web forums, and you may be talented to include your experiences to the thread.

Most Important Internet Scams to Watch Out

2011-11-14T04:30:00.000-08:00

Scammers constantly find their way to penetrate every bit of area in the human life. Since the advent of the Internet, online scams have developed from the being just irritating, to offensive, and to dangerous. To assist your hard-earned money keep on safe from these online villains, take note of these top 3 worst scams on the Web:

#1: The Facebook Hoax

This scam has gain millions of dollars about the world from generous friends who just required helping out an attack victim or a helpless explorer. This is commonly spread through Face book and Gmail. When an important person gains access to your account, the criminal sends messages to everybody in your friends or address list. The scammer more often than not asks the receiver of the message if they might spare a few hundred dollars to be used for emergency passport application, accommodations, go back airfare or food, and other things. But as an alternative of a secure bank to bank transaction, the scammer will propose a Western Union or another undetectable method to be used for money transfer.

#2: The Twitter Ruse

Just previous month, Twitter has fallen victim to a new scam that takes benefit of people who want to know more regarding themselves. It is typically sent as a direct message from someone you go after and goes something like this: “Someone told this real bad thing concerning you in a blog…” and has a link attached which is theoretical to lead you to the supposed blog. Though, once you click the link, you will fall into a catch of a program that will take control your Twitter account, post to your stream, and send the similar Direct Message to your followers. The link will take you to an online review or a promotion page intended to earn money for scammers through a pay-per-click process.

#3: The Reverse Nigerian Prince

Since the Nigerian Prince scam has gained sufficient status for people to stay clear of it, it has evolved into a appeal from Western Africa that promises you gold and riches if you shell out a few bucks at first. An email from “Citibank Nigeria” offers to facilitate victims of the Nigerian Prince scam and promises $50,000 for persons who will react with their full name and address. “Citibank” will then respond to give details that their names were not found in the database.

Most recent phishing Scams are Targeting StubHub

2011-11-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

The most recent phishing scams are target StubHub, AT & T and Blackberry consumers. But at the same time as these are really different companies, the con artists are all subsequent to the same thing. It stores in your inbox and looks official. People in our region are getting emails from StubHub that say they are being a charged a big bill: $2,700 to a Vegas boxing match. "The expect is that a number of these emails leaving out will place a StubHub customer; they will provide their personal details, like their account number, their password, their bank account number and stuff of that nature and that is use and sold on the black market," Jim David with the Better Business Bureau told. Still if you think an email is for genuine and you require correcting something, don't click on the link. Examine manually by going openly to the site in question.

"These emails are frequently times spoofs. They could use the company's logo; they will use website addresses that imitate the company's website but are not the genuine website. Don't click on that link. You might end up uploading malware or viruses to your PC," David said. A comparable phishing scam is also target AT& T customers. It is just after your account and credit card details. "With AT & T and at the moment we establish with Blackberry, they know there are millions of customers for these companies and sending out these emails; a convinced percentage are going to be customers and probable to provide their personal information to these scammers," David said. The Blackberry email promises that you have won a big cash prize, immediately for being a Blackberry customer."These emails are frequently times spoofs. They could use the company's logo; they will use website addresses that imitate the company's website but are not the genuine website. Don't click on that link. You might end up uploading malware or viruses to your PC," David said. A comparable phishing scam is also target AT& T customers. It is just after your account and credi t card details. "With AT & T and at the moment we establish with Blackberry, they know there are millions of customers for these companies and sending out these emails; a convinced percentage are going to be customers and probable to provide their personal information to these scammers," David said. The Blackberry email promises that you have won a big cash prize, immediately for being a Blackberry customer.

"They could have you wire the taxes or insurance to obtain your winnings. They will find a number of reasons to contain you wire money to them," David said. As recognizable as all these scams sound, they remain going around since their work. "If you sent out a million and you have three percent of those recipients persecuted, that's a profitable undertaking for those scammers," David said. And next to the lines of the Blackberry scam, there is also a so-called cash award email from Google. But once again, it's forged, so don't think you have won something from Google either.

Newest Online scam: ‘You have a ticket’

2011-10-18T02:06:00.000-07:00

Red light motion exposure cameras and speeding sensor cameras are truthfully the curse of our driving survival. Each and every moment now and then when passing through a connection (ever so carefully) this inspector will see a flash of light and speculate if my image had now been taken by a routine motion sensing camera. “Didn’t I create that yellow light?” “Was I beyond the posted rapidity boundary?” The subsequently consideration will be “when can I wait for my ticket in the mail?”

Now it’s similar to today’s Internet scam artists is reading my mind as they have come up with the most recent scams to strike the web: The Traffic Ticket Spam Scam

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center's (IC3) most recent report, IC3 has established various complaints start this summer from recipient’s coverage fake e-mails claiming the recipient had been issued a transfer ticket.

The spam, which spoofed a nyc.gov e-mail address, claimed to be commencing the New York State Police (NYSP). Complainants, all the way through the U.S. and internationally, report that the e-mail indicates a traffic ticket had been issued next to them as a consequence of a moving abuse. None of the complainants report any financial loss luckily.

Educating the public on identity theft prevention

2011-10-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

The solution to struggle identity theft and financial utilization is to teach seniors and the general public so they are less probable to fall for scams when they happen, said Kelly Schleich, controller for leading Protective Services at the Senior Resource Center in Freeport. Frequently, by the occasion a scam is reported, it is moreover late for victims to get well any of the funds they misplaced, Schleich said. For that cause, avoidance is the best way to contest the problem. Over the decrease and winter, the Senior Resource Center and Stephenson County State’s Attorney John Vogt are teaming up to host 12 seminars during the area to teach the public on scams, identity theft, and financial development.

Six of the seminars will take position this October and November, and will particularly spotlight on scams and identity theft. Then, a further six seminars will be detained in January and February on financial development. “What we actually expect to be able to do these presentations to avoid this from occurrence in the first place, since revival of the funds is regularly not victorious,” Schleich said. “It’s so that cash is not misplaced and trust is not betrayed and authority is not mistakenly given. Schleich said the local Senior Resource Center, which serves Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties, has established a number of information from area seniors who have lost cash from scams.

“When uncertain about the authority of an offer that seems too fine to be true, forever talk with a trust family associate or law enforcement representative first,” Schleich said in a report’s release on the seminars. “Millions of well-deserved dollars are misplaced yearly by seniors who fall wounded to fraud and scams.”Another general scam involves threats where an old victim is told that somebody very much desires their help and that if they don’t help, impressive bad will occur, Schleich said. In further cases, the performer claims to be a qualified of the victim who is in problem and wants financial help. Financial exploitation differs from conventional scams, because these cases regularly involve victims who know their executor. Normally, in a case like this, the performer will take care of the old victim under false pretenses and induce them to sign in excess of their bank accounts and power-of-attorney.

F-Secure launch Face book applications to protect users

2011-09-21T05:11:00.000-07:00

Computer protection software company F-Secure in the present day announced a new Face book application: F-Secure Share Safe. The application, presently in beta, is considered to guard you against spam and malicious links that become visible on your News Feed, as well as from those posted by you and others on your Wall. F-Secure say Share Safe uses patent-pending expertise for detecting spam and malicious posts on Face book. It is intended to stop people from spreading links to hateful websites.

Share Safe is different than other related security applications on Face book in that it try to incorporate thoughts from social games on Face book to turn safe sharing into a “fun activity” by satisfying users for giving out safe content. You can receive points and badges every time you scan and split a link with Share Safe, and when others Like or click your links. Points can presently be redeemed for free of charge licenses of F-Secure Internet Security, F-Secure Online Backup, and F-Secure Mobile safety. Additional rewards will be added in the future.

Because Share Safe is still in growth, F-Secure are offering the trial version for free so it can get opinion to improve the application. The company did not say if it tactics to charge for the application later, but doing so would most likely not be very clever given that Face book applications are free. “Face book’s status has made it a main target for online criminals who are posting spiteful links to attract visitors to websites that spread viruses, scams, and spam,” an F-Secure spokesperson thought in a statement. “Until now, there has been no way of significant whether a Face book link goes to a rightful website or to impressive that has been set up by the criminals.”

“Face book is a worldwide event and its spectacular growth during the last couple of years has considerably changed how people share details with their friends and family,” Sean Sullivan, safety Advisor from F-Secure, told in a statement. Share Safe is a fun application that also provides a helpful service for family and friends, make Face book a safer place for each and everyone.”

Cyber-Scammers utilize Typing Errors to catch Email, Phish Details

2011-09-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

Typosquatting is a common problem on the Web, as scammers register domains related to admire Websites to scam users who accidentally mistype a domain name. Numerous recent Web security studies recommend those Internet users require being more careful about their typing to avoid Web scams and receiving compromised by malicious sites. Researchers at the defense consultancy Godai Group set up domain names to facilitate variations of rightful Websites belong to Fortune 500 companies. Over the course of six months, the researchers collect more than 120,000 individual emails contain trade secrets, business invoices, employee personal recognition information, system diagrams, usernames and passwords, the researchers told in a description that had been released on last week.

The domains use in the research were not misspelled, but were misplaced the "dot" between the sub domain and the domain in the address. For instance, Yahoo uses "mail.yahoo.com" for its mail service. A doppelganger domain might be "mailyahoo.com". The attacker might acquire the doppelganger domain and arrange an email server as a catch-all account to obtain all messages to that domain, in spite of the username that the note is addressed to. People frequently mistype email addresses when sending out messages, and attackers rely on this normal human error to collect sensitive information, the researchers wrote. "Essentially, a simple mistype of the target domain could send anything that is send over email to an accidental destination," the authors write in the statement.

Regarding 30 percent, or 151, of the Fortune 500 companies the researchers analyze were vulnerable to this type of man-in-the-mailbox attack, the details said. Researchers Peter Kim and Garrett Gee suggested that organizations acquire doppelganger domains as a defensive calculate against these types of attacks. In detail, researchers exposed that some of the major companies previously had doppelganger domains registered to locations in China and to domains "connected with malware and phishing scams."

Fake Lottery Scam are still stand for Making the Rounds

2011-09-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

The forged lottery scam is one of the oldest of cons, normally predatory on worried people willing to consider that luck has lastly smiled on them. Simply, it not at all does. Because the fake lottery or sweepstakes scam facility so well, scammers are still by means of it. A possible victim is contacted by phone or mail and told they have won a quite considerable hard cash prize in a worldwide lottery. The scammers regularly tries to build enthusiasm in the victim, asking them how they will waste the money and urging them to rejoice. It's only then that the scammer reveals the victim have to pay a fee – frequently several thousand dollars – to safe release of the funds.

Scammers use tiny pieces of information:

Since we attend to unexpected windfalls from rightful lotteries, people can be simply influenced a thrilling novel opportunity is suitable when it is not, McGraw said. Unfortunately, the expediency we all get pleasure from modern technology is also suitable for thieves – scammers are added believable when equipped with minute pieces personal of information regarding us, exact from the Internet. Since the majority victims are seniors, caregivers and appreciated ones must make sure they recognize that they might not have won a lottery or sweepstakes if they did not enter. Here are further things seniors, and others, must know to avoid becoming a victim:

Don’t take action immediately. High pressure calls or exciting pleas are danger signs of fraud. Get complete details and think it carefully.
Be suspicious of needs to send a payment by wire service or confidential courier. The company may be demanding to avoid recognition from postal inspectors or to get your money earlier than you have a chance to adjust your mind.
Do not compensate if it is free of charge or if you have won. Paying a fee to maintain a prize or get amazing free is an additional danger sign of swindle.
Verify it out. If you are not well-known with the company, check its path record with your state or local customer guard office. Even if there are no details about the company, you can get supportive suggestion.
Do not consider promises of easy money. No one can rightfully claim you will make huge earnings from business opportunities with small or no work, assure high returns on savings with little or no risk, or assurance that you will win a lottery or sweepstakes.
Don’t offer your Social Security number if you are applying for credit or employment. Using your personal details, crooks can theft from you and impersonate you to take from others.
Be cautious of revival services. These are frequently scams intended to take your last dime by mistakenly offer to get money back that you misplaced to a fraudulent scheme - for a fee. There is free of cost for file a complaint with a government organization

Be careful for Phishing Scam Emails

2011-08-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

The fake emails are sent to attract personal information such as credit card or social security numbers, bank account details and passwords. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the electronic mails or pop-ups may declare to be since an organization that you previously deal with: your bank, credit card organization, or even a government charity. They may still direct you to a site that looks genuine.

