What can you do to avoid these spams and scams?
The difficult answer is that you really can't avoid them, and that at some point in your life on the Internet, you'll find an e-mail account or two or even all susceptible to these spam and scam e-mails. You can however avoid the potential dangers of being financially scammed or emotional and or physically harmed from these situations.
Just simply ignore it and delete it.
It's unsure if we will ever find a foul-proof e-mail provider that won't be susceptible to scams (or if it's feasibly possible to avoid them at all) so the next best thing is to avoid the dangers of losing your money and identity and just send that e-mail right to the trash bin! It also helps if you can report the e-mail as spam and send to the spam folder, which might aid e-mail providers in being able to obtain numerous reports from the same e-mail and deduce whether it is a scam and spam e-mail.
Be careful on how you continue to converse with these people if you have already responded. Ceast contact with these people immediately. Ignore all e-mails and block if able to, but keep your initial e-mails intact in case of proof of conversation and verification of the scammer's e-mail address.
DO NOT DIVULGE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION BEFORE VERIFYING OR IF YOU HAVE, DO NOT CONTINUE TO GIVE OUT ANY MORE INFORMATION.
VISIT THIS SITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT TO DO IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE BEING OR HAVE BEEN SCAMMED OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN SCAMMED AND NEEDS HELP ON WHAT TO DO: http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/phishingwhattodo.php
It is strongly discouraged for you to respond to these e-mails as you are technically conversing with a stranger if you know very well that it is a scam and know exactly what they want. That, and you might be giving off the wrong impression to these scammers that if you were easily fooled into responding, that they should continue and see if others will fall into their prey to, putting innocent people at risk.
Over the more recent years, equivalents of cyber vigilantes against online predators that focus on baiting scammers have become an online activity as well that various people can participate in to help stop scammers and inform others and support victims who have been scammed. While various sites and organizations vary from their intentions of scamming and methods of scamming, these forums usually include people who intentionally respond to these online scam e-mails pretending to believe these scammer's ludicrous claims. They take on a variety of alias and personalities (sometimes humorous to make the scambaiting more personally entertaining) and continue conversations with these scammers, pretending to be completely fooled and following the scammer's directions on how to make the fake transactions. Instead, scambaiters in the past have sent from junk to not sending anything at all to these scammers, or have turned the tables around by turning the scammer themselves into becoming the bait in a number of jokes or situations. The main intention of scambaiting is to waste a scammer's time into believing that they have their next potential target, and drawing out the process so that they invest all their time, money, traveling time, and efforts on this one person who turns out to be fooling them back the whole time. Scambaiting takes their time away so that it might prevent the scammer from having the time to fool other potential victims who might truly fall prey to them, or simply keep the scammer engaged enough for them to believe that the transaction in question might be more than what they expected and lead them into the false belief that they will no longer have to scam others to make as much profit.
Because these activities are mostly done by the work of everyday people and supporters against these kinds of Internet crimes, the level of skills varies from person to person. Scambaiting involves these people conversing with the scammers themselves, and thus scambaiters are intentionally conversing with these scammers at their own risk. It is important as well if you are interested in becoming a scambaiter whether through a group or on your own to consult corresponding sites that may also contain more information on how to take extra precautionary measures, as well as similar common tips as ones mentioned here when dealing with scammers.
In all cases, never sacrifice your common sense. Always be safe when dealing with these e-mails. Especially within children and people who are not as familiar with the Internet, it is important to keep others and yourself informed of these sorts of scams. Some people may be more likely to feel special or fall for these ploys by thinking that they have won free items or money (avoid clicking those free PSP and other items ads or the 1 millionth costumer ploys too!) or are able to help out someone, but the unfortunate truth is that scammers are only interested in your money and will do anything to get it.
Protect your emotions and yourself from physical and emotional harm as well.
As unfortunate as it is to say, but people have been emotionally and even physically harmed from dealing with these scammers. While most of the time, the physical aspects do not involve the scammers themselves visiting or finding the person and harming them (though it has happened and vice versa with victims visiting their scammers and being harmed), other victims who have been drained out of their wallets after innocently sending money to these scammers have committed suicide or have fallen into depression and other serious consequences due to the nature of the situation. Your ability to trust the Internet as well, and your own sympathy for others may also be compromised throughout the process, and therefore it is extremely important to understand that taking these precautions may help you have better experiences on the Internet and avoiding the pains of financial loss or simply the loss of trust, sympathy, and other emotions that you have invested onto this scam and have received nothing. Do anything you can to also protect the wellbeings of others close to you as well and prevent them from falling into prey and having their generosity and emotions taken advantage of or being threatened and intimidated by a scammer.
If all possible, if you have come across a an e-mail you believe is a scam and take steps to verify if it is one, visit http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org or other trusted resource sites to report the scams and help raise awareness to others and provide healthy tips on how to avoid these scams.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tips and Steps to Determine an E-mail 419 Scam (Part III)
Continuing from Parts I and II on tips against 419 scams, continued!
