|
| |||||
|
|
|
| ||
Scams in general/Phishing
Got a call last night
from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician who was conducting a test on our telephone lines.
He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine (9), zero (0), hash (#) and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.
Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which allows them to place long distance telephone calls billed to your home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many of the local jails/prisons.
DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. PLEASE pass this on to your friends.
If you have mailing lists and/or newsletters from organizations you are connected with, I encourage you to pass this on.
The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW. PLEASE pass this on to everyone YOU know. If you have mailing lists and/or newsletters from organizations you are connected with, I encourage you to pass on this information to them.
After checking with Verizon they said it was true, so do not dial (9),zero(0), the pound sign # and hang up for anyone.
-
Lauren
was actually following behind a state police car shortly after she left Winchester and was going just over 65 mph since she was following behind him. An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. My friend and her husband have 4 children (high school and college age) and have always told them never to pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather wait until they get to a gas station, etc. So Lauren actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called #77 on her cell phone to tell the dispatcher that she would not pull over right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there were 2 police cars, one unmarked behind her and one marked in front of her. The dispatcher checked to confirm that there were 2 police cars where she was. There wasn't and she was connected to the policeman in front of her. He told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back-up already on the way.
Ten minutes later, 4 police cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground ... the man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes. Thank God Lauren listened to her parents! She was shaken up, but fine.
"Work at Home” schemes
Business Opportunity/"Work-at-Home" Schemes Online. Fraudulent schemes often use the Internet to advertise purported business opportunities that will allow individuals to earn thousands of dollars a month in "work-at-home" ventures. These schemes typically require the individuals to pay anywhere from $35 to several hundred dollars or more, but fail to deliver the materials or information that would be needed to make the work-at-home opportunity a potentially viable business.
Market Manipulation Schemes
Enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and criminal prosecutions indicate that criminals are using two basic methods for trying to manipulate securities markets for their personal profit. First, in so-called "pump-and-dump" schemes, they typically disseminate false and fraudulent information in an effort to cause dramatic price increases in thinly traded stocks or stocks of shell companies (the "pump"), then immediately sell off their holdings of those stocks (the "dump") to realize substantial profits before the stock price falls back to its usual low level. Any other buyers of the stock who are unaware of the falsity of the information become victims of the scheme once the price falls.
For example
In one federal prosecution in Los Angeles, the defendants allegedly purchased, directly and through another man, a total of 130,000 shares in a bankrupt company, NEI Webworld, Inc., whose assets had been liquidated several months earlier. The defendants then allegedly posted bogus e-mail messages on hundreds of Internet bulletin boards, falsely stating that NEI Webworld was going to be taken over by a wireless telecommunications company. At the time of the defendants' alleged purchases of NEI Webworld stock, the stock was priced between 9 cents and 13 cents a share. Ultimately, in a single morning of trading, NEI Webworld stock rose in 45 minutes from $8 per share to a high of $15 5/16, before falling, within a half-hour, to 25 cents per share. The defendants allegedly realized profits of $362,625.
In another federal prosecution
in Los Angeles, a man who worked for a California company, PairGain Technologies, created a bogus Bloomberg news Web site which falsely reported that PairGain was about to be acquired by an Israeli company, and posted fraudulent e-mail messages, containing links to the counterfeit Bloomberg news site, on financial news bulletin boards. On the day that the bogus report was posted on the Internet, PairGain stock rose approximately 30 percent before PairGain issued its own press release stating that the report was false.
-
Short-selling
or "scalping" schemes, the scheme takes a similar approach, by disseminating false or fraudulent information in an effort to cause price decreases in a particular company's stock.
For example, in one recent federal prosecution, a man who described himself as a "day trader" allegedly posted (more than 20 times) a bogus press release falsely stating that a major telecommunications- and Internet-related company, Lucent Technologies, Inc., would not meet its quarterly earnings estimates. The day trader allegedly traded approximately 6,000 shares of Lucent stock the same day that he posted the bogus press release. The false reports allegedly drove the stock's price down 3.6 percent and reduced Lucent's market value by more than $7 billion.