The FTC suggests these instructions that help to stay away from a phishing scam:

• Do not respond to an email or pop-up message that requests for personal or financial information. Don’t click on the link. Rightful companies will never ask for personal details through email. If you obtain something you are uncertain concerning, describe the organization to be sure it is from them.
• Twice over check the area codes. Even if you get an email from somebody that appears to be lawful, and it asks you to call to inform your account, be confident that number is the same as the one on your economical statement or the back of your credit card.
• Update your anti-virus, anti-spyware software, and firewall frequently. These fake emails can track your online activity without your information. Anti-virus software and a firewall can defend you. Anti-virus software can find latest or old bugs. A firewall can make you unseen on the Internet and block interactions from unauthorized sources.
• Do not email any private or economical information. Email is not protected method for sending personal or financial information. If you do desire to shop online, be confident the website is genuine and protected. Some things to look for: a security icon on the browser's status bar or a URL that starts with “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”).
• Examine the credit card and bank account statements leading receipt. Make sure for illegal charges right away, and call your credit card company if a declaration is late.
• Be careful regarding opening attachments. Even if attachments are commencing someone are familiar with, they can still hold a virus.
• Forward spam to facilitate phishing for information. Send any mistrustful emails to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank, or organization impersonated.
• If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at ftc.gov. After filing the complaint, visit the FTC’s Identity Theft website. Reporting is can decrease your risk of identity theft.

FBI Warns customers regarding Online Scams

2011-08-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Online scammers are bilking automobile shoppers with fraudulent vehicle sales and false vehicle guard claims, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. In the vehicle fraud scam, the crooks attempt to sell cars that they don't hold, the complaint center said in an intellect note. They attraction marks by contribution vehicles at prices below book value under the deception that they require to sell the auto quickly because they are being relocated for work or military reasons. Because of the importance of the move, the scammers reject to meet the consumer or permit them to examine the vehicle. To garb the deal as legitimate, the fraudsters request their victims to send a complete or partial payment to a third party by means of a wire transfer payment service and then fax a receipt of payment to them. Once the money is transferred, the vendor disappears and the vehicle is not at all delivered.

The scammers still use Internet chat to so frequently a target's resistance to the trade, the center said. As live chat assistants, the fraudsters reply questions about the vehicle and guarantee their targets that the contract is protected. Transactions are completely safe, they claim, and enclosed by legal responsibility insurance up to $50,000. Auto buyers must work out concern when purchasing vehicles online, the center warns, particularly when confronted with the subsequent situations:

• Sellers who want to move the contract from one platform to another.
• Sellers who claim that a buyer guard program obtainable by a major Internet company covers an auto business conducted outside that company's site.
• Sellers who move forward for quick completion of the transaction and demand payments through quick wire transfer payment systems.
• Sellers who reject to meet in person, or reject to allow the buyer to actually examine the vehicle before the purchase.
• Transactions where the seller and vehicle are in dissimilar locations. Criminals frequently claim to have been relocating for work reasons, deployed by the military, or moved because of a family situation, and might not take the vehicle with them.
• Vehicles advertise at well below their market price. Consider, if it looks too good to be right, it most likely is.

How to battle phishing once you have been passionate

2011-08-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

As using the Internet becomes an increasingly modified experience, it is now general practice for users to suggest sensitive personal information to release access to a broad variety of services. Unfortunately, though the majority users exercise concern when present such information in online spaces, there are still countless facts of people who fall victim to complicated phishing scams every day through general email and instant messaging services. Almost one in five Americans statement that they have been the victim of a phishing scam, according to the consequences of a survey conducted by Experian, the leading global services information company. Frighteningly, of those respondents who wouldn't or didn't report having been a victim of phishing, almost two-thirds reported that it was because they didn't be on familiar terms with that term. While charming proactive measures can assist minimize your chances of being the unwilling member in fake activity, it's evenly as important to know how to respond in the occasion that you do find yourself the victim of a scam.

Do’s:
* Notify law enforcement. The conflict against phishes cannot be won in separation. It is significant that you notify your local police department or further suitable law enforcement agency of any instances of established theft of your personal information as this may help avoid similar activity from happening to you or others in the future.
* File an online statement with the Federal Trade Commission. Now you can able to log on www.consumer.gov/idtheft for step-by-step instructions on how to file a report.
* Make contact with the company that appeared to request the details fraudulently. If you believe that you we received a fraudulent email or been contacted through instant messaging, directly contacting the company in query will permit you to either authenticate the request or inform the organization of phishing activity.

Don't:
* Delay reporting. Instantaneous action is necessary to moderate the potentially harmful consequences that can result from fake activity.
* Obtain a narrow course of action. Partnership is the key to reduce the consequences of any type of identity theft; make sure to talk appropriately with national credit reporting companies, credit grantors, information providers, law enforcement and government agencies.
* Be embarrassed. Every year, a surprising number of people are wounded of phishing activity. It's much more humbling to contain a deal with the long-term consequences of identity theft than to approach forward and look for assistance.

Stay away from the victim of a phone scam

2011-08-02T00:36:00.000-07:00

Telephone scams have become gradually more popular among scam artists who like to victim on people and their good nature. There are various types of phone scams, but the majority all will have one thing in general: money. One such common instance of a phone scam is to take delivery of a call from an important person claiming to be a loved one, a far-away relation, a friend, etc. The caller will more often than not state they have allergies, the flu, laryngitis or some reason their voice isn't quite the way you identify theft. The caller will then state they are in some variety of trouble, and require money sent to them accurate away to help out. The caller will regularly sound very realistic, and will victim on your sympathies to get the money to them as soon as possible. Fortunately, most people are familiar with it as a scam; however, there are several who don't, and they can be out hundreds or thousands of dollars following it's too late.

Many victims whom I speak with frequently state how much the caller know about them, and consequently had a hard time believe that it really wasn't a family member or friend in need of money. The unfortunate fact is, these scam artists do not anything but scam people. That is their preferred profession. They work nights, holidays and weekends, and they are rather good at what they do. They have completely no regret at all, and do not care that they may have scammed an suspicious 90-year-old grandparent old out of their life savings. The online provides all the information necessary for a scam artist to be familiar with that you are a grandmother, a mother, a father, etc., and can also offer family member names and their places of residence. Have you still typed your own name into an Internet search engine? The results can be pretty shocking. Many Internet name search data bases have behavior to remove your personal information. It is regularly pretty well hidden, but it must be there someplace. It is, of course, a boundless battle, and potentially a behind battle at that, to keep your personal information off the while in the online, but it may be a battle importance fighting.

Locating these scam artists frequently proves demanding, as the majority of them create in a different country. Caller ID is frequently worthless, thanks to the Internet services which offer free phone numbers and spoofed phone numbers, which can make call tracing occasionally impossible. As always, the most excellent protection is regularly a good offense. When people call requesting everything, difficulty them, and do not suggest any personal information over the phone unless you are 100 percent confident whom you are talking to. Trust your instincts. There are almost certainly thousands of different phone scams, and I have only enclosed one of them. If something seems wrong, or seems too good to be true, it most likely is.

BBB introduce top 10 internet scams

2011-07-26T03:57:00.000-07:00

The scams are frequently targeting those who are not web savvy and who end up clicking on links that assure far more than they can deliver.

Identity theft scams usually masquerade as rightful businesses and struggle to entice end users into providing secret information, whether it is credit card info, or personal identity information down to and still including individual banking or social security numbers. Victims are left with thief’s gap lines of credit in their names or yet stealing money openly from their bank accounts.

Overpayment schemes recommend that they have "accidentally" sent moreover much money to the victim and asking them to wire a quantity of back to the perp. Of course, no money has been sent to the victims in that case, and once the victim "sends some back," they have been absent on the short end of the stick.

Advance-fee loan scams told that an individual or business has been "selected" to take delivery of a loan, but they are asked to pay some "up-front" fees. The loan is forged, which means any "advance fees" is really money tossed to the four winds.

Lottery and sweepstakes scams declare to award victims with huge lottery or sweepstakes winnings. They immediately have to "send the taxes" to the awarding agency before receiving their winnings. No such winnings are forthcoming - and as in the loan scams, the cash sent by the victim goes into the ether.

Rogue home repair or roofing scammers maintain to be capable to repair a home or roof for a "fraction of what that extra guy is going to charge you." They want an honest fee to get started, but normally never get the project done.

Not-so-free 'trial offers' claim to offer you a "free" offer - which, once you make a decision to continue the offer, becomes not-so-free. You get your without charge month of repair up front, but find you're frequently billed with no way to cancel the service.

Timeshare resellers claim to be capable to get you out from below costly timeshare agreements rapidly. They - of course - desire you to pay a couple-thousand dollars up front to cover up their fees. Once you pay those fees, you end up by no means hearing from the resellers another time, while you're at rest left with the timeshare in hand.

Work from home scams claim to be capable to educate you how to make money online, but once again, desire you to pay an up-front fee previous to you can get what you need to "make the money." After that, you're left without that money and without anything to demonstrate for it.

Debt relief and settlement services claim to be able to resolve your debts for pennies on the dollar. They desire to assemble more up-front fees, but moreover do nothing or leave the victims swimming in still additional debt than they started with.

Job hunter scams declare they will match up victims with the "perfect job," but desire money up front, and in the majority cases still ask for bank account information and/or social security information from victims, send-off them wide open for attractive victims of identity theft.

Better Business Bureau warnings of credit card phishing scam

2011-07-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

If you are preparation to stay in a hotel for a moment soon, keep an ear out for suspicious phone calls in the early morning. The Better Business Bureau issued a nationwide watchful on Sunday due to a raise in hotel phishing scams concerning credit cards. According to information from several victims from a hotel in Dallas, somebody called their hotel room delayed at night or early in the morning posing as a front desk employee. They'd declare that the computer system in the hotel had not working or glitches, and they desired credit card and personal information in order to charge for their room.

The victims, frequently half-asleep and tired, gave the credit card info without significant what was going on. Tom Stevens, president of the Better Business Bureau of Northeast Florida, told as a law of thumb you should not be giving out that variety of information over the phone anyway. "You don't provide out the credit card number to somebody over the phone unless you initiate the call and you are familiar with who you're calling." The BBB told that the majority hotel employees won't call your room after 9 pm. Stevens says if you get a call asking for card information, tell them you'll gather them in person.

"The initial thing you do in the incident you get that phone call, you say 'Ok, I'll be right down to the front desk,' and you suspend up the phone and go down to the front desk and the front desk will appear at you and say 'What are you discussion about? We did not presently call you,' and you will know it was a scam." If you do drop victim to one of these scams, it's significant to cancel your credit card exact away, as well as calling to report fraud and identity theft.

Face book scam cashes in on Google excitement

2011-07-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

A Facebook scam that exploits the phone call surrounding new social networking tool Google is making the rounds and may be the ancestor to an extensive phishing scam.

Security vendor Bit Defender told the scam takes the figure of a Face book application called ‘Google Plus Direct Access’. Users are said they will be bound for to a download page for Google if they ‘Like’ the application. In actuality, there is no link to Google and no possibility to obtain an invitation to the service. By clicking ‘Like’, users really share their profile details and contact details with the application’s creators.

The scam features a distribution mechanism that prompts users to invite 50 friends, with the invites finish up on users’ Face book newsfeeds, raising the likelihood that others will also sign up. The scam gathered just about 3300 fans within 24 hours. Although Bit Defender said the scam is “relatively harmless” for the time being, the wholesaler said “there is a opportunity for the app’s creators to effort phishing attacks on its quickly growing fan base by taking advantage of the personal details that it has access to from users having ‘liked’ the page”.

“This scam places of interest the growing partiality for cybercriminals to ‘trendjack’ the most recent news in order to exploit people’s natural interest. From the high number of fans that ‘Google Plus Direct Access’ has gathered in presently 24 hours, it seems that this exacting example has been victorious in achieving its reason of deceptive people into believing there is a Google plus invite to come for them at the other end,” said Catalin Cosoi, head of Bit Defender’s Online Threats Lab. According to Bit Defender statistics, presently under a quarter (24.6%) of Face book users have had some appearance of malicious content posted on their Face book wall by a friend.

“Users require taking real care when using any social network and are guarded not to get drawn into something that more frequently than not is too good to be true.

Nigerian Scammers focuses with Online Dating Scams

2011-07-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

The globe of online dating can be hard enough without tossing in scammers. You know you have to cautious with your details. You have to be hard-working in choosing safe venues to gather your online dates. You constantly move towards a new contact suspiciously, not knowing if this person is for real or if he/she is a group murderer. Scammers approach in many forms, but a ordinary scam known as a Nigerian Romance Scam, follows model of behavior.

The scammer posts a very beautiful photo and a profile. The photos are model-gorgeous, approximately too good to be right. That must be your initial red flag. Not that everybody who is good-looking is a scammer, but your radar must beep. The scammer links you and draws you in. There are regularly a number of sad stories about the death of a favorite spouse or some other circumstances. Anything to increase your kindness. Next, he/she will desire to shift from the emails on the dating site to personal emails, phone calls, discussion. They may recommend Skype, but will discover a way to conceal their face.