Emotions and the Internet is a major entry that I wanted to work on because it includes more than just 419 scams, but several other Internet crimes as well. This article will focus mainly on how emotions and the Internet can pertain to 419 scams, while similar other articles will deal with the same topic pertaining to that particular Internet crime discussed.
- Emotions and the Internet could sometimes be a risk.
Not just within 419 scams but in a myriad of Internet crimes (include malware and most of all, online predators), emotions play an extremely important role in how you deal with these sorts of scams and situations. Whether it might be that you are having a bad day or it's been a tough year for you, your emotions become noticable on how you approach the Internet, and it's important to try to be wary even on your bad days for scams. If you're angry and typing fast or hard, watch what you're typing so that you don't end up on the wrong site. Or if you're in a rush, don't click away on e-mail links and attachments to get through all of them fast. Stop and either take your time or come to it at another time when you have better chances of reviewing your e-mail's content in a safe manner.
Another way emotions can play is how you become attached or distanced from the nature of the scam you have encountered. If you read a scam that is a sob story, it's likely that if you are a sensitive person you might take great pity and sympathy for the e-mail, and be likely to think that the person who has kindly written to you is too nice for you to just ignore them rudely or responde crudely to them. You might be swayed into thinking that it is a real story, but without proper vertification, you must never forget to assume that this could very well be someone who does not care about you but your money and wants exactly for you to fall into the sympathy and give out support out of the goodness of your heart.
Before you even think of immediately responding to these e-mails, if you seriously are convinced that this is a legitimate letter asking for help, support, or giving away free money or assets, consult others you trust into viewing the e-mail and discuss it and somewhere you might come to a conclusion of whether you still trust this letter or not. Do not let these sad stories keep you from being curious or nitpicky about little things such as e-mail addresses, names, strangely doctored photos or mismatching facts and details. Also, don't let these e-mails keep you from copying and pasting them onto Google or other search engines to see if the letter in question is original.
If the e-mail does not bring up any search results indiciating that it is a scam duplicate or related to similar scams in any way, then do not reply and find someone or search in other resources to see if you can obtain verificable information such as the legitimate existence of this person, a matching e-mail, and any other verified documents that you can physically see with the presence of other authorized personal. Remember: Scammers will also attempt to provide you with "verification", which can range from doctored photos to stolen images, fake letters, forged signatures, and indications from fake banks and organizations. If you are seriously convinced or baffled if whether these are legitimate, consult a lawyer or the expertise of other trusted people before progressing forward and responding. Most of the time, if you have noticed any strange doctoring or mismatching information (once, there was a person who had a date of birth that did not match correspondingly to the person's age: born in 1970 and is 50 years old?!), then consider this as proof that this is indeed a scammer. If you are still not convinced, seek professional assistance in verifying identity and other legal documents and information concerning the e-mail and situation.
And even though I discourage you from using your gut to trust this sort of e-mail, I more encourage you to trust your gut when you feel that something in this letter doesn't feel right. Even if it might seem obviously nice and sweet-sounding to you, if you don't feel that it is making you feel motivated or even skeptical to help, then stop and think and decide.
Emotions and the Internet is a major entry that I wanted to work on because it includes more than just 419 scams, but several other Internet crimes as well. This article will focus mainly on how emotions and the Internet can pertain to 419 scams, while similar other articles will deal with the same topic pertaining to that particular Internet crime discussed.
- Emotions and the Internet could sometimes be a risk.
Not just within 419 scams but in a myriad of Internet crimes (include malware and most of all, online predators), emotions play an extremely important role in how you deal with these sorts of scams and situations. Whether it might be that you are having a bad day or it's been a tough year for you, your emotions become noticable on how you approach the Internet, and it's important to try to be wary even on your bad days for scams. If you're angry and typing fast or hard, watch what you're typing so that you don't end up on the wrong site. Or if you're in a rush, don't click away on e-mail links and attachments to get through all of them fast. Stop and either take your time or come to it at another time when you have better chances of reviewing your e-mail's content in a safe manner.
Another way emotions can play is how you become attached or distanced from the nature of the scam you have encountered. If you read a scam that is a sob story, it's likely that if you are a sensitive person you might take great pity and sympathy for the e-mail, and be likely to think that the person who has kindly written to you is too nice for you to just ignore them rudely or responde crudely to them. You might be swayed into thinking that it is a real story, but without proper vertification, you must never forget to assume that this could very well be someone who does not care about you but your money and wants exactly for you to fall into the sympathy and give out support out of the goodness of your heart.
Before you even think of immediately responding to these e-mails, if you seriously are convinced that this is a legitimate letter asking for help, support, or giving away free money or assets, consult others you trust into viewing the e-mail and discuss it and somewhere you might come to a conclusion of whether you still trust this letter or not. Do not let these sad stories keep you from being curious or nitpicky about little things such as e-mail addresses, names, strangely doctored photos or mismatching facts and details. Also, don't let these e-mails keep you from copying and pasting them onto Google or other search engines to see if the letter in question is original.
