For Members:
For Everybody:
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Whoa there! How did you get here?
I'll tell you how you got here... you were almost
scammed. Someone just attempted to deceive you into giving up
some personal information. I see these all the time, chances are
likely however that you do not, so I want to take this
opportunity to explain some things to you.
The link you clicked to get here translates into: default.host.name.
Fortunately, if you are reading this, then the malicious site has
already been discovered and taken down.
Potential victims are redirected to this page in an effort to
educate any potential victims such as yourself on ways to avoid
such scams.
The original scammer has been banned for attempting to
commit identity theft to you, and perhaps others.
Educate yourself with identity theft on the Internet
Identity Theft Statistics
- 9,000,000+ ID Theft victims last year
- $50 billion cost to businesses and victims annually
- 28% identity theft committed by credit card fraud
- 635,000 fraud and ID theft complaints made to the Federal Trade Commission in 2004
- 5th consecutive year that identity theft has been the top consumer complaint reported to the FTC
- 61% of the victims did not notify the police
Sources: Federal Trade Commission,
California Department of Consumer Affairs
This is a rapidly growing threat, as the Internet continues to
grow. There is 6 billion people on the planet, and there are
about 1 billion people now using the Internet.
The techniques used to steal people's identity are continually
evolving, so unfortunately there is not any 1 silver bullet to
keep you 100% protected. You must be alert / educated to what
is going on, thats the best way to stay safe. Here I have
done lots of research on the Internet and used many of these
tools listed below myself that will combined with your
understanding from this guide keep you out of harms way.
If you are inexperienced with the threats on the Internet, then I
recommend you bookmark this page and re-visit here to fully
absorb all the information here, or print it out, and take it
with you. The information is free, and centralized in 1 location
for your benefit. The objective is to raise awareness
BEFORE you become victim. As the saying goes:
...an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Never Click on Hyperlinks within emails
Scammers obfuscate links into emails to appear like legitimate
websites when they are really not. Never click a link from an
email. Always go to them directly by typing their website into
your web browser.
Remember, deception is this type of individuals most powerful
weapon. They make their living off deception, they're going to
try and look as official as possible and typically use
fear to motivate victims from volunteering their personal
information, so don't let them scare you into giving up any
personal information, fear is the tool most commonly used to
drive consumers into their trap.
When it comes to email correspondance, most real companies will
address you by your real name, not a generic "Dear
verified member" or the equivalent. This is one of the most
simple and effective ways to spot a scam from a mile away which
requires no technical knowledge whatsoever!
Use Anti-Virus Software
Anti-virus software can protect you against worms and trojans
before they're even ran on your computer. Once someone has
control over your computer, they can "bounce" their
malicious traffic through your computer and make it look like you
are the one hacking other people! It's important to make sure
your anti-virus software is kept up to date with the vendor to
stay current with the latest threats.
If your not running a firewall (explained below), and someone
manages to exploit your computer and start loading your computer
up with trojans viruses and worms, a anti-virus program will stop
them before they are permitted to be ran on your computer, and
also alert you to the activity.
Use a Personal Firewall
A firewall is a piece of software that gives you complete control
over what communication your computer sends and receives. This
way no hidden communication is permitted to happen
whatsoever without your expressed permission.
Firewalls makes it easy to spot when your computer is infected
with a trojan, even if it's a new strain that none of the
anti-virus programs you may be running may not yet recognize
(remember new viruses come out every day). Firewalls will alert
you, and give you the chance to deny any program from connecting
out to the Internet, whether hidden, or not. This in turn can
protect your identity, as well as alert you that something is
happening that should not be.
A firewall can also block unauthorized incoming traffic and
malicious individuals scanning for exploitable computers to hack
into your computer, where they may try to plant their malicious
software that allows them to steal your personal information and
move onto the next guy. Firewalls can also be useful if your
computer is not kept up to date with the latest security patches
from vendors.
We strongly recommend you install the ZoneAlarm Security Suite for it's easy to use powerful firewall protection.
ZoneAlarm Security Suite
Always look for "https" and a padlock on sites that request personal info
This is another important and simple thing you can check without technical knowledge.
Website addresses that start with https:// and have a
padlock icon indicate your sensitive data is protected from
interception by a 3rd party.
Always look for these two items on websites when
submitting personal and confidential information. A website
without these items is definately not secure, and most likely not
legitimate.
2 ways to check for secured communication |
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Figure 1:
Checking for https://
http:// = insecure
https:// = secured
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Figure 2:
Checking for padlock in bottom right corner of web browser
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Check Your Credit Report
If you have responded to a fraudulent email or submitted any
personal info to a fraudulent website, you should check your
credit report to make sure you are not a victim of identity
theft.
I'm sorry to say identity theft doesn't stop there. Some emails
contain viruses that can transmit your personal information over
the Internet as well, if you've tried to open any suspicious
attachments, or have not kept your computer up to date with the
latest patches, then listen carefully. Stealing of your personal
info can happen while you are accessing a legitimate
website if you are infected with a virus/trojan through keystroke
logging. A firewall would prevent a program of this type from
being able to transmit this type of data over the Internet. If
I were to only choose 1 program to use for protection, I would
recommend
the firewall ZoneAlarm Security Suite.