Usually, they maintain to have some job that requires travel, so receiving or making a call to a foreign country won’t be amazing. After romancing you and gaining your confidence, some disaster befalls the scammers – an attack, robbery, lost purse or wallet – and he/she greatly needs your help. They will request you to send money orders or to chain them money. If you get sucked in once, that quantity will not be sufficient. The scammer will maintain to request money awaiting you moreover grasp on to the deception or you run out of money.

Scam Alert: Bogus FBI Emails

2011-06-15T04:19:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Department of Justice has received several complaints concerning an email solicitation scam. The fake email claims to be commencing the FBI and needs $350 from the receiver to get hold of a “Clearance Certificate.” The email threatens to drive an agent to the recipient’s house for puzzled, and other lawful sanctions if they fail to contact the Department of Homeland Security on or before 24 hours in order to get hold of their “Clearance Certificate.” The email moreover lists contact information for the FBI in Washington D.C. and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at Lagos. Do not take action to these emails. They are being sent by scam artists to a great number of people with the intention of obtaining personal or economical information.

Fake email solicitations – also frequently known as Nigerian email scams – are along with the most common scams reported in Oregon. In 2010, international money transfer schemes are reported by more than 1,000 Oregon customers. Last year, Oregonians misplaced almost $2 million to email solicitation and further scams.

To stay away from the FBI email scam Attorney General John Kroger offers the subsequent suggestions. They are as follows,

Be suspicious of unwanted emails.

A government agency will not at all request your contact information, Social Security Number, banking information, or credit card number in an email.

A government agency will not intimidate people with legal action, such as an investigation, prosecution or jail for failure to take action to an email solicitation.

Believe any email solicitation that lists various offices to be a red flag.

Be cautious of fake-check scams

2011-06-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley is caution residents regarding fake checks. Each and every month in Okaloosa County hundreds of customers try to deposit bogus checks they have received in the mail into their banks, credit unions or extra check cashing businesses. Thankfully, for the most part financial institutions will notice the counterfeit checks and recommend their customers of the scam.

Unfortunately, a lot of consumers end up losing thousands of dollars – in detail, the average loss is $3,500. When you deposit a forged check into your account, and then wire money to the crooks as they have bound for, you will be held liable for the money misplaced by the bad check. Use fine common sense – keep in mind there is nothing for free!

Common fake check scams

If suppose you have win a foreign lottery or sweepstakes. That’s not possible unless you traveled to that country to go through, because it is illegal to purchase or sell tickets across the U.S. border. If you contribute in a foreign lottery scam, your name will be on a “sucker list” buy and sell by other scammers. Crooks email you with promises of millions to deposit resources into your account. They make believe to be business people, government officials or royalty, but this is a hazardous scam that is never true.

Craig's List or E-Bay job offers are from somebody not good enough to move and/or acquire items for service. Buyers suggest overpayments on items you advertised in classify ads or an online auction. They request you to deposit the check in your account and revisit the excess to them. Never believe an overpayment. Possible rental tenants maintain to be moving from outside the region. They send a check for more than the deposit and after that ask you to mail some of it back. Fake checks shows to be drawn from a rightful American bank and may claim to be a cashier’s check. But anybody can make a counterfeit a check with a computer, check-writing software and a printer.

Facebook scam targets Mac OS and Windows users

2011-06-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Facebook users have been under a continuous attack that attempts to install malware on their Mac- or Windows-based machines by luring them to exciting videos. According to a blog post published early Wednesday by an F-Secure examiner, the attack spreads virally by means of the Facebook “Like” characteristic, in which users schedule their approval of pictures, video or further content. It's the first time malware has used such viral links, the examiner said.

The attack was previously in its 16th hour when the post was published a slight after 9 am GMT. Some 10 hours afterward, the attack appeared to be continuing, by means of subjects such as “oh shit, one additional actually freaky video” and “IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn restricted rape Video” as bait. According to Sophos higher Technology Consultant Graham Cluley, blogged a large amount later on Wednesday, the simply thing that distorted about the scam was the subject, which had morphed to assure a video of celebrities Rihanna and Hayden Panettiere.

As is all the anger exact now in malware attacks, the Facebook scams are enthusiastically targeting Mac users. Those who obtain the bait see WebPages that imitate an antivirus scan captivating place on an OS X system that claims it has grave malware infections. When marks establish the bogus security software integrated in the trick, they are compromised. A Facebook spokesman said the corporation doesn't remark on exact attacks but went on to disagree with him by adding “we are in the procedure of investigating, blocking the links, and remediating any pretentious users.”

According to F-Secure, the do violence to may be harder than the majority for Facebook to keep away because it uses the Like characteristic quite than links on a user's Facebook Wall, which is easier to strain. When trying the attacks from IP addresses situated in Germany, Finland, France, India and Malaysia, users were securely transfer to YouTube. Users with IP addresses based in the US and UK, on the other hand, were taken to sites contribution the Mac scare ware and Windows malware.

Protect Our Bank Account from Online Scams

2011-05-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

Phishing scams:
Phishing scams send fraudulent emails hidden as an official email request from a bank to gain private and susceptible information. Recipients are lured into believing the mail and they click on a link that leads them to a bogus website that looks like to the bank’s actual website. This way, the fraudsters detain secret details such as customer ID, IPIN, credit/debit card numbers, card expiry date and CVV number. Customer’s email address is obtained by the fraudster through undependable sites where the consumer could have revealed his email address or common it in chat rooms, blogs or mailing lists. On its website, HDFC Bank suggests that when consumers realize they have been victims of a phishing scam, they should instantly access their net banking account and modify the IPIN and Make sure recent transactions in the account. If no fraudulent transactions are experimental, then they have to forward the phishing email to the bank for future situation.

Vishing:
This is a grouping of voice and phishing. The fraudster sets up a regular dialer and when the telephone is answered, a pre-recorded message is played that tells the consumer that his/her credit card has had unlawful activity and the customer must call the recorded phone number instantly. When the consumer calls the number, it is answered by a pretend voice that instructs the customer to enter his/her 16-digit credit card number. Once the customer begins to trail instructions, the customer falls prey by giving his identity theft or personal information like date of birth, passport number and mother’s maiden number. Hence, in case of any doubt, the consumer must cut off the call and right away report it to the bank. An ICICI Bank representative warns, “Do not put down any personal or account details on any telephone system that you are directed to. When a telephone number is specified, you must first call the phone number on the back of your credit card or on your bank statement to make sure whether the given number really belongs to the corresponding bank. We make awareness amidst our customers through our communication on the website, advertisements, mailers and statements.”

Pirated softwares:
Sometimes they encompass malwares and some kind of a computerized virus initiated while replication content. There are no security upgrades obtainable; therefore it leads to the software being susceptible and flat to be broken by the present Trojans. This also leads to computers behave unreliable, because the software’s are injected with virus.

Better Business Bureau Advises Of Phone Scam

2011-05-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Better Business Bureau is warning customers of a trick that uses Caller ID technology to trap unsuspecting customers into sending money to a con artist. The system works like this. You take delivery of a phone call, and your caller ID indicates the call is coming from your local City Hall. It is not frequently, if still, that you accept calls from this number, so you answer the phone a little troubled.

Phone Scam

Someone at the other end of the line informs you of an exceptional parking label you forgot regarding and provides you by means of a phone number to call so you can compensate the fine. Scammers hoax unsuspecting customers into sending money to the fraud that just duped them into thinking the call from City Hall was genuine. The Better Business Bureau has recognized this "phishing scam” as Caller ID Spoofing. Phishing is a word coined by computer hackers who use phone, e-mail and postal mail to "fish" customers eager to "hook" recipients into giving them credit card information, social security or other sensitive information.

In all these scams, the phisher initial impersonates a rightful company. The "phisher" in this case tricks the customer into answering the phone and after that preys on their fear of having exceptional fines or penalties. This creates misunderstanding and lowers the customer’s capability to make a knowledgeable decision before providing their individual details. The BBB advises customers to not at all give individual details to parties with whom you are unfamiliar. Constantly ensure that you have all the details before jumping to conclusions, and validate the information the caller shares before assuming it is fact.

GUARD YOURSELVES FROM CASH SCAMS

2011-05-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

This is made in a several ways. In one, a caller claims to be a relations member held in Canada or some African country. who wants money hyper to a convinced location to make easy the release. A number of seniors who may be tough of inquiry don’t be familiar with the voice but are frightened of letting the family member downstairs. Then there is the check-cashing system wherever you are asked to send account details so huge sums of money can be deposited into our account. You are asked to send the money support while keeping a percentage for your problem. on one occasion you send your account details, you can be mistreated.

Some thieves get hold of our personal details by rummaging throughout the garbage looking for receipts, so perform mince significant papers before discarding them. Further thieves steal mail such as credit card offers and fill up them out inside your name, then run up high bills before you are still responsive of it. Or they may pretense as a rightful businessperson or government official on the phone. Consider, neither your bank nor Social Security will still call you and ask for your individual details. If they are rightful, they already will have it.

Once a criminal has your individual details in his hand and new credit cards have been issued, the invoice for which have been in retreat to a dissimilar address so you not at all see them, the shopping and money withdrawals begin. There are quite a lot of ways to tell whether you are a victim of identity theft, as well as being denied credit without prior notice, getting calls from debt collectors and companies with whom you do not do business, or seeing a reduction in mail received, which might point out that someone has filed a vary of address on you.

There are the following steps to protect yourself from a money scam,

Contact your creditors if your invoice does not land in your mailbox on time. It might indication that an important person has hijacked your account and misused the billing address. Of course, the the person behind is not going to actually pay the bill.

Conceal individual details in our home, specially if you have plenty of company or workers. You just not at all know for whom the attraction would be too much. Remember passwords and PINs. Make use of your debit card as a credit card. The amount still comes honestly out of your account, but you would not require to enter your PIN into the swipe machine. Also, get original with passwords and don’t discuss or maiden names and birthdays.

Get a duplicate copy of your credit statement from one of the three credit bureaus and make sure it for errors. If you’d comparable to a list of the bureaus and their phone numbers, make a contact with our bank and inquire that they send you one. In Maine, people can obtain one free credit statement per year, so be cautious of companies that effort to charge you for your description.

If you come across inaccuracy in your credit statement, act immediately. Make contact with the credit bureau. Always, do not provide any personal information through the phone or Online except you are sure how it will be used. Beat these thieves at their possess game by staying conversant on the latest scams; by being cautious and hard-working; and by notify the authorities immediately if you believe you have been defrauded. Even if you are hesitant, call the police anyway. It is enhanced to attentive them early than to stay remin and have an still bigger message on your hands.

EMAIL SCAM ASSOCIATED TO SECRETIVE CYBERCRIME FORUMS

2011-04-27T02:31:00.000-07:00

A few internet users are still susceptible to an email scam recognized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as Nigerian Letter or “419” Fraud that combines the risk of impression fraud, various forms of which asking for an move forward fee in exchange for a percentage of millions of dollars that the dispatcher professes to force away from Nigeria. Safety measures investigator Brian Krebs has claimed that the email scam most probably coming from an economical institution based in a foreign land depends in the lead “bots that move slowly millions of Web sites and ‘scrape’ addresses as of pages.”According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the receiver of the email scam is confident to send details to the author, In case empty letter start stationery, bank name and account numbers, and other identifying details via a fax number provided in the communication. The novel influence of this outline of scam, Krebs noted, are at rest successful in aggressive on people. The safety researcher has crazed the source of the trick, an email retailer based in New Delhi, India professing so as to its lists are “100% opt-in and 100 percent lawful to use.”

“Some of the additional productive spammers…turn to sellers on secretive cybercrime forums. Moreover, there are a handful of outside markets where lists of emails are sold by the millions. If you buy in massiveness, you can suppose to give regarding a penny per 1,000 addresses,” Krebs wrote on his safekeeping blog. “One long-running, outdoor bazaar for email addresses, which besides goes by the name BuyEmails.org. I can’t promise for the company’s claims, but one thing seems obvious: Many of its customers are from Nigeria, and several are fraudsters.”At the center of the site’s home page is written an advertisement that redirect to compensation order page showing that Nigerian clients can buy email lists by wiring the imbursement from their bank accounts at several financial institutions in Lagos, Nigeria. The email lists sold in the website run by the millions, and are country and group specific.

Hence it offers bulletproof hosting, which is fundamentally a Web server prepared with Web-based email, Krebs wrote, quoting the site as saw in its commercial, “mail to 1000 recipients in seconds.” Krebs go on to caution internet users: “There’s a good possibility that your email address is now a manufactured goods in the secretive marketplace. The next scam in your inbox may maintain to have been sent by an investment banker or official. But, the sender most likely got your name from a wholesale list-seller.

The creator of the email scam tries to lure the receiver by shows potential reimbursements for all operating expense as soon as the resources are criminally transferred from Nigeria, with yawning explanations about duty, bribes to administration officials, and legal fees. “Once the casualty stops distribution money, the perpetrators have been recognized to use the personal details and checks that they conventional to pretend to be the victim, demanding bank accounts and credit card balances,” the FBI prominent.