If the e-mail does not bring up any search results indiciating that it is a scam duplicate or related to similar scams in any way, then do not reply and find someone or search in other resources to see if you can obtain verificable information such as the legitimate existence of this person, a matching e-mail, and any other verified documents that you can physically see with the presence of other authorized personal. Remember: Scammers will also attempt to provide you with "verification", which can range from doctored photos to stolen images, fake letters, forged signatures, and indications from fake banks and organizations. If you are seriously convinced or baffled if whether these are legitimate, consult a lawyer or the expertise of other trusted people before progressing forward and responding. Most of the time, if you have noticed any strange doctoring or mismatching information (once, there was a person who had a date of birth that did not match correspondingly to the person's age: born in 1970 and is 50 years old?!), then consider this as proof that this is indeed a scammer. If you are still not convinced, seek professional assistance in verifying identity and other legal documents and information concerning the e-mail and situation.
And even though I discourage you from using your gut to trust this sort of e-mail, I more encourage you to trust your gut when you feel that something in this letter doesn't feel right. Even if it might seem obviously nice and sweet-sounding to you, if you don't feel that it is making you feel motivated or even skeptical to help, then stop and think and decide.
Tips and Steps to Determine an E-mail 419 Scam (Part II)
The continuing list of tips against 419 Scams, continued!
- Does the link match the organization/site?
If your e-mail claims to be from Facebook or online banking or another legitimate organization but the link in the e-mail does not match (i.e. zapcooltrends4u . com instead of Facebook.com), then this is most definitely a scam. The online banking e-mail might seem legimate, but after hovering over the link that says, "Verify your account!" you can see in the bottom corner the REAL name of the link to the site. Just hovering over the link to a fraud Chase e-mail, I saw the link saying, "sdlkdjflksdjlfkjslkjf . net" and obviously an indication to me that it was certainly not Chase. And remember, there was no https: either.
- Check the name and see if the e-mail matches.
Like the link, you can also check if the name on the sender information matches the e-mail address. If it says it is from Chase but the e-mail address is coolgirls2luv . ymail . com, then obviously that's not Chase either. Some e-mail addresses are now more advanced and may seem like they are really legitimate - onlinebanking . chaseonline . com, but that's when you have to do the one or all steps:
1. Think about it. Do you actually have a Chase account?
2. Does the link match to the site. Does it really say Chase Online's official site
3. And is it https:?
4. Are the graphics just right, and no mispellings?
5. AND MOST OF ALL: IF YOU HAVE AN OFFICIAL E-MAIL FROM CHASE BANK OR SEARCH ONLINE FOR A LEGITIMATE VERSUS FAKE SAMPLE OR FROM A TRUSTED FRIEND AND OR FAMILY MEMBER (MAKE SURE THERE IS NO PERSONAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE SAMPLE IF NECESSARY), USE IT TO COMPARE LINKS, E-MAIL ADDRESS, NAME, SUBJECT TITLES IF APPLICABLE, HTTPS:, AND GRAPHICS.
Another kind of name to e-mail match also occurs in a number of sob story, lotto, or really, any other kind of scams. They may say under name Laura Green with the e-mail address as lgreenjhjhjh @ poodles . net, but in the letter might state for you to either respond or send private information to a totally different e-mail like purtygr33n _ eyes @ voxxxx . net or similar sounding like lgreenjhjhjh @ voxxxx . net. Or even, is a lady named Laura Green using the e-mail sirjamesgreen334444444 @ poodles . net claiming that it is her e-mail? While this might be argued (since we all have varied e-mail names and inspirations), based on other information you can collect on the nature of the e-mail, it is reasonable to assume that perhaps they have used that alias as well in other variations of the same scam.
- Cheesy subject liners or threatening ones.
Aside from whatever personal goes on in your life, scam e-mails have a tendency to have blatantly obvious, "Hello dear" approaches, which are ploys to engage and invite you into believing that the scammer is a kind and generous person. It's sad to say that several of these scammers have little to no consideration about your wellbeing (and the fact that they are sometimes using ploys such as stories about cancer and disaster without considering the gravity of these incidences) and are focused more than anything on taking your money. Therefore, if you already sense that the e-mail is sounding fishy and too friendly for your liking (especially when dealing with the prospect of free money), then you might have just encountered a scam. Other e-mails claiming to be the FBI or from other organizations can attempt to threaten you into telling you that you are obliged to give out your information and total cooperation. Do not give out any information before stopping, thinking, and reviewing scam checking procedures.
As I personally am not familiar with how major organizations such as the FBI divulge information via e-mail, I would suggest that if you have followed other steps such as searching for logos, security assurance, matching links and names and are still baffled about whether you are being scammed or it is truly legitimate, I would suggest for you to go on Google to copy and paste the message to see if such duplicates exist (therefore it's your indicator of a scam sent to multiple people) or go directly to http://www.fbi.gov/ and see if there is any way to legitimately and securely contact someone regarding the situation, and they will be able to most likely direct you to what to do.
