Internet Fraud Help
Internet Fraud - Don't be a victim of the Internet Cowboys. Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch!
The Internet can be described as the Wild West of today and as with all new frontiers there are baddies & fraudsters, looking to make a quick buck from the innocent and hard working people who venture into this brave new land.
So before you head of into the wild west make sure you are adequately prepared for your journey so that you can reduce the chances of falling foul to the Internet fraudsters.
1)MAKE SURE your computer has the latest virus protection and you are running a firewall.
Latest Threat
File Sharing web sites & Free sign up web sites stealing your details & Identity.
Most theft of data these days is done via social engineering rather then breaking security systems. What is this?
Scamsters are realizing that rather then spend their time breaking security system, it is much easy to break the individual. A fair amount of the online population will use the same password for numerous web sites and the Scamsters know this. So they design web sites that give you what you want but also give them your date of birth, email address, home address, contact phone number & password when you sign up.
You should never the same password for multiple sites. I know it is a pain, but get a notebook and write them down or set up a separate email account and use that for non essential memberships / sign ups.
If you are using windows XP then this comes with its own firewall otherwise download Zone Alarm free version for maximum protection. What does a firewall do? In simple terms it stops programs from accessing the internet and other people from gaining access to your computer from the internet. Without a firewall your computer is like a house with all its windows and doors open. If you don't lock them, then sooner or later some one is going to break in and steel all your belongings. The firewall locks all your open doors & windows and monitors the flow of traffic in and out of any openings.
BUY the latest virus software such as Avast Anti virus, you wouldn't put a cheap lock on your front door, so don't do the same for your computer. Your computer can hold sensitive and personal information such as accounts, bank details, private pictures in fact your computer can hold a complete profile of your life and by using second rate virus protection you are making it easier for the fraudsters to take this information and use it for their own good.
2) Read my article on safe Internet shopping.
3) Fake / Junk / Scam emails -
As soon as you get an email account you will start to receive junk email. Most email companies such as Yahoo & Hot mail have very good filters to weed out this junk mail but as quick as they can block it, the people behind the junk emails find a way to beat the filters. If you shop online, have an EBay account, Pay Pal account or bank account then I will guarantee that you will get fake emails and so I have compiled a list of the common categories that these emails fall into to :-
You have won a lottery email Internet fraud
Real time breaking news, trends, analysis, features and opinion for IT managers about network security and how to protect the enterprise.
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This scam is very cleaver in that it dupes you into believing that you have just won a large sum of money from a European / American / any country and that in order to claim your prize all you have to do is contact the organizers. DON'T DO IT because you will end up out of pocket and red faced. How? At some point throughout the process of claiming your prize you will be asked for an administration fee (the sting) and once you pay, you have just become another victim and the only winners are the fraudsters who are laughing all the way to the bank. Examples
My late husband / Father / Mother / Client has died and left me x millions of dollars in a secret account and I need your help in getting this money email Internet fraud.
This email comes in many disguises but all have the single intention of taking you for a long and costly ride at your expense! Every body loves a deal and most of us would jump at the chance to make some serious money, especially when it looks so easy to get. But this couldn't be further from the truth. As soon as you respond to this email you will be hooked as these fraudsters have fine tuned their sales pitch and will convince you that they really do have the money and that you will soon be a very rich person. I can assure you that the only one getting rich out of this scam is the scammer and at your expense. How it works? You will be asked to provide funds for legal fees, bank fees, travel, medicals, you name it as long as you keep paying they will keep on inventing the charges until eventually the penny drops and you realize that you are never going to see the money. No matter how convincing these emails look, do not respond to them. Examples
Bank Account / Internet Bank account / EBay account / Pay Pal account email Internet fraud.
This Internet scam is designed to capture people new to online banking / shopping and its sole aim is to get your password and user details so that the the fraudsters can drain your bank account or abuse your EBay / shopping account. How it works? You will receive a very convincing email stating that your account has been broken into, attempted to be broken into, suspended, details changed, they have lost some of your details, a payment has been made / sent from your account and so on. The one thing that will be common in all these emails is a link to your account, only this link will not go to your account but instead to a fake page set up to look exactly the same as your real account login. You log in as usual only this time you will be told that the site is down or being maintained and can you please come back later. By the time you come back they have entered your account and plundered it. If you are not sure about any email of this type then go to your account through your browser as you normally would and log in. Most online banking / shopping services run their own messaging service once you log in and any important messages about your account will be shown here. Examples
Free porn, Free Vi agra / Offer to good to be true email.
This email will offer you something for free or a product at unbelievable prices. Be assured that it really will be to good to be true! and the emails offering free porn will send you to a page that will contain a virus. Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch!
To cap it of
When you receive an email check where it came from and use your common sense! Is the National Lottery or any other Lottery going to contact you using a gmail, hot mail, google account? Most businesses will have their own email address ie. Tom@nationallottery.com.
Did you enter the compition? If you can't remember entering then you probably didn't!
If they ask for money at any point then run a mile. Remember you are supposed to have won and you never pay to receive a prize.
Do a quick search on Google if you are still not sure.
4) Clear your Internet History and remove cookies on a regular basis.
Ever sat there wondering how fraudsters get your details? Every time you visit a page, you store this information on your computer, cookies can hold your email details, name or even passwords. Cleaver programmers can design web sites that look innocent but in the background they are reading this information and storing it so that the next time you check your email you get a message addressed to you with details of products that you have looked at previously. Remember information is every thing on the net and so the less info you give the harder it is for fraudsters to act. How to clear your history.
5) Never pay by Western Union or similar money transfer system for goods or services.
This method of paying can not be traced if your transaction goes wrong and is the most commonly used method for defrauding people, so don't do it. If they don't use a service such as Pay Pal then keep away.
7)Use a secure password -
Do not be tempted to use a common name or well known phrase when selecting a password. The safest type is a combination of capital / small letters and numbers and should not be shorter then 7 characters i.e. T78jH71
There are thousands of variations on the scams that I have listed but almost all follow a pattern of :-
Extracting money from you at some point.
Obtaining your Username & password details.
Obtaining personal details.
My golden rule is if you are not sure then leave it alone, If you won a prize then why are you being asked to pay? and most important of all - Use your common sense
Useful links to help prevent and learn about fraud on the Internet :-
Millersmiles.co.uk - comprehensive list of recent email scams including scans of the actual emails.
United States Secret Service information on Internet fraud carried out by the Nigerians.
Internet Fraud Watch - Another good guide on preventing Internet fraud & also looks at other areas of fraud.
Internet Crime Prevention Center - A partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center