Even though the email scam may appear “pathetic” to a quantity of, wrong records show it has been causing millions of dollars in wounded each and every year. According to the FBI, a quantity of fatalities have been lured to Nigeria, where they contain been locked out of bed against their resolve along with sprawling large sums of amount. The research agency added that the Nigerian management does not understand with the victims of the email scam, because they scheme with the performer to unlawfully take away funds from Nigeria.

6 WAYS TO SAFEGUARD AGAINST ONLINE FRAUD FOR THIS YEAR'S TAX DAY

2011-04-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

The cyclic rise in phishing intimidation related with the April tax season has already begun. As in earlier years, the recognized phishing scam naturally appears in inboxes covered as a check to taxpayers that their repayment is offered. Phishers use this trick as a chance to increase access to personal characteristics and account information, apparently requested in order for the Internal Revenue Service to deposit the repayment to the right account. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would never make such a request by email, the "refund" email is perfect attraction for scammers.

"More than the years, tax-related phishing emails from parties affectation as the Internal Revenue Service or an online tax service requesting bank account informations have become more complicated," said by Eugene Serafin, email security specialist at SonicWALL. "Originally, the IRS take-off emails were easy text with no images. Phishers subsequently began using attachments, and then they added bogus IRS logos in addition to text to provide the emails the look of authority. The most excellent way to guard our self this tax season from any effort is to quiz our self and be conscious of all the intimidation out there."

While the IRS uses U.S. Postal Service mail completely, it is at rest possible to take delivery of rightful email concerning our taxes. There are many recognized online filing services, ranging from tax consultants to calculators that total and file your tax forms electronically. When you use these services, you are possible to obtain genuine email notifications from them and from the bank performing as the transmit agent to the IRS. The detail that such notifications are ordinary provides the great opportunity for phishers to victim on unsuspicious victims by asking for a bank card number "to deposit a repayment" or a Social Security number "for individuality confirmation."

To assist taxpayers stay away from identity theft throughout tax season, the SonicWALL Threat group has outlined numerous steps to guard against refund-related phishing threats:

Consider that all authorized correspondence with the IRS is complete through the U.S. Postal Service. The IRS never sends emails asking for any economical, individual or identity information. Do not take action to these types of emails.
If you utilize an online tax preparation service, pay secure attention to the orders they provide, like emails you could supposed to expect that get hold of and the correct process for providing significant details like the bank account number to which your repayment should be deposited. If you want to confirm that an operation has been finished, moreover make use of the tax preparation website or else call them directly.
A tax filing program like TurboTax will the majority expected send you an email announcement when your taxes are filled, letting you know to facilitate your tax forms were accepted or probably rejected. Don’t click on any of the fake links in the email. Return back to the tax preparation website and make sure for any notifications.
Be cautious of offers that permit you to get loans on your income tax repayment. Though some may be lawful, this is an infamous model for scams.
If you contain any questions regarding an email relating to your online tax filing and/or repayment from your tax software contributor or online filing service, go to the tax service website or make contact with them by phone.
Check your phishing IQ and obtain the Sonic WALL phishing IQ test.

FBI WARNS OF SPAM AND LOTTERY SCAMS

2011-04-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

The most recent federal scam attentive includes virus-laden spam claiming to be from the automatic clearance home system; new lottery scams by Jamaican groups; and details of expensive potassium iodide. The alerts by the IC3, a joint venture between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), return latest cyber-crime trends and innovative takes on accessible online scams. We have summarized the three latest threats below:

AUTOMATED CLEARING HOUSE SPAM

"The ACH(Automated Clearing House) deal, newly initiated from your checking account, was cancelled by the Electronic expenses connection. Get on the link to view information."

The above point is one difference of a spam movement using spoofed e-mail addresses to create it look like it was sent from a rightful group, and recently came to the notice of the IC3 and National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA). Masked as the Automated Clearing House (ACH), the IC3 pay attention is a preferred plan of phishing scammers who use public manufacturing strategy to trick consumers into enlightening sufficient personal details to leave them open to individuality theft. According to IC3 examination, the most recent utilization of the ACH scheme is piece of a new Zeus Botnet spam movement. The links in the email spam takes peoples to websites that contaminate victims with malicious software. The Zeus Botnet, the IC3 comments, has previously been used by fraudsters committing ACH fraud.

NEW TWISTS ON AN OLD SCAM

be cautious of calls from Jamaican scammers claiming that you have won the lottery. According to complaints filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), callers notified victims they not won the lottery, and they have been instructed to wire money to envelop a range of fees earlier than they could collect their winnings. The callers, who were recognized as Jamaican throughout their accents and caller ID, also susceptible numerous victims with substantial violence if they refused to line the money. Even though lottery scams are not anything new, swindle artist are coming up with innovative ways to defraud their victims. For example, The IC3 freshly established a complaint about an old victim whose family managed to stop the transfer of funds to the thieves. Undeterred, the scammer sent a taxi to the sufferer’s home to obtain him to a merchant that presented wire transfer services, a trick that failed. In additional cases, once elderly victims realized they have been conned, the scammers asked local law enforcement to behaving "well-being" checks on their possible victims, in fact hopes they might force the customers into wiring them the amount after all. The trick backfires when victims well-versed the police about the scams at some stage in the politeness checks.

BE CAUTIOUS SOUTH AFRICA HAS THE MAJORITY TARGET FOR - PHISHING ATTACKS

2011-04-05T02:21:00.000-07:00

Symantec Corp lately published its March 2011 Message Labs aptitude Report which exposed, between additional things, that South Africa remained mainly under attack region for phishing scams during March 2011. South Africa has been named by the Message Labs details as the majority targeted region for phishing since September 2010. According to Symantec's investigation, 1 in 44.1 (2.27%) e-mails were recognized as scams attacks during March 2011, downward from the 1 in 32.5 during February 2011. This is considerably advanced than taken as a whole phishing activity, which was 1 in 252.5 e-mails (0.396%) reduce of 0.065 percentage points as on February 2011.

Phishing

Phishing scam attacks are used by scammers attempting to increase the personal details, such as online banking security details. A normal method might be to use representative looking e-mails. Frequently these e-mails play on the fear of users by intimidating delay of services, or by saying that a latent safety breach was identified.Such e-mails may ask you to tell private details or link you to an approved looking website wherever you asked to go through your details.

In South Africa, 1 in 76.9 (1.30%) e-mails controlled malicious contented during March 2011, Symantec's analysts initiated. This is downward commencing the 1 in 81.8 (1.22%) and 81.6% malware and spam levels from previous month.

Luxembourg also took over from South Africa as the province majority is under attack by e-mail malware with 1 in 26.2 (3.82%) the e-mails have been blocked as malicious.

The Message Labs description qualified the reduction in spam to the note of the Rustock botnet which had been transfer as many as 13.82 billion e-mails spam regularly, accounting for an average of 28.5% of global spam sent from all botnets in March 2011.

When the botnet closed spamming this current month, global spam volumes cut down by a third, the report confirmed.

Message Labs intellect establish that global spam volumes fell by 33.6% stuck between March 15 and 17 for the following authorized action against command and manage hosts used by the Rustock botnet. In the days subsequent they note of Rustock, spam accounted for more or less 33 billion e-mails spam per day, compared with a standard of 52 billion per day in the last week. Further botnets have stepped up their actions to take benefit of the gap in the market because Rustock was in use down. Bagle has now taken more than from Rustock as the mainly active spam-sending botnet in 2011.

AN ADDITIONAL PYRAMID SCAM PLUNDERS POPULACE

2011-04-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

Among the pyramid scams which have looted the unrestricted of the state, TVI, For example , invesments, Jitnex, Visarev, the newest pyramid system Global Index Wing seemingly masked as a real estate investment group has also unsuccessful to clear dues of the investors and the best leaders of the state has supposedly absconded the state.

IFP which has been investigate such fake scams that have been examined that the Global Index Wing (GIW), a colleague of Welkin Realtech Private Limited is also a corporation managing business on the online, the head office of the corporation is also placed at Singapore and based on the investigation, no such office appear to exists, the advertising sections of the company based at New Delhi that also a temporary offices with no proper performance and is maintained by the scamsters.

An inspection managed by IFP exposed that more than 40,000 invest from the state have put their hard acquired cash in the hope of getting 25% proceeds per month for a term of one year. The plan began sometime at July 2010 last year in the state.

The encouragement made by the corporation was that an amusement park will be set up at Koirengei and a great area of land has been purchased for that. An establishment laying purpose was also held last year which was attended by politicians and popular officials of the state. The behavior of the corporation has curved out to be a ridiculous situation which was enacted just to get the self-assurance of the public to invest in the network scam, according to dependable sources, the area of land is owned property by three locals including some political heavyweights. There is no continuing manufacture effort for the amusement park at present.

A number of temporary offices of the organization were opened in the region of Imphal, the main branch was opened at Gambhir Singh Shopping Arcade. The repayment paid at the offices was inadequate up to Rs 2500 per person a day and only regarding a hundred investors were salaried in a day at the office. Scores of complaints were increased as the investors had to camp during the night in have frontage one of the office just to make the queue, people who invested to adjust of 5 to 10 lacks might not get their refund as the system of sum was not possible to get physically. The offices have also blocked their expenses on a manual basis ever since January last, with the privileged persons stating that payments will be made throughout nationalized banks to make easy the investors. A lot of investors are also tried to unlock accounts, but being the end of the economic year, opening of new accounts were controlled.

Sources also affirmed that the rebates were deposited to the investors’ accounts just to buy some time and to put down the public anger for the time being. Their scams have been pretentious and broke a number of families and the Global Index division scam is also an additional to the woes.

SAFETY MEASURES TO AVOID TAX SCAMS

2011-03-30T00:20:00.000-07:00

Although you are spend time by preparing your tax returns this spring, scam artists are tough at work figuring out conduct to take your money and your characteristics. ID thieves are mainly active during tax time because your return contains all the details they require your Social Security number, name, address, work details, investment accounts to open accounts in your name or take your refund. "The whole thing is there," says by Robert Siciliano, an ID-theft specialist. But there are some easy safety measures you can take to stay a step in front of those peoples.

1. Never take action directly to an email claiming to be from the IRS. The IRS does not send emails regarding your tax return period. "If the email claims to be on or after the IRS, there is a 100% possibility that it’s a fraud," says by Siciliano. Be unconvinced of emails claiming to be from a tax-preparation firm, too. This is major period for phishing – when scam artists set up websites that request you to input personal details or account numbers since they require more detail to file your return or process your repayment. The IRS has issued an attentive warning people regarding fake emails that maintain to come from the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. The emails maintain that your tax payment complete through the EFTPS has been discarded and direct you to a fake website containing malicious software that infects your computer.

2. Be guarded, whom you work with. You’re giving so much personal information to your tax preparer that you required doing a job of selection him or her first. "Scammers have been known to set up shop as accountants and gather your personal details. Look for somebody who has been in the business for a long period, and request friends for recommendations. You can also find a tax prepare throughout the National Association of Enrolled Agents, If you are looking for help with economic planning as well as taxes all over the year, CPAs who are individual economic specialists (CPA/PFS) can help incorporate tax planning with investing, retirement planning and land issues.

3. Maintain your tax files protected. You need to be mostly careful with your computer safety when selling with your tax files. Ensure your PC’s anti-virus software is up to date and that the safety patches on your operating system have been updated. Password-protect your computer, particularly if you are using a laptop or if people regularly come and go from your home, and encrypt perceptive files (mainly your tax files).

4. Be cautious with your Online connection, too. Does not work on your taxes on an unrestricted computer, which might have been loaded with a spyware program that lets somebody else see the whole thing you do on the PC. And do not send tax details through an unsecure, wireless connection. Siciliano says that "E-file your return from a safe home location, if possible through a wired other than a wireless connection". And he says that "It's remarkable to me that people file their taxes from the public library". Also be cautious if printing or copying in a common place.

5. Be cautious when you arrange the tax files. When you get rid of objective tax files and supporting documents, make sure you slice the paper slightly than throw it away. Siciliano recommends that, you make use of a plan that wipes the details off the hard drive, and then reinstall the operating system with the unique disks that came with the computer.

Skimming – A New Credit Card Scam Targets ATM’s

2011-02-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

A new credit card scam called skimming is targeting people using ATM’s and it has become a big problem in Europe and South America. There are certain ways a criminal might follows to steal your credit card information.

A thief will put a device over the card slot without altering the machine’s appearance. So when you put in your card, the data from the card’s magnetic strip will be stolen.

Sometimes a small camera will be hidden on or near the machine to read your pin number. The thief might also place a fake keypad on top of the new one to record your pin as you enter it.

How to avoid?