Also as a quick note, the FBI's site also has some tabs and links that can also provide information on how to protect yourself from an array of scams, including telemarking, telephone, holiday shopping and credit card scams. It is definitely worth checking out.
- Use attachment previews to avoid clicking the actual file.
E-mail providers such as G-mail, Yahoo, and Hotmail have attachment options on where you want to view graphics, attachments, and attachment previews. Use these as much as possible if you are prone to curiosity to what these attachments may contain, but more importantly, to make sure if an attachment is safe when it comes from a friend. A lot of earlier bug viruses started as people clicking and releasing viruses from attachments seemingly send from friends who were innocently unaware that clicking would continue the cycle over and over again, and since you automatically trust e-mails from friends, you have a greater tendency to open these files. Always check for names of the files and also if possible, keep track of whether this was an attachment you were expecting -- such as a resume or word file that a friend has told you that they would be sending.
If at all, try to avoid chain letters and forwarded e-mails as much as possible to keep your friends and others from becoming accustomed to the excessive flow of attachments and files. It's also good for you to try to avoid these chain letters as well so that you refrain from clicking any files. If you still like chain letters or are receiving them from someone that you know has a penchant for them, keep it in mind but always proceed with caution. You never know if either of you may unknowingly send a message containing dangerous attachments. Never click on attachments if necessary.
Also, thankfully most built-in e-mail providers have automatic virus detection and scanning for incoming and receiving attachments. Use these as much as possible for both, but don't rely on them comfortably in favor of common sense.
- From the preview, does the image look strange or edited?
Editing programs are a common deal nowadays so it's unwise to assume that everything scanned and sent over, form driver's licenses, passports, and "identify information" and pictures strangers may send to you is real. Some of these are so painfully obvious that they have doctored or stolen images that have names and other information retyped and edited. The picture might also be inconsistent with other descriptions they have given, especially if they have claimed in their e-mail to be one ethnicity while the image might say otherwise. Look for gender too!
In terms of telephone scams, if they bring up any deals about ethnicity, age (though this isn't often trusted as many know), or even gender, think about the voice you are listening to. While it's not always the surest way to verify something, keep a cautious mind for little details.
Continued in Part III.
- Does the link match the organization/site?
If your e-mail claims to be from Facebook or online banking or another legitimate organization but the link in the e-mail does not match (i.e. zapcooltrends4u . com instead of Facebook.com), then this is most definitely a scam. The online banking e-mail might seem legimate, but after hovering over the link that says, "Verify your account!" you can see in the bottom corner the REAL name of the link to the site. Just hovering over the link to a fraud Chase e-mail, I saw the link saying, "sdlkdjflksdjlfkjslkjf . net" and obviously an indication to me that it was certainly not Chase. And remember, there was no https: either.
- Check the name and see if the e-mail matches.
Like the link, you can also check if the name on the sender information matches the e-mail address. If it says it is from Chase but the e-mail address is coolgirls2luv . ymail . com, then obviously that's not Chase either. Some e-mail addresses are now more advanced and may seem like they are really legitimate - onlinebanking . chaseonline . com, but that's when you have to do the one or all steps:
1. Think about it. Do you actually have a Chase account?
2. Does the link match to the site. Does it really say Chase Online's official site
3. And is it https:?
4. Are the graphics just right, and no mispellings?
5. AND MOST OF ALL: IF YOU HAVE AN OFFICIAL E-MAIL FROM CHASE BANK OR SEARCH ONLINE FOR A LEGITIMATE VERSUS FAKE SAMPLE OR FROM A TRUSTED FRIEND AND OR FAMILY MEMBER (MAKE SURE THERE IS NO PERSONAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE SAMPLE IF NECESSARY), USE IT TO COMPARE LINKS, E-MAIL ADDRESS, NAME, SUBJECT TITLES IF APPLICABLE, HTTPS:, AND GRAPHICS.
Another kind of name to e-mail match also occurs in a number of sob story, lotto, or really, any other kind of scams. They may say under name Laura Green with the e-mail address as lgreenjhjhjh @ poodles . net, but in the letter might state for you to either respond or send private information to a totally different e-mail like purtygr33n _ eyes @ voxxxx . net or similar sounding like lgreenjhjhjh @ voxxxx . net. Or even, is a lady named Laura Green using the e-mail sirjamesgreen334444444 @ poodles . net claiming that it is her e-mail? While this might be argued (since we all have varied e-mail names and inspirations), based on other information you can collect on the nature of the e-mail, it is reasonable to assume that perhaps they have used that alias as well in other variations of the same scam.
- Cheesy subject liners or threatening ones.