Keep your software up to date
New bugs and exploits hackers can use to gain access to your
system and personal files are being discovered all the time in
modern computer operating systems, especially this day in age as
more and more inexperienced computer users are introduced to the
Internet. As new software is written, new bugs are introduced.
It is essential that you keep your software up to date and
current with the latest versions available as possible. We
highly recommend you enable 'auto-updates' on your
computer.
Use Spam Filtering
One study concludes that 82% of all email sent is SPAM! SPAM is not only time consuming, but costs money. SPAM is also the delivery method for many other malicious types of programs and attachments too.
We recommend:
Spam Arrest - Put a stop to spam, and malicious email viruses.
Spam Arrest is very easy to use, and brings spam to a halt. You
don't have to install any software. You run your mail through
it's service, and it will begin working for you instantly. Spam
Arrest has a 30 day free trial so you can check out how useful it
is, and draw your own conclusion. Check it out this hot
service's offerings.
It's a simple yet extremely effective concept requiring users to
do a 1 time verification that they are a real person before they
are allowed to send you email. Don't worry, your mail won't be
lost either, it's easy to perfect your lists of who is allowed to
send you mail. You can still receive any emails from mailing
lists or company mailings.
Spam Arrest - Put a stop to spam, and malicious email viruses.
Keep your computer clean from malicious software
Informative!
Spyware and Adware allow companies to monitor your computer
usage, and force advertisements on you to try and make money off
of you. These guys will usually be very sneaky on how they get
these programs onto your computer. Even "experts" can be
surprised to find that they have fallen victim to the will of
these malicious acts. The Internet never sleeps, and is
continually advancing.
The most common place to acquire these dangerous programs, is
through emails, and peer to peer file sharing networks.
It's also possible to get infected due to not keeping your
computer up to date with the latest security updates. Hackers
are constantly scanning the Internet for un-updated/unpatched
computers to hack into, and install this software. New bugs come
out all the time, it is imparitive you stay up to
date.
Many of these guys do this for a living, literally survive off
unsuspecting users! If you have adware/spyware installed on your
computer via this method, there is MUCH more dangerous things
hackers can be doing with your computer, such as identity theft,
logging your passwords to sensitive sites, even commanding your
computer to attack other computers (blackmailing companies /
obliterating internet-business competition). This is stepping
beyond the line of trying to make a dollar off you, and outright
stealing or using your computer to commit crime.
If your computer is used in this method, you are at risk for
identity theft, and also as a catalyst for acts of computer crime
to be commited from your computer. This is not a scare
tactic by any means, I see this all the time. If you catch
someone doing this by taking the proper precautions in this
guide, it is punishable by law.
If you've downloaded from the Internet and noticed your now
getting annoying pop up ads, this sounds like you cound infected
with spyware or adware, especially if you notice it happening
when you are not actively surfing. Yes I too have fallen victim
to this.
For eBay and Paypal scams
Ebay spoofs can be forwarded to spoof@ebay.com
Paypal spoofs can be forwarded to spoof@paypal.com
These organizations DO check these email accounts. We
highly recommend you forward your emails to these common targeted
companies to the above appropriate addresses every time, even if
you know without a doubt the email is a scam. Informing them
helps them get the scammer shut down, and perhaps can save
someone else from getting ripped off.
Also remember, Paypal/eBay in particular will always use your
real name when they send you an email, nothing like Dear
Verified Member or the equivalent.
For more information on how to protect yourself in the future from
these types of scams, you may find this site of use:
http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial/index.html
Report spoof sites, get them shut down at their source!
This is from eBay: To help our members better protect themselves
from spoof Web sites, we have developed a new feature for the eBay
Toolbar called "Account Guard." Account Guard includes an indicator
of when you are on an eBay or PayPal Website, buttons to report
fake eBay Websites, and a password notification feature that warns
you when you may be entering your eBay password into an unverified
site. To learn more about the eBay Toolbar with Account Guard, open
a new browser and type www.ebay.com/ebay_toolbar into
the address bar. Note that eBay will never send you an email that
includes a download as an attachment or a link that goes to a page
with a download.
If in doubt, ask us!
If you think you have received a fraudulent email, you can
forward the email to us to check out. This is a free service we
offer to the public to help reduce internet crime, and deter
theives from using us to faciliate their criminal behavior since
as we take the pro-active approach, we'll also gladly work with
other hosting companies and law enforcement agencies to get the
malicious site shut down.
You can forward your email and questions to us at isthisascam@afraid.org.
In Review:
ZoneAlarm Security Suite - For it's easy to use powerful firewall protection.
Spam Arrest - Put a stop to spam, and malicious email viruses.
The Shield Pro 2005 - Provides you essential protection from viruses, hackers, and privacy threats.
eBay Toolbar - Packed with features for use with eBay. Also includes account guard which is the reason it made this list.
The contents of this document may absolutely be reproduced/modified without any expressed permission whatsoever.
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Members: | 4,274,379 |
Premium: | 5,081 |
Records: | 12,452,936 |
Zones: | 1,231,395 |
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