Keep an eye out for loose card slots or glue residue on the machine.
Shield the keypad when entering your pin.
It is always suggested to check your accounts every day.
Running your debit card as credit card might also offer you some protection.
Use ATM’s at bank locations since rigging is more likely to happen in isolated locations.

Inform your bank immediately if you have fallen victim to skimming. Also file a complaint with police both in your home town and the location where the transaction happened.

Scam Awareness Month

2011-02-01T04:30:00.000-08:00

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today launched its 2011 Scams Awareness Month, as new figures reveal the UK's top scams.

With the support of consumer champion Esther Rantzen, the OFT is calling on people to bin scam mailings in 'Scamnesty' bins located around the country.

New research commissioned by the OFT shows that 39 per cent of people who lost money to a scam in the past 12 months were victim of a money transfer or advance fee scam. These dupe people into handing over their bank details or paying an up-front fee by leading them to believe they are entitled to an inheritance, donating to charity or even helping release funds from a corrupt country.

The research reveals the scale of the problem with mass-marketed scams in Britain, which arrive by post, email, text, phone or the internet and aim to con people into parting with their cash.

The survey also found that:

* Nearly one in every twenty people (4%) lost money to a scam last year alone.
* Amongst these, the realistic nature of scams was the top reason for falling for them. When presented with a list of options, 61 per cent said they think scams looking real made them get involved with them.
* Of those who reported being scammed in the last 12 months, seven per cent lost more than £4,000.
* 39 per cent of respondents who had been scammed in the last 12 months said they did not report it to the authorities.

Survey: Why do people respond to spam?

2011-01-27T21:17:00.000-08:00

Many people may think they're smart enough not to answer an obvious spam message. But is that really the case?

Almost one third of consumers questioned admitted answering e-mails they suspected were spam, says a survey released Wednesday by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG).

Among those who responded to spam, 17 percent said they clicked on it by mistake, 13 percent said they sent a note to the spammer to complain, while 12 percent said they were interested in the product or service.

The MAAWG's survey study, "A Look at Consumers' Awareness of Email Security and Practices," also discovered that about two-thirds of the people considered themselves "very" or "somewhat" knowledgeable about Internet security. Most of them use antivirus software, but 21 percent said they take no action to prevent spam or dangerous e-mail from hitting their in-box.

Further, the survey found that 80 percent of users questioned doubted their computers were ever at risk of being infected with a "bot" that can send spam and create other problems without the user knowing it.
The study was based on phone and online interviews conducted in December and January with 800 computer users in the U.S. and Canada who said they were not "security experts" and who used e-mail addresses not managed by an IT department.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10287193-83.html

Smishing – Yet another Scam

2011-01-21T01:35:00.000-08:00

Phishing, as you know, is when you receive an e-mail from a supposedly trustworthy source such as your bank or Pay Pal, claiming a problem with your account and asking for your user name and password. Now we have what's called "Smishing." It is the latest twist on this type of scam - instead of getting an e-mail, you get a text message. The word "smishing" is a combination of "SMS," for short message service and "phishing."

You're told to call a toll-free number, which is answered by a bogus interactive voice response system that tries to fool you into providing your account number and password. To prevent it, if you get a text alert about an account, don't respond before you verify that it's legitimate. Call your real institution for verification.
Your text message will appear like this:

Although wireless telephone companies are working to block unwanted text messages, users are reporting increasing numbers of “spam” messages and smishing attacks. Adding insult to injury is the fact that users must pay for the text message they get on their cell phones.

How the scam works
The scam is similar to the deceptive e-mail and phone schemes known as phishing and vishing. In all these forms of fraud, scammers try to trick victims into revealing personal information like account numbers, Social Security numbers, and passwords. The personal information is then used to withdraw money from victims' accounts or obtain credit in victims' name.

In smishing scams, cell phone users receive a text message that seems to come from a legitimate source, such as a bank, e-commerce site or other financial institution. The message seeks to dupe users into clicking on a link via the phone's internet connection, or into calling a certain phone number. Both the link and phone are fraudulent, and lead to requests for personal information that can be used for ID theft. Once your identity has been stolen, it generally takes much time and effort to try to regain your lost funds and your good name.

How to protect yourself
Now that you're aware of the problem, it's wise to take a few simple precautions to protect yourself from this growing form of fraud.
• Never respond to unsolicited requests for personal financial information received via text message – even if the request appears to come from a legitimate institution that you do business with. This includes request to “confirm, verify or update” your information.
• Always know who you're dealing with. Don't click on links in text messages, or call numbers listed in text messages. Verify contact information independently, and key in web addresses yourself.
• Put passwords on all your financial accounts.
• Monitor your credit report regularly for signs of irregularities.

Is Facebook the Heaven for Scam?

2011-01-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

Social networking is a platform to make friends, express your views and share information. But soon after the launch of social sites such as Facebook, it has become the hot destination for criminals and scammers. Though they are the fastest sources of communication, they do have a serious problem with spam.

If you are a Facebook account holder, then you might be fully aware of the odd emails you get in your inbox stating, “OMG, you are on candid camera” and then sending you a link to check it out. If you receive occasional comments with links on them, it is definitely a spam feeder. Beware that fake accounts are after your online friendship and there are worst dangers and online crime trends behind it.

Pictured below is one of the scam with the content that the guy should be stoned to death for doing this to a girl. When you see a man pulling on a woman’s hair, you will obviously be intended to have a look at it. Clicking on the link will land you to the page with a video player. If you click on it, nothing will happen and you will only end up creating a feed story which your friends might see.

Another common is the phishing scam in which the hacker hacks the user’s account and utilizes it to post links on the particular user’s friend’s walls. In such a case, the system will automatically send messages reporting, “Check out this funny video of you!”. On clicking the link, you will be redirected to a fake facebook login page.

How to avoid?

To avoid such scams, Facebook offers a spam resource counter on the security page of the site.
Delete the emails you received from unknown people without opening them.
Do not click on unknown links.
If you receive a friend request, check out their recent activity. If they have added excessive amount of friends recently, then there is a good chance of being a scam.

Top 10 Scams of 2010

2011-01-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) reflects on 2010’s most prevalent local marketplace problems. Here is its annual “Top 10” list of scams:

1: Roofing scams
Again in the year 2010, we saw roofers or people acting as roofers take down payments and never start work or in other cases, never finish work that was started. There were many other problems in the industry as complaints to the BBB against roofers rose over 400% in 2010 compared to 2009.
2: Phony debt collectors
The BBB received many calls from consumers in 2010 stating they were being harassed about debts they did not owe or already paid. Many of the people behind these calls were criminals pretending to represent collection agencies. This was seen in many other regions of the nation as well.
3: Free trial offers
Companies that offer “free” trials continue to rack up complaints for charging for the free trial and not clearly disclosing the terms and conditions behind the offer. Be very diligent before signing up for such offers.
4: Grandparent scam
The grandparent scam continues to claim victims. Beware of calls from scammers pretending to be a grandkid in distress that needs money wired to them to get them out of jail or flown back home. This was a very common scam in our area and across the nation.
5: 876 Jamaican sweepstakes scam
Many inquirers contacted the BBB about calls coming from a Jamaican area code: 876, offering prize money. Some of these callers even pretended to be representatives of the BBB. They instructed people to wire a certain amount of money in order to receive prize money. Sweepstakes scams are extremely common and take on many forms. Never, ever wire money to someone you don’t know and trust.
6: Mail fraud
Mail fraud continues to be a main topic of inquiry calls into the BBB. These are typically sweepstakes offers or job offers that contain fake checks and instructions to wire transfer a certain amount of funds in order to receive fictitious funds.
7: Door-to-door scams
Scams in the form of door-to-door solicitations continue to be a problem in the metro area. Beware of shady contractors, alarm sales, magazine sales and anyone who uses high pressure. Always say, “I’ll take your information and contact you if I’m interested.” Then use that information to check them out with the BBB.
8: Craigslist scams
Craigslist continues to be saturated with scammers. Employment scams and real estate rental scams were prevalent in 2010. Be very careful when making transactions on Craigslist and always read their fraud page as it is often updated with the latest scams.
9: Debt relief scams
Unscrupulous companies and scammers wreaked havoc on those suffering in a down economy by offering debt relief or debt elimination, charging high up-front fees and little or no results. Hopefully the FTC’s recent laws banning upfront fees before promises are met will break down this scam in the coming years.
10: Advance fee loans
Offers for loans in exchange for an advance fee continued to be an issue in 2010. Many are just scammers hiding behind Web sites that use fraudulent Colorado addresses and 800 numbers, (many of which are tracing back to Canada). Consumers are told they need to provide a large fee before the loan will be deposited into their bank account. Once the consumer sends this money, (usually via wire transfer), they never get their loan and can’t get a hold of the “company”. Avoid any such transaction.

Couple fear gullible will fall for scam

2011-01-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

World first technology can now find an ideal love match for you just from profiling your DNA or DNA Technology Company may claim.

New Plymouth couples are troubled the bizarre claims are mailing scam. They used to steal peoples identity.

A couple Ross and Ann Ackroyd received a package containing a DNA swab kit and letter. They asked to send $40 to a testing centre in the Netherlands last week.
Mrs Ackroyd said. "At our age, I think it's downright dangerous and wouldn't give anyone my DNA."

Mr and Mrs Ackroyd did not get into these outrageous claims. But they are worried people might get sucked into the scam promises.

Is it just a money scam or something more sinister?" A quick search on Google for the director's name, Jullian M. Tasury, returns nothing. It’s no use trying to contact the company because no details were found.

It's clearly a quick way for someone to make money, but people will buy into to it like they do horoscopes.

Mobile phone scams

2010-12-31T04:34:00.000-08:00

Scams come to your mobile can be tricky to recognize. It comes in different ways like:

Who talks as if they know you?
Come through a 'missed call' from an unknown number that you redial
Upfront about what they are promoting, but have hidden charges
Offered free or cheap ring tones
Chance to win fantastic prizes

When you reply to these messages or calls, you may find yourself disappointed in the product or signed up to a service you don't want or cannot stop. You could be left facing a huge phone bill. If you receive a missed call or text message from an unknown number, the best thing to do is to delete the message or ignore the call. Always does your homework before you agree to any offer you receive over your mobile and never agree to any offer that you are not completely sure about?

Ring tone scams
Cheap ring tones that end up being a subscription or premium rate service.

Missed calls & text messages from unknown numbers
Missed calls lead to premium rate charges. Mysterious text messages that can cost a lot of money if your reply to them.

SMS competition & trivia scams
You are encouraged to enter a competition or trivia contest over SMS for a great prize – but misled about your chances or how much it will cost to take part.

Fake scam

2010-12-28T05:11:00.001-08:00

The Real fake till scam which was done against a real department store in London.

Fake scam

2010-12-28T05:09:00.000-08:00

The Real fake till scam which was done against a real department store in London.

Nigerian Dating Scams

2010-12-25T00:37:00.000-08:00

There are lots of fake profiles on the dating sites. They are in general free member parasites, not a paying member. The false ones on there to flirt with you and get you to come to some other dating site and some of them were try to steal your heart to get to your money. Beware of these dating site scams. You want to start baiting these scammers.

Here are some scammers’ lists:

Adara Dim Deng

Linda Cole

Natalia Vorobjeva

Sandy

Fake Federal Grant Scams

2010-12-24T00:44:00.000-08:00

Beware of scams:

Now this is what the DHS should be stamping out, along with the Mumbai scammers & the Nigerian scammers

These scams do more harm to Americans than actual terroists have in the heartland in recent years

Yes, perhaps the people are to blame themselves but this has been going on for way too long & always the people are hurt, both mentally and financially

These were phone calls; so why doesn't the DHS use the Patriot Act to curb and stop such thefts and scams? These are economic terroists!!

Source:http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7163822n

Police report phone scam

2010-12-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

Police are warning people where scammers are making phone calls to obtain personal account information through a phone.
Detective Steve Mahan reported: three things were happened on dec 19th, in which a man told residents he was from a repossession company & he want account numbers to clear up bogus charges. He additionally reported: Don't speak with him, just hang up and call police right away.
Residents said the number was blocked on caller ID and the caller identified himself as Troy to at least one resident. Mahan urges anyone who receives a call, or anything believed to be fraudulent in nature, to contact the department. Steve Mahan reported: We're trying to warn people so they don't offer up money.

New Dating Scammers

2010-12-18T04:11:00.000-08:00

Find a list of dating scammers:

Daria Borisova

Maria Zvereva

Mihaela Vrabie

Tatyana Shevchenko

Irina

Maricris Bauya

Scam Alert ! Fraud Account Suspension in Gmail

2010-12-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

Online fraudsters with their scam tactics always zoom over Internet and that too targeting innocent cyber user. The things can co very much worst to critical when these crimes specialists try to fool the email account holders by false subject notification . The end road to this is very much dangerous as account user lands in net of identity stealer. The story is not new and too good to be true when these crime artists use the same method for online bank users.