Aside from whatever personal goes on in your life, scam e-mails have a tendency to have blatantly obvious, "Hello dear" approaches, which are ploys to engage and invite you into believing that the scammer is a kind and generous person. It's sad to say that several of these scammers have little to no consideration about your wellbeing (and the fact that they are sometimes using ploys such as stories about cancer and disaster without considering the gravity of these incidences) and are focused more than anything on taking your money. Therefore, if you already sense that the e-mail is sounding fishy and too friendly for your liking (especially when dealing with the prospect of free money), then you might have just encountered a scam. Other e-mails claiming to be the FBI or from other organizations can attempt to threaten you into telling you that you are obliged to give out your information and total cooperation. Do not give out any information before stopping, thinking, and reviewing scam checking procedures.
As I personally am not familiar with how major organizations such as the FBI divulge information via e-mail, I would suggest that if you have followed other steps such as searching for logos, security assurance, matching links and names and are still baffled about whether you are being scammed or it is truly legitimate, I would suggest for you to go on Google to copy and paste the message to see if such duplicates exist (therefore it's your indicator of a scam sent to multiple people) or go directly to http://www.fbi.gov/ and see if there is any way to legitimately and securely contact someone regarding the situation, and they will be able to most likely direct you to what to do.
Also as a quick note, the FBI's site also has some tabs and links that can also provide information on how to protect yourself from an array of scams, including telemarking, telephone, holiday shopping and credit card scams. It is definitely worth checking out.
- Use attachment previews to avoid clicking the actual file.
E-mail providers such as G-mail, Yahoo, and Hotmail have attachment options on where you want to view graphics, attachments, and attachment previews. Use these as much as possible if you are prone to curiosity to what these attachments may contain, but more importantly, to make sure if an attachment is safe when it comes from a friend. A lot of earlier bug viruses started as people clicking and releasing viruses from attachments seemingly send from friends who were innocently unaware that clicking would continue the cycle over and over again, and since you automatically trust e-mails from friends, you have a greater tendency to open these files. Always check for names of the files and also if possible, keep track of whether this was an attachment you were expecting -- such as a resume or word file that a friend has told you that they would be sending.
If at all, try to avoid chain letters and forwarded e-mails as much as possible to keep your friends and others from becoming accustomed to the excessive flow of attachments and files. It's also good for you to try to avoid these chain letters as well so that you refrain from clicking any files. If you still like chain letters or are receiving them from someone that you know has a penchant for them, keep it in mind but always proceed with caution. You never know if either of you may unknowingly send a message containing dangerous attachments. Never click on attachments if necessary.
Also, thankfully most built-in e-mail providers have automatic virus detection and scanning for incoming and receiving attachments. Use these as much as possible for both, but don't rely on them comfortably in favor of common sense.
- From the preview, does the image look strange or edited?
Editing programs are a common deal nowadays so it's unwise to assume that everything scanned and sent over, form driver's licenses, passports, and "identify information" and pictures strangers may send to you is real. Some of these are so painfully obvious that they have doctored or stolen images that have names and other information retyped and edited. The picture might also be inconsistent with other descriptions they have given, especially if they have claimed in their e-mail to be one ethnicity while the image might say otherwise. Look for gender too!
In terms of telephone scams, if they bring up any deals about ethnicity, age (though this isn't often trusted as many know), or even gender, think about the voice you are listening to. While it's not always the surest way to verify something, keep a cautious mind for little details.
Continued in Part III.
Tips and Steps to Determine an E-mail 419 Scam (Part I)
So, now with a bit of knowledge on 419 Sob Story Scams and Spam, here are some tips and questions to ask yourself when dealing with an e-mail that you believe could potentially be a scam.
Quick Note: I decided to make the tips into three separate entries so that it is not one large chunk of text, even though it still probably is. The first part consists of the first set of tips, the second part contains the second set, and the third is one big tip that had a bit more fleshing out than the rest and overlaps other safety tips, though they will be discussed and mentioned more in detail in their respective topics.
- Did you find this e-mail not on your inbox but in your bulk or spam folder?
While scam e-mails can either be on your inbox (as most of mine have landed on), some e-mail providers might already recognize a scam e-mail and immediately place it in the spam folder. If you notice that the e-mail is retrieved from the spam folder, then it might be a strong indication that it is a scam, and coupling it with other procedures for verifying the authenticity of the e-mail, you can tell if you have or haven't been in a scam. However, do not assume ALL e-mails in the spam folder are always spam (as legitimate sites sometimes warn verification e-mails might fall into the trash bin at times) or that all scam e-mails are only retrieved from the spam folder. There are so many, and dozens land onto your inbox and never set foot into your spam folder until you press that button to delete and send to the trash bin.
- Does the online IP address match the location claimed to have been sent from?
