Business and Personal Safety in the Internet by Joe Gonzalez, Jr.
The IRS warns of a late-breaking Internet tax scam, just before the April 17 deadline. Are you at risk?
The Internal Revenue Service announced Friday that they had discovered a new late-breaking scam: bogus Web sites are masquerading as affiliates of the IRS free file alliance of 19 tax-software companies. The people who set up these scam sites take tax information from well-meaning taxpayers, change their bank account numbers to their own and then file the return through a legitimate free file partner.
Solution: The only way to safely participate in the Free File program is by going directly to the official IRS site.
Charity Scams
Hurricanes, floods & Asia Earthquake/Tsunami Fraud: If you would like to contribute to the recent rash of natural disasters, please view list of established charities providing relief. We are providing this list as we fear that criminal-minded individuals will seize this opportunity to collect donations for their personal gain or direct only 1% of your donation and retain 99% for "administrative expenses" This is a trick among bogus charities. Be extremely cautious of email solicitations using established charities names and clicking on link provided. It will most likely redirect you to a fake "look-alike" website to steal your donation as well as your financial information or execute a malicious script to get "backdoor" access into your computer.
Safety tip: When making a donation, go directly to charities website (search Google) or call by phone, DO NOT click on an email link.
Phishing Scams
New and clever techniques are being used by hackers to get at your information and your computer. In the past we've alerted you to "phishing attacks", where hackers put up web pages imitating legitimate websites and then use email to trick people to visit these sites. The sites then attempt to collect personal information such as account numbers and username/password combinations. Industry analysts say there were more of these types of attacks in February 2004 than in all of last year. Some may appear to come from eBay, PayPal, CitiBank, Bank of America, Mortgage applications to be filled-out and so forth requesting user ID's and passwords. NONE of these institutions will request that type of information by email or by having you click on a "link" - That is the VERY FIRST thing that should make you suspicious. If our company needs to request any further information from you on a background screening search, we will do so in a validated and secure manner that for security reasons cannot detail here.
A new type of attack is a twist on the common virus attack but sent with a clever bit of "social engineering," which attempts to subvert your normal tendency to delete these unsolicited emails and instead open them. For example:
And the biggest problem with these is they change constantly--the same virus can send itself out in almost limitless ways.
The Solution
How can I decrease my chance of being a "phishing" victim? - Here are some safety tips:
Most of the online credit card fraud happens when someone fraudulently obtains your card number and expiration date from a malicious employee of any establishment where you used it. From there on they simply look up your home address on any Online White Pages Phone Directory assuming you receive credit card billing statements at home. You are even more of a target if you have a unique name combination which makes it easier for them to zero-in on. When they attempt a fraudulent Online transaction - card number, expiration date and billing address and zip code will match and transaction will go through.
Who gets hurt:
The Online Merchant. Credit card issuing companies will debit the amount from online merchant's bank account once they determine it to be of fraudulent nature plus Online Merchant takes a loss on internal costs be it inventory or information technology researcher's costs. In addition, Online Merchant will get hit with chargeback penalty fees ranging anywhere from $25.00 to a $100.00 per individual fraudulent transaction and if too many of those happen within an specific time period, they will lose their ability to accept credit card payments from ALL credit card processors and be put OUT-OF-BUSINESS!
Cardholder Scenario
Picture this scenario: You are on a vacation far from home or overseas or simply dining out with a potential client or date, perpetrator has been making fraudulent purchases in your credit card, you now go to pay and not only is card declined, but a "card pick-up" is issued. Aside from the embarrassment and having to prove your identity to law enforcement called in by now - what if you do not have any other method of payment on you or you are too far away from home on a vacation with your family?
The Solution
Ever wondered if anyone makes the money promised in those work-at-home advertisements? Or if each forwarded e-mail will really mean a donation of 10 cents from Microsoft to an orphan's organ-transplant operation? The answer is no. These stories are urban legends, e-mail rumors and scams. They are but a few of what we like to call financial fiction. The following are some of the most popular and most creative examples waiting in inboxes.
Neiman Marcus expensive cookie recipe
Here's what happened. My Aunt Cynthia was having lunch at Neiman Marcus with my cousin. For dessert, they had these delicious cookies and my aunt asked the waitress for the recipe. The waitress said they the recipe sold for "two fifty." My Aunt thought that meant $2.50 said OK. But when she got her bill they charged her $250. She was furious but they wouldn't refund her money. So in revenge, she's giving away the recipe to anyone who wants it. Can you believe that? You can? Sucker. It never happened. But this rumor has been circulating for decades. A similar story about a $25 red velvet cake recipe has been traced as far back as the 1940s. If you want the cookie recipe, Neiman Marcus has gotten so sick of the bad press about this false rumor that the company posted the recipe on its Web site.
Forwarded e-mail for money or donations
Microsoft and Disney are both beta-testing an e-mail tracker and will send you money if you forward this e-mail. The Gap is testing an e-mail tracker and will send you a gift certificate. The Red Cross is using its e-mail tracker and will donate money for some poor kid's operation or to raise funds for an orphan of Sept. 11.