A new email fraud notification is now days sponsored by these online crooks which says ”
Account Suspension.. Verify Your Gmail Account now. Message ID: 4840211…

Event the email body at first look seems very legitimate , nothing but only to scare email account users. But dark side fraudsters are representing themselves from gmail team and asking for users name and password.

But fact is neither google or it’s gmail team sends emails and ask for your personal information.
Therefore email account holders of gmail should be very careful , while coming through such fraud and bogus email notification messages . The scheme is nothing but to scare the innocent users to extract personal information.

Dear Gmail Online Account User,

This Email is from Gmail Online Customer Care and we are sending it to every Gmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of Gmail accounts so we are shutting down some Gmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If
you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account.
Due to the congestion in all Gmail users and removal of all unused Gmail Accounts,Gmail Online would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.
* Username:
* Password:
* Date of Birth:
* Country Or Territory:
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after 5 days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.Warning Code: USV64MT1.
Gmail Online Team.

Source: http://www.419legal.org/blog/

Secret shopper scam

2010-12-16T05:04:00.001-08:00

A Salina woman who was looking for a job ended up being scammed. She almost lost $1,200 when she thought she was being paid to be a secret shopper.
Capt. Mike Sweeney reported: 52-year-old woman found a job for a secret shopper advertised online Dec. 6 of the Salina Police Department. She also applied and was sent a check from Apple One City Solutions for $1,500, with instructions to deposit the check and wire $1,260 to a person in London
The woman was instructed to evaluate the services provided by Western Union when she wired the money. The woman gave police a copy of her evaluation form, which included a question about whether a Western Union employee cautioned her about wiring money to third parties with whom she was not familiar. The woman was contacted by Bank of Tescott on Tuesday and informed that the $1,500 check she deposited was no good.
Sweeney said, additionally the woman paid $90 for a Western Union service fee.

How you can protect yourself against fraudsters

2010-12-10T04:27:00.000-08:00

Deal Only With Real Regulators — It's not hard to figure out who the real regulators are and how you can contact them. You'll find a list of international securities regulators on the website of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and a directory of state and provincial regulators in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. on the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA). If someone encourages you to verify information about a deal with an entity that doesn't appear on these lists — such as the "Federal Regulatory & Compliance Department," the "Securities and Registration Compliance" agency, or the "U.S. Securities Registration Bureau" — you're probably dealing with fraudsters. You'll find legitimate contact information for the SEC in the Contact Us section of our website and on SEC Division Homepages. If you're ever unsure whether you're dealing with someone from the real SEC, use our online Question Form to ask us.

Be Skeptical of Government Approval — The SEC does not evaluate the merits of any securities offering, nor do we determine whether a particular security is a "good" investment. Instead, the SEC's staff reviews registration statements for securities offerings and declares those statements "effective" if the companies appear to have satisfied our disclosure rules. In general, all securities offered in the U.S. must be registered with the SEC or must qualify for an exemption from the registration requirements. You can check to see whether a company has registered its securities with the SEC and download its disclosure documents using our EDGAR database of company filings.

Look Past Fancy Seals and Impressive Letterheads — Most people who use computers know how easy it can be to copy and paste images. As a result, today's technology allows fraudsters to create impressive, legitimate-looking websites and stationery at little to no cost. Don't be taken in by a glossy brochure, a glitzy website, or the presence of a regulator's official seal on a web page or document. Again, the SEC does not authorize private companies to use our seal — even as a legitimate link to our website. If you see the SEC seal on a company's website or materials, think twice.

Check Out the Broker and the Firm — Always verify whether any broker offering to buy or sell securities is properly licensed to do business in your state, province, or country. If the person claims to work with a U.S. brokerage firm, call FINRA's Public Disclosure Program hotline at (800) 289-9999 or visit FINRA's website to check out the background of both the individual broker and the firm. Be sure to confirm whether the firm actually exists and is current in its registration, and ask whether the broker or the firm has a history of complaints. You can often get even more information from your state securities regulator.

Be Wary of "Advance Fee" or "Recovery Room" Schemes — An increasing number of investment-related frauds target investors worldwide who purchase "microcap" stocks, the low-priced and thinly traded stocks issued by the smallest of U.S. companies. If the stock price falls or the company goes out of business, the fraudsters swoop in, falsely claiming that they can help investors recover their losses — for a substantial fee disguised as some type of tax, deposit, or refundable insurance bond. As soon as an unwary investor pays the "advance fees," the fraudsters disappear — leaving the investor with even higher losses. For more information about these types of frauds, please read our publication entitled The Fleecing of Foreign Investors.

Beware of fraudsters and scammers

source: http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/fakeseals.htm

Latest scammers

2010-12-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

Beware of these new scammers. Found out the scammers information and list of scammers.

New type of nigerian scam

2010-12-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

Beware of 419scam

419 Nigerian Scam

2010-12-03T04:58:00.000-08:00

Watch the video and beware of nigerian scam

Scams in India

2010-12-02T01:44:00.000-08:00

LOAN BRIBERY SCAM:
The officials of Indian banks and financial firms have been accused of intriguing bribes to grant corporate loans where local media reported, it could run into millions of dollars.

Central Bureau of Investigation, last week arrested eight people, the chief executive of LIC Housing Finance and senior officials at state-run Central Bank of India and Punjab National Bank and Bank of India.

CBI reported that the bribes were allegedly paid by private finance firm money matters financial services, for the loan beneficiaries.

Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister asked investors not to panic over the case, comments by other officials that this is a case of individual wrongdoing. It will not be a widespread scam and that the banking sector will not be affected by it.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES:
The sporting burlesque in October, cost up to $6 billion, was dogged by alleged corruption, the purchase of issuing contracts. The anti-corruption watchdog has identified more than 16 projects with possible scam .

The anti-corruption watchdog, the state auditor, the CBI and a special committee set up by Prime Minister Singh, are inquiring the allegations. On Tuesday, the CBI raided the homes of the Games organizing secretary, part of a probe into $21.7 million of misplaced funds.

HOUSING SCAM:
Congress party politicians, bureaucrats have been accused of taking over land meant to build apartments for war widows. The government sacked the chief minister of western Maharashtra state. The Arabian Sea-facing block with 103 apartments in an upscale Mumbai district, that among the world's most expensive pieces of real estate. Apartments were sold for as little as $130,000. The government has taken back permissions allowing owners to occupy the apartments, leading to the disconnection of power supply. CBI has investigating the case.

Fake Till Scam

2010-11-30T04:23:00.000-08:00

Fake till scam which was done against a real department store in London.

Scammer lovable meeting lasted hearts

2010-11-29T02:33:00.000-08:00

It seemed like a match made in heaven for Angeline, 52year old Filipino working in Hong Kong. Markus, a widowed 55year old doctor living in London, and he said that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Angeline. They both met on the social networking site tagged.com. Within days they were messaging each other frequently. He said her how he dreadfully lost his wife in a car accident leaving him to bring up his teenage daughter alone.

He told her, God has brought us together, my angel and my Tiffany needs a mom like you.

Angeline was obsessed. She thought Markus was the real thing. But she learned her lesson the hard way.

Markus was a romance scammer where he was not likely to be British, not a doctor, and not looking for love. He was perhaps Nigerian, and living in Malaysia and his name was one of aliases he used and the photo he posted was of an alien stolen from the internet.

Angeline learnt the truth; she was $1,000 poorer. Markus claimed he was on his way to marry her in Hong Kong in September when she received a call from somebody claiming to be a customs officer in Kuala Lumpur. Finally Angeline transferred $1,000 to a Western Union account, never heard from Markus again.

It is a sad but a very common story. The scammer pretends to send an expensive gift to the victim, who is then asked to pay the courier charge. Certainly, the gift never arrives. The Nigerian 419 scam which gets its name from the section of Nigeria law which outlaws it.

In other, dating scam uses dating and social networking sites to pull in its victims, building up a relationship of trust with sweet-talk, declarations of love and promises of marriage. Dating scammers come often from West African countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal and Nigeria.

The site warns there is a huge Nigerian operating out of Malaysia and targeting Asian women. All these white engineers allegedly from the UK, but appearing in Malaysia, are in reality Nigerian scammers. Between January 2009 and June 2010, police received reports of 180 men and women were conned by romance scammers.

Angeline is one among them. She said: I know I'll never see the money again. I m still on dating sites, but I'm much careful these days.

Loan scam 17 companies on CBI radar

2010-11-25T04:02:00.000-08:00

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now raised its focus to 17 companies that supposedly received loans. The investigating agency has served warning to all companies in multi-crore scam. They asked them to submit details of the loans they got as suspected beneficiaries.

Totally eight people have been arrested by the CBI. Ramchandran Nair, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LIC Housing Finance, RN Tayal, General Manager of Bank of India and Venkoba Gujjal, Deputy General Manager of Punjab National Bank. Private company concerned is money scam and three of its senior-most officials; have been arrested.

In other case, Nar0esh Chopra of LIC Mumbai has been accused of receiving Rs. 16 lakes from Money Matter scam Rajesh Sharma. Chopra purportedly traded confidential information on LIC investments to the Adani Group.

Sources in LIC have told NDTV that the scammers were committed in the officers' own capacity, and no norms were violated. LIC had reported on Wednesday, All procedures were adhered to in approving the loans.

Deepak Parekh, the chairman of HDFC Bank said: People working in public sector organizations had sanctioning loans by taking money and they zeroed in on real-estate sector and certain developers who must have paid money to get loans sanctioned. The arrests came after a CBI investigation that covers 5 cities and lasted over a year.

Biggest car scam

2010-11-24T04:48:00.000-08:00

Today Investigates the Nation's biggest used car scam.

419 trivia

2010-11-23T00:36:00.000-08:00

Nigerian criminals are confused by Western names because the Nigerian order of surname and first name is the opposite of English usage.

As a result some of the writers are not aware of what is supposed to be a first name or a surname. Especially confusing to them are Western surnames derived from first names by appending s which they mistake for first names.

Scammers often use titles since they think they will impress people. They assume roles to impress victims abroad by picking titles that astound fellow Nigerians. Nigerian scammers show their weak geography skills when they treat the Irish republic as a part of the UK or Canada as a part of the USA.

Nigerian Scammers also often export domestic institutions to other countries. Neither Benin, nor Togo, nor Senegal nor UK has a Federal High Court. Neither Benin nor Mauritius is "Federal Republics". Nigerian scam websites are predominantly green and white: These happen to be the colours of the Nigerian national flag.

ATM scam

2010-11-18T04:27:00.001-08:00

A team of well thought-out criminals is installing equipment on rightful bank ATMs to steal both ATM card number and PIN. The team sits nearby in a car receiving information transmitted wirelessly over weekends from equipment they install on the front of the ATM. If you see an attachment, do not use ATM and report it directly to the bank or phone on the front of ATM.

The equipment used to detain your ATM card number and PIN is skillfully concealed to look like normal ATM equipment. A skimmer is mounted to the front of normal ATM card slot that reads the ATM card number and transmits it to the criminals sitting in a nearby car. A wireless camera is disguised to look like a leaflet holder and is in a position to view ATM PIN entries.

The thieves copy the cards and use PIN numbers to extract thousands from numerous accounts in a very short time directly from ATM.
Beware of ATM scams.

Nigerian scammer jailed for impersonating HMRC

2010-11-17T03:21:00.000-08:00

Benson Nwosu of Nigerian financial firm Fidelity Registrar as well as Neil Freeman, manager of the Inland Revenue Centre for Non-Residents in Nottingham.

He was trying to post more than 400 letters when he was arrested. Ilori's fake letters were part of a scam. He tried to extract money from victims called advance fee fraud.

There are many variations of this kind of scam with one common theme like victims think they have hit pay dirt but have to shell out first.

Advance fee fraud was one of the top five scams targeting the UK. Jailing Ilori, age 48, for three years; Judge Justice Abimbola this month accused him of bastardising the image of Nigeria and scaring away any impending investors.

A handful of Nigerian scam artists are wrecking it for all the honest Nigerians who want to wire money to us.

Police alarmed at Internet scam

2010-11-16T01:49:00.000-08:00

Police from Corporate Crime Group were alarmed after alerted to two scam incidents targeting Queenslanders and Australians, as well as a website that was offering the personal details of thousand Australians.

Detective controller Brian Hay of the State Crime Operations Command’s Fraud reported: The problem with highly complicated scams is that they are very convincing. While it is very encouraging members of the community are becoming more doubtful of bargain one-off internet deals and can’t miss the opportunities. Unfortunately offenders are becoming smarter and developing scams designed to trick even the most security conscious person.

Many websites marketing cheap flights have been identified as being involved in scamming victims. The most recent website identified is www.flisave.com. Likely travelers visit the site with the promise of discounted flights and customers are asked to contact those running the site by email.