Other Investment Schemes
Other types of fraudulent investment schemes may combine uses of the Internet with traditional mass-marketing technology such as telemarketing to reach large numbers of potential victims.
In a federal prosecution in San Diego
a major fraudulent scheme used the Internet and telemarketing to solicit prospective investors for so-called "general partnerships" involving purported "high-tech" investments, such as an Internet shopping mall and Internet access providers. The scheme allegedly defrauded more than 3,000 victims nationwide of nearly $50 million.
Other Schemes
Some Web sites on the Internet have purported to offer those who want a "quick divorce" an opportunity to obtain a divorce in the Dominican Republic or other foreign countries for $1,000 or more, without even having to leave the United States. These sites often contain false, misleading, or legally inaccurate information about the process for obtaining such divorces (e.g., that neither spouse has to visit the country in which the divorce is being sought).
Typically
people who have sent money to one of these schemes eventually receive false assurances that they are legally divorced. In fact, victims of the scheme have neither received legitimate legal services nor obtained valid divorces. People who are interested in obtaining a divorce, whether in the United States or elsewhere, should seek a lawyer with whom they can speak personally, and not rely solely on e-mail exchanges or online information.
The term 'Phishing' (pronounced 'fishing') is a slang word, made up by replacing the letter 'f' with 'ph.' Phishing, is exactly that, fishing for information - usually personal information such as credit card, bank account or social security numbers.
Scammers 'Phish' for your personal information in a variety of ways, but most commonly through fraudulent emails claiming to be from your bank or another institution that already has your personal details, asking you to confirm these details.
Once scammers have 'phished' out your information, they could use it in a number of ways. Your credit card could be used for unauthorized purchases, or your bank account could be cleared out, or they may simply gather the information for an identity theft scam, or sell your information to identity theft rings.
Phishing emails are commonly used in association with a fake web site that looks very similar to a real website from the relevant institution. See below for some examples of these type of emails and web sites
-
Phishing is one the fastest-growing illegal online activities.
Through random spam emails, often posing as a "security check", criminals bombard a large number of internet users in the hope that someone will reply to one of their emails with their details - enabling them to steal funds from you.
These emails often look convincing, using the logo of the organization they claim to be from.
The name comes from fishing for passwords or credit card details, spelt in the hacker style.
It dates from around 1996 when hackers were stealing AOL account names and passwords from gullible new users. A hacked account is known as a "phish".
It has spread from stealing access to someone's email to stealing credit card details, PayPal balances or even the entire contents of a person's bank account.
Virtually all the main UK high street banks have been targeted in recent months, along with other popular websites, such as eBay and Paypal.
Once you are aware of the scam, following some basic rules will keep you safe from the hackers:
Don't click the link
Never click on a link in one of these emails, even if it looks legitimate to you. It is safer to type it in yourself or to cut and paste it from the email into your web browser.
This is really important because a bug in Microsoft's Internet Explorer means that a scammer can make a fake website look real.
A link that claims to take you to the PayPal site could point to a fake site, but thanks to the Microsoft bug it will still say www.paypal.com in your address bar.
If you do not regularly update your operating system from the Windows update site, this bug will still be in your internet browser.
Would these people really be emailing you?
Use your common sense - think carefully about whether the organization you are dealing with would really be asking for this sort of sensitive information via email.
By and large, companies like eBay, PayPal and major high street banks do not send out emails asking for personal and account details. They wait for you to log in and then tell you there is an issue with your account. Banks never ask for customer passwords in emails.
Call to confirm
If you are in any doubt over the email correspondence you receive, you are only a phone call away from your bank. It is better to be safe than sorry.
There has been a surge in phishing emails of late, with the major banks and the National High-Tech crime unit working round the clock to close down criminal websites connected to it. Sticking to these basic rules will ensure you will not be one of the next victims.
| Site Tools |
|
Verse of the Day |
|
|
|
|
|
|