If you believe any of these stories, I have some bad news for you. There is no such thing as an e-mail tracker. Coke won't send you free cans. Gerber won't send you savings bonds. Cracker Barrel won't send you gift certificates. A Britney Spears' video won't pop up as the result of you forwarding an e-mail. And AOL has a public relations department that gets news out a lot more efficiently than any chain mail ever could. You get nothing but the embarrassment of knowing that everyone you forward this e-mail to will think you're a fool.
Nigerian scam letter
Greetings, sir. I got your e-mail address from a very confidential source (The Internet). I am the prince, minister and Grand Poo-ba of one of many foreign nations that you stupid Americans have never heard of. There is a billion, kazillion dollars in an account here that rightfully belongs to my family and my people. Due to some horrid-bloody military coup in which my entire family, several accountants and various goats lost their lives, I cannot reach this money. But you, an American who has never heard of my country, can march right into the corner branch of God-Forsaken-War-Torn-East-of-Nowhere-Africa and deposit this money right into your fat American bank account. For your trouble, I'll give you a few million off the top -- because what's a few million between confidential best friends who have never actually even heard of one another?
OK, let's start from the top. Do not kid yourself. You are not so important that the High Priest of Anywhere will e-mail you requesting help. Rid yourself of your delusions of grandeur -- or as we say back home, you may sing "Like a Virgin" into your hairbrush every night, but that doesn't make you Madonna.
Here's what will happen when you give strangers your bank account information: They will take your money. Period. End of story. You get nothing, but you lose a lot.
Channels
While the world-wide-web and email are the two most heavily used functions of the Internet and thus the most widely abused to send viruses and cultivate chaos, other services are also used to compromise vulnerable systems and steal important information. Chat services, such as AOL's Instant Messaging, Microsoft's Messenger, IRC, ICQ and Yahoo! Chat can be used to exchange files and send potentially malicious links. It is easy in chat services to spoof the site that a web link appears to belong, sending you to a hacker's website that looks like a legitimate company site. It is also simple to alter a character or two of a chat username or handle, creating the ability to pose as someone else. For example, changing the letter "O" to the number "0" (zero), making BOB = B0B Files can be sent via chat sessions much the same way that files can be sent as attachments in emails. These are usually automatically stored in locations on your computer's hard drive known to hackers. With this knowledge, a hacker can potentially trick you into running malicious programs with a disguised web address in an email, a chat window or a web page. Be extremely cautious when exchanging files sent via chat sessions, and always confirm the sender's identity.
Work at Home Scams
Old scam, new format. You should immediately run from anyone who promises lots of money for little work that requires no experience. While there are companies that allow their employees to work from home, they require job skills and interviews, just like regular jobs. Work-at-home scams will ask you to purchase supplies and equipment from them to perform the "job." That's how they make their money. You will lose -- not make -- money.
You Won and You Didn't Even Enter! Scam
How can you take anything seriously that uses so many exclamation marks?!!!!! Guess what!!!!! You didn't win anything!!!! These people will try to finagle money out of you by saying you need to pay taxes or fees to collect your prize!!!!! Or they will give you a free trip that requires you to buy very expensive airline tickets through their agency!!!! Don't be a sucker!!!!!
You'll receive $5,000 for sending $25 Scam
Here's how it works. Send $5 to the five people on the list or to the address that will send you the "reports." In return for your money you'll get -- nothing -- because this is a scam. Well, maybe you'll get something -- a conviction for mail fraud because this is illegal.
Tricking the Traffic Court
The Web-watching site Truthorfiction.com reports that a rumor is currently circling e-mails accounts claiming that there's a sneaky way to keep a traffic ticket off your driving record: pay a little more than the amount on the ticket. The court will send you a refund check. If you don't cash the check, the computer won't mark your case as closed and the ticket will never show up on your record. This idea is great in theory, lousy in reality. It doesn't work. Here's a way to keep tickets off your record that does work: Slow Down.
Tax or long distance phone charges on email
You got a forwarded e-mail from your friend that says you will soon be charged for your long-distance e-mails, just like you are charged for long-distance phone calls. Oh, really? And what will the phone company use to compute your bill -- its e-mail tracker? Calm down. No one is going to charge you long distance for your e-mails. This is an e-mail myth.
Clinton got rid of the IRS. No more taxes.
That sneaky Bill Clinton -- did you know that when he wasn't gallivanting about with interns he was busy getting Congress to pass secret legislation that would forgive all debts and abolish the Internal Revenue Service? Alan Greenspan was going to announce it on Sept. 11, 2001 but didn't because of the terrorist attacks. Oh, wishful thinking -- or maybe not. A move like that is the equivalent of tossing what's left of our economy into a vast financial toilet and flushing with the combined might of the National Football League. In the plausible department, this rumor, reported by Truthorfiction.com, is right up there with alien cattle mutilations and Cameron Diaz spending a Friday night alone at home, eating Ben & Jerry's because she couldn't get a date--completely ridiculous