This serves to ease the fear lots of people of shopping on the sites that payment is not requested until the tickets arrive from the airline where the customer pops in their details and the tickets arrive. The customer may even ring the airline and also validate their seats.

People should consider having their credit rating monitored look for anomalies in their financial accounts. Be wary of scams unsolicited contact via email.

Nigerian scam

2010-11-15T05:06:00.000-08:00

The Nigerian Advance Fee Scam had been existed around for quite a while, but despite many warnings it continues to draw in many victims. In fact, the Financial Crimes Division of the Secret Service receives about 100 telephone calls from victims/potential victims and 300-500 letter pieces of related correspondence per day about this 419 scam!

Women most likely to fall for internet scam

2010-11-12T02:33:00.000-08:00

According to new research women aged between 25 and 34 is the most likely group to fall victim of online scams. The findings come from an experiment conducted with 2,000 online consumers which measures the skill to respond to online scam scenarios.

Even confident web users can also be vulnerable. The tests ranged from fake social network pages to competition scams. Women were most likely to fail the test and men were most likely to fall for confidence trick scams.

Scams succeed because they ''look like the real thing and they always used to push your buttons'. Scams come in many forms a knock on your door, through the post, a call on your phone, a text message on your mobile, via email and over the internet.

The top five scams are:

Internet purchases
Bogus prizes
Counterfeit cheques
Relationship websites
Dodgy loans

Once you know you have been scammed, it's more important to bait scam, act quickly and report it to authorities for further action. Be aware of the scammers, use good judgment and always remember that if a deal sounds too good to be true.

Shortchanging scam

2010-11-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

The scam artists are gracefully misleading the cashiers by carrying out several activities. He made a small purchase, asked for change, made an intentional mistake, and while making small talk cheated the store out of ten-dollars.

Beating scammers is very easy. All is to CONDUCT ONE TRANSACTION AT A TIME. Finish making chance, and if the customer asks for more chance, treat it as a separate transaction. Do this and you won’t lose.

Rip off man jailed over nigerian scam

2010-11-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

An Adelaide man involved in a Nigerian style scam has been jailed after swindling investors of more than $580,000.

Adelaide Magistrates Court was told on Tuesday that James Patrick Nolan's scam caught up people being told he had access to large sums of money detained overseas but desired cash to have it unrestricted.

Prosecutor Gary Phillips reported, it was the classical Nigerian-type scam . The only difference between Nigerian scam and this is we don't have a Nigerian; instead we have Mr. Nolan operating from South Australia. It was merely a confidential trick.

Last week Mr. Nolan pleaded blameworthy to 41 counts of scam but asked the court to take into account another 185 similar offences. Mr. Phillips said Mr. Nolan, had maintained that he still had access to about $450,000 in a Swiss bank account that might be returned to his fatalities after he was dealt with by the court. Prosecutor said, there is no money in an overseas account.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Cannon said Mr. Nolan his victims had suffered extensively because of his greedy behavior. The magistrate imprisoned Mr. Nolan for 5 years with a non-parole period of 3 years.

File a complaint about scam

2010-11-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

Scam report:

E-Scams and warnings

2010-11-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

Consumers continue to lose money from work-from-home scams that assist cyber criminals move stolen funds. Due to their deliberate participation in the scams, the individuals may face criminal charges.

Work from home scam victims are recruited by organized cyber criminals like:

Newspaper ads
Online employment services
Unsolicited emails
Social networking sites ads work from home opportunities.

Once recruited, rather than becoming an employee of a legitimate business, the consumer is actually a mule for cyber criminals who use the consumer’s to steal money.

Source: e-scams and warnings

Phone Scam Steals Millions from Elder American

2010-11-01T03:44:00.000-07:00

A very big phone scam exploits the good name of the Make a Wish Foundation and it has siphoned over $20 million from unwary Americans and has been rising in recent months. Some of the authorities said it is speedy becoming one of the ugliest telemarketing schemes mainly to target the aged in years.

Many scammers pretending to be calling from government agencies as the Internal Revenue Service and the FDC (Federal Trade Commission) have put a new twist on an old defraud.

They were thrashing offshore, thousands of miles away, but they're using internet phone technology to masquerade their location.

Victims see a 202 area code on their phones when the calls come in. They dial apparently authentic U.S. phone numbers to call the scammers back. Unlike the standard telemarketing frauds, these weren't people hiding behind a phone number you couldn't call, a voice you couldn't re-erect.

These were people who left telephone numbers and would talk to you," said Paul Allvin, a vice president of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who became alarmed when he started hearing from multiple victims a week about the fraudulent calls. Paul Allvin, a vice president of the Make-A-Wish Foundation said these were people who left telephone numbers and would talk to you.

One team of con artists spoke with Patricia Bowles, the owner of a Virginia modeling studio, almost every day for more than a month. Eventually, they had persuaded her to send more than $300,000 through Western Union and Moneygram in what she thought were luxury taxes and insurance fees on the $1.1 million prize they promised would be arriving any day.

Source: phone scam

Election scam

2010-10-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

Elections less than a week left, state and federal officials are asking for the public’s help in spotting election scams and voter fraud.

New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office warns Granite Staters to be wary of voting scams concerning the Internet. According to a news release from the agency Wednesday, Officials are inspecting reports from voters who said they received phone calls heartening them to vote early using an Internet website. NH doesn’t allow voting on the Internet. Votes cast on websites will not be counted only on Nov2 providing personal information on such websites may expose voters to identity theft.

Officials are asking anyone who receives a call about online voting to listen to the call, write down the site address, and also record the phone number listed in caller identification systems. Report those calls immediately to the Attorney General’s Office at 866-868-3703. Residents can register to vote at their polling place and vote on Election Day. U.S. Department of Justice has also established an Election Day phone hotline for election fraud.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark S. Zuckerman, NH election officer, will be on duty while the polls are open. Federal Bureau of Investigation will have special agents available in each field office to receive complaints about election scam or voter fraud. An election fraud fact is posted on the U.S. Attorney’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nh.

Nigerian scam

2010-10-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

Nigerians are scum of the earth scammer.

They never care if you send them virus.
They don't have their own computers.
They use internet cafes

The only way to fight back the scammers is to waste their time.

Man get 5years in prison for art scam

2010-10-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

A federal judge has sentenced a Woodland Hills man to five years in prison for his attachment in a fake art scam that cheated about 10,000 people all over the country.

Fine Art Treasures appeared weekly on Direct TV between 2002 and 2006. Sixty three year old James Mobley was the loud, frenetic Auctioneer Jimmy who hawked Picasso all over the world. Investigators found that the signatures were still wet and that the auction bids were rigged to inflate prices. Lots of people with disposable cash couldn’t resist. Prosecutors say the scam brought in about $20 million.

This year the two people at the center of the fake art scam a husband and wife from La Canada who’d printed the art in their own shop received sentences of four and seven years in federal prison.

Smart tips to beat scammers

2010-10-26T02:54:00.000-07:00

There has been an increase in scammers who targets victims to persuade them to install remote access software on their computers. The scammers try to trick you into believing there is a trouble with your computer as a pretext to persuade you to pay for a service by using social engineering tricks. If fooled, your personal information may also be used for some identity theft.

The stories the scammers use to persuade potential victims pay for the service are very similar to:

Claims to be from Techisonline and is aware there is a problem with the person's computer or Claims to be aware there is a virus or Claims to be a Microsoft Certified Engineer.

The scammers are using remote access softwares likes LogMeln and TeamView.

Do not install software from people you do not trust, in particular if the telephone call was not personally requested. If you have installed the remote access software already, uninstall it immediately using the normal methods. If you provided your credit card details to the person you believe was a scammer, bait the scammers and contact your financial institution immediately.

Arizona authorities warning seniors about scam

2010-10-25T00:39:00.000-07:00

Arizona authorities are warning about scam in which thief’s pretense as grandchildren over the phone and ask for bail money.

The most recent scam was happened on Oct 18. A 75-year-old Cottonwood man got a call from a woman who recognized herself by name as his granddaughter and told him she had been under arrest in Canada and that she needed bail money. After, somebody who said they were a police sergeant called and told the man to give $5,600 in bail money to contact in Florida where the man followed the instructions but later found out his granddaughter never had been arrested and was safe at her home in Utah.

Sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn reported that two such incidents occurred in September last year. He said such types of scams are difficult to investigate because scammers usually live outside the U.S. and discard cell phones before they can be traced. He said detectives judge whoever is responsible uses social networking sites, like Face book to recognize family members through profiles and photos.

He warned people to tell their parents and grandparents about this scam and that any requests for money to be wired must be seen as a red flag. He finally reported, these suspects purposely target seniors who may be more gullible and cooperate quickly out of concern for their 'jailed' loved one.

Internet scammers

2010-10-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

The scammers upload fake attractive photos. They pretend to be the foreign specialists working in Nigeria.

After they set up some lovely mail with you, fall in love and maybe even send a presents, they will tell you that their employer pays them with Money Orders, and they can’t cash them in Nigeria.

Scammers finally will send you the Money Orders and ask you to deposit them into your bank account and then wire the money to them through Western Union. But those Money Orders are no good, and not even worth.

The people in the pictures are usually not the ones that are behind the screen. They have one goal likely to get as much personal information Credit card numbers, account details, personal home address etc. Kindly notify these kinds of scams and bait the scammers.

Phishing scam nets drivers licences

2010-10-21T00:27:00.000-07:00

The New Zealand Transport Agency is offering to waive the fee for a replacement driver's license for victims of an online phishing scam. An extensive email, claiming to be from the New Zealand Transport Agency services team, was recently sent to customers. Recipients were asked to enter their license details on a scam account of the NZTA website.

Today people who entered their personal details on the fake website must contact it on 0800 822 422 to have their licenses cancelled, an agency reported. The agency is contributing to waive the normal fee of $38.20 for a replacement license for those who caught out.

Phishing scams try to gain personal details from recipients and may result in identity theft. NZTA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said: If you receive one of these messages you must delete it immediately. The agency urged anyone who provided their drivers license on the fake website to have them cancelled.

NZTA had exposed a newer version of the email after warnings were issued to customers about the original frauds yesterday. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Internal Affairs have added it to their public scam warnings.

Fake Health Insurance Scams

2010-10-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Jewelry maker Beth Wicker suffered from stroke last April. She still in the hospital to get recovered from stroke and told her health insurance policy which was supposed to be paying her bills was fake.

Wicker reported to CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews:"That this is scam. The insurance I thought I had doesn't exist." The call to Wicker's cell phone came from Scott Richardson, the top insurance regulator in South Carolina. He said, we wanted them to know they were in a bad deal.

To protect from insurance scam:
One of the largest scams involved an official group called, the American Trade Association which was never licensed to sell insurance. Sometimes customers like Wicker would receive policies from real companies whose names were being used without consent.

In the meantime, David Vladeck at the Federal Trade Commission has cracked down on various scams, where an estimated 100,000 families lost nearly $100 million.

FTC says 3 companies such as Health Care One of Arizona, United Benefits of Tennessee and Consumer Health Benefits in Florida promised their customers major medical insurance. But they gave them medical discount cards.

Investigators says the scammers are targeted middle aged Americans who lost their jobs and their company sponsored health insurance during the recession, not able to pay for insurance on their own and then go on the Internet looking for something different. The basic scam was selling insurance. CBS News agreed to withhold his name, but he worked briefly for a scam operation, before blowing the whistle.

Beth Wicker still owes medical bills of around $17,000 and doesn't have insurance. She often wonders why the scammers aren't in jail. She said "I don't know why somebody can't track them down and shut them down instead of letting them just repeatedly do this over and over.

No investigation so far led to an arrest and the scammers are still out there. So what can consumers do? There are two key things to know. First, don't give in to any sales pitch that pressures you to act now. That's a red flag. Second, health care products like limited liability, mini med, insurance and medical discount cards can be lawful, but they need a license and that can be verified by checking with your state insurance department.

Nigerian scams

2010-10-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

Man loses $300,000 in romance scam

2010-10-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

A man from New Jersey loses his pension of $300,000 in online scam promising romance.
It’s really ridiculous. It’s not funny, the guy is old, lonely and though he found a new love. He traveled to meet her 14 time. He never thought that was strange, then had the nerve to say love is blind.
More Nigerian scams are there to swindle you in an easy way by the way of internet Devil’s concubines. So It’s must to keep your grandfather away from the internet Scam and good to educate you too.

To avoid Tax scam

2010-10-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

If you get an E-mail from the IRS asking you to visit a website with your tax return, please just ignore it. It's a scam. According to computer security company McAfee: reports of this kind of phishing fraud have popped up all over the country in recent weeks. The company reports about a month ago says, a series of fake emails and websites were created and they're now used to scam people into sharing personal information online. Consumers who use the IRS's online payment system appear to be most at risk.

According to Sandy Botkin, tax expert, He often receives phone calls, E-mails, or letters that appear to be official and inform them that the IRS owes them a refund. In turn to get it, the taxpayer needs to provide his Social Security number, mother's maiden name, and other personal information.