If you're more versed with the Internet, there are a variety of ways on how to detect spam e-mails by seeing if the locations they have claimed match the IP region address that shows the exact location from where the e-mail had been sent from. If you've come across an e-mail that claims to be from the United Kingdom for example, and you find out that the IP directs it from Nigeria, the mismatched facts might be an diciator that it is a fraud. It is a lie? Unless the person is on "vacation" (but are they really?), the IP address will direct you into the first steps into seeing if this lie is the first of many others contained within that e-mail. Microsoft Outlook and other resources are able to show the properties function of the e-mails themselves to detect the IP addresses, and from some digging on Google, you are able to visit sites to input that IP address and detect the location. Other applications are also available online, as well as tutorials, and also on other good anti-419 fraud resource sites. While it is tough to generalize since these scams can originate from everywhere, the scams that most are familiar with originate from Nigeria or Russia but are most certainly not limited to these locations, yet if the IP directs you to a location such as Nigeria, where it is a common location for fraud and the location already (along with other indicators in the e-mail) is a lie, then you have most likely encountered a scam.
- Is this e-mail asking for personal information right off the bat?
But sir, we have just met! Wouldn't you find it odd for someone immediately e-mailing you asking you for your personal identity information, ranging from credit card to Social Security or Driver's License Number? That is the equivalent of a stranger walking up to you and asking for your credit card number. If the person is already asking for your information with little to no information about why and what for, then you ought to stop and think before you even dare to press that reply button. If you have already responded to an e-mail without thinking it was fishy yet they suddenly approach you asking for information, proceed with similar caution. Scams can range from the sob story and lotto ventures, but others can simply initiate conversations with, "Contact me for a possible venture" and after a few e-mails start by asking for info. Likewise, with other online dating and Internet shopping services, be wary of people attempting to start small talk and leading up to asking for personal information without a secure third party transaction that will protect your private information from them. Never give out your personal information to someone that you do not know nor anyone that you do not trust.
- Look for https: as part of the official links to any secured banking or transaction site.
Fradulent e-mails can look quite like the real thing but fall short when noticing a website's name does not contain the https: (which computes as keeping information secure when using login usernames and passwords and other personal infromation). Typical public sites contain http:, yet banking sites and other sites that are intended for transactions or the exchange of any personal information use https: (secured) to make sure that your information is protected. Inputing personal information on an http: site can put this information at risk to third-party persons and or is being inputed to a place that has not been verified as secure for transaction of exchange of information. And most likely than anything, this will indicate that you are either dealing with a scam or an underdeveloped website that could put your computer at risk of harm. If you come across a site like this, proceed with caution and think before you input information.
- Notice subtle differences.
Is there a word mispelled or strange grammar and syntax that you've never seen? There are dozens of fake banking and Facebook sites but sometimes, it's little things, such as the juxtaposition of the logos, an inconsistency of mispelled words or oddly-worded phrases that might make you wonder if you're on the real thing. It's important by then, before inputing any information, that you also take a lot at the web address bar and see if you're on the real Facebook.com or on Facerbookiez.com, which if it is is mimicking the header style and images of the site, is a strong indication of a fraudulent site and scam.
Especially when you're quickly typing out web addresses or sites, you may mispell a word or two and result in a different site like Facerbook . com or something mispelled that take you to a website that looks a lot like the real thing, but it's obviously a fake. Always take a moment to check and make sure, or also, it's handy to bookmark or have quick icon shortcuts already handy to avoid typing out the name and mispelling and redirecting. It also helps you keep away from other scamming sites that not only are scams but could also contain vicious forms of malware.
- Think about it. Are you receiving an e-mail from the Bank of America about your "account" when you only use Chase?
That is the strongest indication of a scam. Common sense is the best friend in this case, telling you that if you know right off the bat that the e-mail is claiming something that you know not to be true, such as not having a Bank of America account or having bought a lotto ticket or entered a contest, think before you even click that e-mail.
Continued in Part II.
Quick Note: I decided to make the tips into three separate entries so that it is not one large chunk of text, even though it still probably is. The first part consists of the first set of tips, the second part contains the second set, and the third is one big tip that had a bit more fleshing out than the rest and overlaps other safety tips, though they will be discussed and mentioned more in detail in their respective topics.
- Did you find this e-mail not on your inbox but in your bulk or spam folder?
While scam e-mails can either be on your inbox (as most of mine have landed on), some e-mail providers might already recognize a scam e-mail and immediately place it in the spam folder. If you notice that the e-mail is retrieved from the spam folder, then it might be a strong indication that it is a scam, and coupling it with other procedures for verifying the authenticity of the e-mail, you can tell if you have or haven't been in a scam. However, do not assume ALL e-mails in the spam folder are always spam (as legitimate sites sometimes warn verification e-mails might fall into the trash bin at times) or that all scam e-mails are only retrieved from the spam folder. There are so many, and dozens land onto your inbox and never set foot into your spam folder until you press that button to delete and send to the trash bin.
- Does the online IP address match the location claimed to have been sent from?
