8:48 pm | November 14, 2008
Nothing is safe anymore. According to Geek.com, Nigerian fraudsters (you know those guys who write you emails saying they’re a rich prince needing your help and will pay you millions for your aid) have been targeting the popular Facebook website. Only, they’re pretending to be your friends saying they lost their cell phone of something like that. So, don’t get lured in!
“Your best friend contacts you on Facebook to tell you they have lost their mobile phone and all of their money on an implausible spur-of-the-moment trip to Lagos. Can you help by advancing them a few hundred bucks until they get home?”
2:55 pm | October 26, 2008
We all know that criminals will stop at nothing to lure you into an internet hoax. Some of them we never see coming. That’s why I found this article about 7 Fantastic Internet Hoaxes interesting. It’s written by Information Week and lets everybody know that they’re not alone in their vulnerabilities.
“Don’t be embarrassed, you’re not alone. Despite our increasing technological sophistication, we seem to be as susceptible as ever to people determined to make suckers of us. After all, Internet hoaxes play on our human, not technical, vulnerabilities.”
7:01 pm | October 22, 2008
A story by Security ProProtal proves that it doesn’t matter how high up you are, anyone can be a victim of thievery. It seems that thieves managed to get their hands on the banking information and password of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Thieves were taking money out of his online bank account and police are investigating now.
“According to several sources (including le Journal Du Dimanches), hackers managed to siphon small amounts of money from Mr Sarkozy’s online account after having obtained his login and password last month. The French president then filed a complaint with the police.”
7:28 pm | October 19, 2008
Imagine finding out that your identity has been stolen not once but twice. Well, that’s exactly what happened to a woman in the United States. In an article by the Morning News, Dayna Bauer talks about having her identity stolen and the problems that can arise from that. Her story is metioned as part of Protect Your Identity Week- something the National Foundation of Credit Counseling is planning.
“Dayna Bauer of Rogers knows too well the importance of protecting one’s identity. As a victim of identity theft twice in her life, she takes no chances today.”
10:32 am | October 18, 2008
Several customers at a United States bank were the victims of fraud recently. According to the Mineral Wells Index, somehow thieves gained access to several debit card numbers and were able to run up thousands of dollars worth of charges from the stolen account information. Police are investigating now. So, for everyone out there keep a close eye on your bank activity. You never know when it might happen to you.
“A group of First State Bank customers became victims of debit card fraud recently after their card numbers were somehow compromised and thousands of dollars in charges were made on their accounts. The Mineral Wells Police Department is investigating.”
5:02 pm | October 17, 2008
It seems I’ve been writing about this topic a lot lately. I’ve found yet another article about a man fearing that his identity and information will be misused after a laptop was stolen. It’s a scary thought for anyone- especially these days. Check out the article at GetReading.
“An ex-vodafone employee fears he might become a victim of identity fraud after a laptop containing confidential details about thousands of people was stolen.”
12:56 pm | October 4, 2008
Well, email hackers are always trying to find new ways to get into your computer and now they’ve included the United States justice system in their schemes. According Fox people have been getting fake subpoena emails and are being told that they need to testify for the grand jury. But, once they click on the link hackers get access to their computers. Word to the wise, if the justice system really wants to find you they probably won’t do it in an email.
“The email appears to be authentic because it contains a court case number, federal code, courtroom number and court seal.”
6:54 pm | September 25, 2008
Well, it used to be that every once in a while you would get a email from some exiled prince in a far off contry asking for money to help them with the promises of big financial rewards later. We all know by now those are just scams to seperate us from our money. Now, hackers are using your friends names to do it. According to an article by volunteertv.com a United States school board member had her email hacked. The culprits claimed she was in trouble abroad and needed money to get home. So, now she’s stuck explaining to people it was just a hoax.
“A Knox County School Board member learned on Wednesday that someone had hacked into her personal email account and sent out hundreds of emails claiming to be her. “
India has a booming Phishing economy. India ranked 14th worldwide in hosts Phishing websites. The most popular cities were Mumbai (38%), New Delhi (29%), and Bangalore and Chennai both with 12%. Check out this article for an interesting interview with Vishal Dhupar of Symantec India.
Susan Lesch has a new post up talking about the new security features included in Firefox and Opera. They’re making history in so much they are the first mainstream browsers that are attempting to block malware.
The Web might be the most dangerous part of the Internet. It has surpassed email as presumably the most lucrative target for organized crime. Years ago, the ratio of spam and infected email to useful email peaked where I worked. That week our postmaster discarded 98 percent of incoming mail as junk. In a much wider context, MessageLabs stopped about 80 percent for their customers during May this year. But while scams and phishing will always be with us, people can learn to resist clicking links in email. Criminals shifted some of their focus to the Web, which was unprepared for them.