Taxpayers should always be wary when approached by anyone claiming to represent the IRS. They should never share information on a website that they are directed to by an E-mail message.

OptOutPrescreen.com is a website set up by the credit reporting industry to let you opt-out of firm offers of credit. You will not receive unsolicited offers of credit, such as new credit cards, and you'll reduce one of the most common ways your identity could be stolen through your mailbox. It stops "unsolicited" offers. To do this, call your credit card company and ask to opt out of their internal marketing campaigns.

Remember to review your credit reports annually. If you are the victim of identity theft, you want to detect and bait it as early as possible so you can limit the damage. By reviewing your reports every year, you can catch suspicious accounts easily. It's also a good idea to review your reports for honest errors as well. Fixing them can take several weeks, so you want to fix them as they appear.

Big rise in scams as cons get creep

2010-10-15T02:33:00.000-07:00

Beware unforeseen lotto wins and letters from Nigerians and unwanted government grants scammers are on the march. OFT (Office of Fair Trading) had already received 50% increase in scam complaints on October, as compared to 2009. Latest figures reveal about 3408 reports of dishonest operators have been made to authorities since January, compared with 2174 total last year.

Lottery scams were the most complained about followed by notorious deposit and investment services. Get schemes and Nigerian letters received 471 and 411 complaints.

Fair Trading Minister Peter Lawlor said that the complaints were covered a broad variety of scams like fake lotteries , debit fraud, and sweepstakes scams, fax back scams, tax refund scams and fake inheritance scams. Most scams play on emotions and attract the interest of their targets with the promise of money before requesting payment to cover administration fees.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) revealed an alarming 500 per cent spear in scam phone calls since August. He additionally reported: Over past two months complaints about scam telephone calls to the ACCC and the ACMA have increased considerably from 200 per month to around 2000 across the two agencies.

People are also being caught by scammers offering to place phone numbers on the Do Not Call Register. ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel chairman said the best way to stop scammers was to never disclose any personal or financial details. Report a scam to authorities at www.scamwatch.gov.au.

Avoid getting hooked by a Phishing Scam

2010-10-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

Are you receiving email with a similar message? It’s nothing but scam called phishing and it involves Internet fraudsters who send spam or pop-up messages to bait personal information like credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information from unwary victims.

Phishing scams target student:Scammers have been sending e-mails claiming to be official university officials in order to gain secure information from students.

FTC suggests the following tips to keep away from getting hooked by a phishing scam:

If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal information, do not reply and also don’t click on the link in the message. Legal companies never ask for this information via email. If you are worried about your account, contact the organization mentioned in the email using a telephone number. Don’t cut and paste the link from the message into your browser. Phishers can make links look like they go to one place, but that in fact send you to a dissimilar site.
Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software and update them regularly. Some scam emails contain software that can harm your computer or trail your behavior on the Internet without your knowledge.
Look for antivirus software that recognizes present viruses and older ones that can effectively reverse the damage and that updates repeatedly. Operating systems or browsers also may offer free software patches to close holes in the system that hackers or phishers could exploit.
Review credit card and bank account statements once you receive them to check for illegal charges.
Don’t email personal or financial information where email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information.

If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at ftc.gov.

Multi state car scam

2010-10-13T02:28:00.000-07:00

A task force said, Police are looking for the public's help in finding possible victims of recent car theft scams involving counterfeit insurance checks and forgery, among other crimes. At least some defendants are alleged of contacting people who were selling vehicles on Auto Trader or Craig's List and duping them into fake sales, this is according to a Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force media release.

According to police report, scams were really complex. More suspects may be involved and they followed a pattern: The suspects, a man and a woman, would inspect a vehicle for sale and tell the seller they were getting a check from the insurance company to cover a loss ensuing from an auto accident.

Later, the seller would receive a phone call from a person on behalf of themselves as an insurance agent. The agent who was scam asked for personal information and also questioned about the vehicle for sale. The suspects then return with a bogus insurance check in the seller's name where the seller signed the vehicle to the suspects, who handed over the worthless check.

Police suspect Chelsea Getchell, of Eugene, Oregon and Othello Bland of Aurora as suspects in the multi-state, multi-victim case. Othello Bland was arrested Aug 11 on an auto theft warrant and Chelsea Getchell was arrested Sept 7 in Oregon, as a suspect in the case, on a warrant out of Nebraska.

Investigators believe other suspects are involved. Anyone with information regarding scam is asked to call Det. Bill Johnson, of the metro task force, at 303 987-4905.

Multi state car scam

2010-10-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

New York State Department of Labor warns job seekers for online scams

2010-10-12T00:15:00.000-07:00

Now scams are being targeted at the most powerless people, the unemployed. Lately, the New York State Department of Labor has detected a surge in online scams cloaked as job opportunities where their stock and trade is peddling hope.

Colleen Gardner of the State Department of Labor stated: People have a hope to get a job and they think they've landed a job and end up being not only out of a job but also out of additional money. Department of labor officials said many of these traps are advance fee schemes, which assure jobs for a sort of processing fee or good faith money. It's a job opportunity that doesn't make money but takes money.

Some scam involves taking an applicant's private information to allegedly check references and history, and the applicant's individuality is stolen and credit is bankrupted. These scams are difficult and harder to detect and catch, as they move from one online venue to another. Those who are job hunting online should stay with entrenched employment sites, including the government's free one.

Those who have bump into an online job scam kindly report it to DOL at www.labor.ny.gov, a better way to come out of scam.

Maid spray for $20thousand fortunate draw scam

2010-10-11T01:53:00.001-07:00

Miss Sopiyanah, an Indonesian maid thought she had won$20,000. But she, ended up losing $74 in a mobile phone scam instead. It may be a small amount for most but it is about 20 per cent of her monthly salary. She could have lost another $400 if her employer Jenny Ong, 84, a retiree, did not step in to help her.

Miss Sopiyanah, said in Bahasa Indonesia: "I never thought it was a scam. I thought only of the money and how I could use it to build a new house for my parents in Indonesia."

Scam came in the form of an inoffensive message claiming to be from Petronas, stating that the beneficiary had won $20,000. Then recipients were told to transfer money to a bank account to process the transfer of the cash prize.

Miss Sopiyanah explained about scam that she received a text message on Sept 30 from an Indonesian mobile phone number that she had won $20,000 from PETRONAS. This is not the first time fraudsters have used the name of the Malaysian oil company to swindle people. In 2008, some Singaporeans received similar SMSes reporting that they had won $5,000 from PETRONAS in a lucky draw.

Miss Sopiyanah right away called the number using her Singapore pre paid SIM card and a man who identified himself as "Bapak Suleiman".

Sheriff's Office warns of internet and phone scam

2010-10-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office is warning citizens about scam who pose as Drug Enforcement Agency agents and attempt to extort money from victims over the phone.
According to a news release about scam: scammers call the victims, who formerly purchased drugs over the Internet or by telephone, and recognize themselves as Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents or law enforcement officials from other agencies. The scammers inform their victims that purchasing drugs over the Internet or by telephone is illegal, and that enforcement action will be taken against them unless they pay a fine.

Sheriff’s office said: impersonators asked their victims to pay the fine by wire transfer to a chosen location, generally overseas. If victims refuse to send money, the impersonators intimidate to arrest them or search their property. Some victims who might have purchased their drugs using a credit card also reported deceptive use of their credit cards.
The sheriff’s office advised that, the public must be aware that DEA agent will never contact members of the public by telephone to demand money or any other kind of payment.
The public needs more cautions when purchasing controlled substance pharmaceuticals by telephone or by the Internet. It is illegal to purchase controlled substance pharmaceuticals online or by telephone unless very severe requirements are met. All pharmacies must be registered with DEA that dispense controlled substance pharmaceuticals by means of the Internet.
If anyone receiving a telephone call from a person purporting to be a DEA special agent seeking money should refuse the demand and report the threat to the Sheriff’s Office or their local police department.Sheriff Office

FTC claims California company over tax relief scam

2010-10-07T00:26:00.000-07:00

Report from federal officials on Wednesday: Thousands of consumers drowning in tax debt fall victim to a nationwide scam by a California based company whose owners enjoyed a generous lifestyle in a multimillion-dollar home with seven luxury cars in the garage.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, which announced it has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to win consumers' money back. A federal judge in Chicago has ordered the company to stop the misleading claims and selected a receiver to take control of the company. The judge also froze company possessions and its owners Alex Hahn, age 43 and his wife, Joo Hyun Park, age 37, of Beverly Hills.

According to a search warrant filed in the current case by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Alex Hahn was convicted in 2006 of mail fraud in California and sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay nearly $1.3 million restitution. David Vladeck, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection said: Their scam is over, closed down.

The FTC estimates 20,000 consumers paid upfront fees from $3,200 to $32,000 for worthless tax relief service. The company also charged customers credit cards without their authorization and gave few refunds. A new FTC telemarketing rule that takes effect on October 27 will forbid companies that sell debt relief services by phone from collecting fees before they settle or reduce a customer's debt.

When Fullerton told his wife, Darlene Fullerton, about the company's unmet promises she became pretty livid about the whole situation and went to work filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, two state attorneys general and the FTC.

The IRS allows taxpayers to settle debts for less than what's owed, but most people don't qualify and they don't need a third party's help. But it makes installment agreements with people who can't pay all their debt at once.

Darlene Fullerton said "Consumers don't have to deal with companies like this”.

Internet scammers target young people in their sights

2010-10-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

The consumer regulator scouring the internet nowadays for scams who target young people.

ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) is running the Australian arm of an internet clean for scams that are happening in more than 40 countries. The deputy chairman of ACCC Peter Kell said about 45 employees is looking for scams who were aiming young people, such as sites offering free tickets to concerts.

He also reported: Scammers are targeting particular keywords which might range from things like a miracle cure to easy money. They were taking those sites down if they turn out to be scams and sending more general warnings about the sorts of information that people might put on their Face book page. Criminals have used that information to impersonate young people and target their friends or family for money.

Mr. Kell says young people are not as mindful of the risks online. They are technically know-how, but they're not always experienced consumers and they may not always be able to pick up the signs that there's a scam or there's inadequate information.

Mr. Peter Kell says it is not always easy to get sites taken down. It can vary noticeably. In some jurisdictions it can be very tricky to arrange for a site to be taken down. In some cases if the scammers know that law enforcement agencies are onto them, they just abandon the site.

Combat between Scammers and Scambaiters

2010-10-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

Everyone with an email account had received at least one letter from a desperate person in Nigeria who claims a large amount of money. But desires help with expenses in order to regain it. Over the years, thousands have fallen victim to this fraudulent appeal.

But some were decided to fight back against these scammers. They are called scam baiters and they decided to give scammers a taste of their own remedy.

The primary goal of scam baiting is to distract the scammer and to stop the scammers operation. Scam baiters have also begged telephone calls from scammers. These calls are frequently intended to be entertaining and to just waste the 419 scam mail senders time and money on an overseas call.

Phishing emails

2010-10-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

Phishing emails are the most widespread Internet and email scam today. It is the identity and password theft based on convincing emails and web pages. These emails resemble valid credit authorities like Citibank, eBay, or PayPal. They frighten you into visiting a phony web page and make you to enter your ID and password. They will even suggest you a story of how your account has been attacked by hackers or scammers to entice you into entering your confidential information.

The email message will require you to click on a link, but instead of leading you to the real login https: site, they will to a fake website which is often very convincing looking. You then innocently enter your ID and password where your information is intercepted by the scammers, who later access your account and swindle you for several hundred dollars.

This phishing con depends on people believing the legality or their emails and web pages. Strictly the beginning of the link address should have https://, Phishing fakes or scams will just have http://, make a phone call to the financial institution to verify if the email is legit. Meanwhile, never click on the link in any doubtful email.

The following scheme may also work: You send someone money for instructions on where to go and what to download and install on your computer to turn it into a money-making machine for scammers.

You get a unique ID while signup and you have to give them your PayPal account information for the big money deposits you'll soon be receiving. The program that you are supposed to run opens multiple ad windows, repeatedly, thus generating per-click revenue for scammers.

In other state, your ID will be limited to a certain number of page clicks per day. To make any money whatsoever from this scheme, you are pretty much forced to scam the scammers by hiding your real IP address with Internet proxy services such as "find not", so that you can make more page clicks. It’s a true calamity if you get conned into this scam.

Antiscam Rules

2010-10-01T03:31:00.000-07:00

Antiscam -

church scam

2010-10-01T00:06:00.000-07:00

Mary Manin Morrissey LEC church scam KOIN news Portland:

Her husband went to prison, but she struck a plea bargain agreeing to repay debt but she has only paid $97,000 of the $10 million, but she still lives a life of luxury and leisure. Learn about scambaiting techniques to be wary of these kind of scam.