If you're more versed with the Internet, there are a variety of ways on how to detect spam e-mails by seeing if the locations they have claimed match the IP region address that shows the exact location from where the e-mail had been sent from. If you've come across an e-mail that claims to be from the United Kingdom for example, and you find out that the IP directs it from Nigeria, the mismatched facts might be an diciator that it is a fraud. It is a lie? Unless the person is on "vacation" (but are they really?), the IP address will direct you into the first steps into seeing if this lie is the first of many others contained within that e-mail. Microsoft Outlook and other resources are able to show the properties function of the e-mails themselves to detect the IP addresses, and from some digging on Google, you are able to visit sites to input that IP address and detect the location. Other applications are also available online, as well as tutorials, and also on other good anti-419 fraud resource sites. While it is tough to generalize since these scams can originate from everywhere, the scams that most are familiar with originate from Nigeria or Russia but are most certainly not limited to these locations, yet if the IP directs you to a location such as Nigeria, where it is a common location for fraud and the location already (along with other indicators in the e-mail) is a lie, then you have most likely encountered a scam.
- Is this e-mail asking for personal information right off the bat?
But sir, we have just met! Wouldn't you find it odd for someone immediately e-mailing you asking you for your personal identity information, ranging from credit card to Social Security or Driver's License Number? That is the equivalent of a stranger walking up to you and asking for your credit card number. If the person is already asking for your information with little to no information about why and what for, then you ought to stop and think before you even dare to press that reply button. If you have already responded to an e-mail without thinking it was fishy yet they suddenly approach you asking for information, proceed with similar caution. Scams can range from the sob story and lotto ventures, but others can simply initiate conversations with, "Contact me for a possible venture" and after a few e-mails start by asking for info. Likewise, with other online dating and Internet shopping services, be wary of people attempting to start small talk and leading up to asking for personal information without a secure third party transaction that will protect your private information from them. Never give out your personal information to someone that you do not know nor anyone that you do not trust.
- Look for https: as part of the official links to any secured banking or transaction site.
Fradulent e-mails can look quite like the real thing but fall short when noticing a website's name does not contain the https: (which computes as keeping information secure when using login usernames and passwords and other personal infromation). Typical public sites contain http:, yet banking sites and other sites that are intended for transactions or the exchange of any personal information use https: (secured) to make sure that your information is protected. Inputing personal information on an http: site can put this information at risk to third-party persons and or is being inputed to a place that has not been verified as secure for transaction of exchange of information. And most likely than anything, this will indicate that you are either dealing with a scam or an underdeveloped website that could put your computer at risk of harm. If you come across a site like this, proceed with caution and think before you input information.
- Notice subtle differences.
Is there a word mispelled or strange grammar and syntax that you've never seen? There are dozens of fake banking and Facebook sites but sometimes, it's little things, such as the juxtaposition of the logos, an inconsistency of mispelled words or oddly-worded phrases that might make you wonder if you're on the real thing. It's important by then, before inputing any information, that you also take a lot at the web address bar and see if you're on the real Facebook.com or on Facerbookiez.com, which if it is is mimicking the header style and images of the site, is a strong indication of a fraudulent site and scam.
Especially when you're quickly typing out web addresses or sites, you may mispell a word or two and result in a different site like Facerbook . com or something mispelled that take you to a website that looks a lot like the real thing, but it's obviously a fake. Always take a moment to check and make sure, or also, it's handy to bookmark or have quick icon shortcuts already handy to avoid typing out the name and mispelling and redirecting. It also helps you keep away from other scamming sites that not only are scams but could also contain vicious forms of malware.
- Think about it. Are you receiving an e-mail from the Bank of America about your "account" when you only use Chase?
That is the strongest indication of a scam. Common sense is the best friend in this case, telling you that if you know right off the bat that the e-mail is claiming something that you know not to be true, such as not having a Bank of America account or having bought a lotto ticket or entered a contest, think before you even click that e-mail.
Continued in Part II.
Sob Story Spam and 419 Scammers
419 Scamming is all too common since the early ages of the Internet, and with the world constantly updating with good and bad news, it's no surprise that scammers will try absolutely anything to get your attention.
The most classic scams involve, well, the classic sob story. This story usually is an e-mail that starts out with a mild subject title, such as Hello Dear or Please Kindly Reply or just a simple Hello. Even though by now, you might of noticed that the e-mail is addressed from someone you may not know (and usually they try to pick out a very old fashioned and Anglo-sounding name such as Laura Green or Richard Smith).
Here is an example of such e-mail:
As you can see here, already from the first few words, the scammer has tried to use a religious attribute (a devoted Christian) to try to gain your trust into believing that you are dealing with an honest person. They've also claimed that their location is Iceland, yet if you are a little more Internet-savvy, you can surely find out from just the e-mail address that the IP address (which can determine the true location of the region the e-mail had been sent from) is from Lagos, Nigeria. (First lie spotted.)
The e-mail continues with using caps lock all over "her" late-husband's profession as part of an oil supply company and a large sum of his wealth. As part of the entire scheme of being a good, devout Christian, this woman claims to want to send this money over to you (a total complete stranger) and entrusting you to set up a charity.
And most of all, there is the whole story of her cancer problem, which is intended to stir deeply into your heart and find it in you to sympathzie for this good Christian woman. She closes the e-mail by reminding you once again that she awaits for you to reply and is willing to make further contact with you, and reaffirms her religious attributes.
While probably the first time you ever read an e-mail that's similar to this, you may find yourself unsure and asking yourself questions (even though you're probably getting the idea that it has to be fake) of whether, maybe is it true this time? Or, I feel sad if this is real, maybe she really does need my help.
While it's not ever unheard of a good Samaritan giving their money out randomly before, consider:
Why would this person completely trust me in setting up said charity if she has never met me before? How could she assume that I wasn't the type of person to run off with the money?
And then if you've discovered so strange IP mismatching, consider whether you're willing to even trust someone who claims to be from somewhere when the IP address says otherwise. Another note which is difficult to not avoid generalizing is that a large number of scam do actually originate from Nigeria (419 Scamming takes its name from the code used as "Advanced-Free-Fraud"), but it is certainly not limited to only this place. Other areas such as the Ivory Coast, the Balkans, United Kingdom, United States, China, and many, many more places have dozens of scammers who similarly follow these kinds of formats.
A number of these scams also go beyond the cancer story and with disasters such as 9/11, the Haiti and Katrina disasters, using these kinds of world news that people have become very sympathetic towards to in order to turn them into victims. Others have pretended to be soldiers during wars or stationed in areas claiming that they want to leave to you a large of sum of money because they are dying, while others have simply come to scam you with the pretext of staring a wonderful and meaningful relationship with you.
Another big example of a typical scam (if it isn't a sob story) is one much like this:
OR
And you are left going, "Wait, what?"
These scammers are attempting to bribe you with the prospects of having won the some foreign lottery (ranging from Australia, Nigeria and Canada and sooooo much more), to writing to you about some profitable business venture overseas. And now more recently, with the rise of debts and loans, several random e-mails have probably raided your inbox with claims of low interest school and debt loans (that are NOT backed by legitimate loan services), job offers (especially for younger people looking for placement jobs and work-at-home ventures), and even fake credit card and money transactions that are waiting for your action.
These ploys immediately want you to greedily divulge your personal banking information in order to extort you out of all of your money. There is no business venture at all, or a winning lotto ticket. This is simply a scam to make you their next target.
Some of these e-mails now no longer include a long-drawn out e-mail. Instead, they simply say, please read the attachment and respond. Others will only include a single attachment or contact information.
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO NEVER CLICK ON ANY E-MAIL ATTACHMENT IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO IT CAME FROM. Especially if you notice that the file name seems very fishy (or the file extension is not one you typically see such as .txt or .jpg), but even then, you should never ever click on these attachments, especially if you do not know who the sender is!! Many forms of scamming tools and malware can be concealed within these files and by opening them, you are putting your computer at a high risk of infection. It is always important to always keep your antivirus installed as well though do not let the presence of one keep you from using common sense and avoiding any strange e-mails or attachments.
Some of these e-mails will contain subjects that say, PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY, or within the e-mail can make threatening claims against your life if you do not respond to the e-mail. Others conceal themselves as pretending to be the FBI or other official agencies that ask of your assistance regarding cases, or even ironically claim that they are contacting you to return any money stolen from scams back to you.
Also, fake online banking sites and other false companies and agencies will present other images and information that might fool you into thinking that it is an official e-mail. A Chase online banking can have the exact same graphics and logo as the official Chase banking e-mails, yet there can be some subtle differences that you can use to spot the true over the false. Even the websites you might encounter linked to these false e-mails might have similar graphics and coding as the Chase site.
The most classic scams involve, well, the classic sob story. This story usually is an e-mail that starts out with a mild subject title, such as Hello Dear or Please Kindly Reply or just a simple Hello. Even though by now, you might of noticed that the e-mail is addressed from someone you may not know (and usually they try to pick out a very old fashioned and Anglo-sounding name such as Laura Green or Richard Smith).
Here is an example of such e-mail:
Dear Friend,
I am Mrs. Mary Abery, a devoted christian from Iceland who was married to Late Sir Keith Abery {PhD} who worked with MULTINATIONAL OIL COMPANY EXXON AS A DRILLING RIG SUPPLIER in Saudi Arabia for 19 years before he died on the 7th of September, 1998. Before his death, he deposited the sum of 5,142,728.00 Dollars with a bank In Canada. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next eight months due to cancer problem. Having known my condition, I decided to donate this fund to a church, organization or good person that will utilize this money in good faith by setting up a charity organisation.
I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and I keptthis deposit secret till date, this is why I am taking this decision. Upon your reply Ishall give you the contact of the bank. I will also issue a letter of authorization to the bank that will prove you as the present beneficiary of this money. Please contact me via my
email address on the subject.
Await your responds and God bless you.
Mrs. Mary Abery.
Email:mrs.mary_abery@yahoo.com
As you can see here, already from the first few words, the scammer has tried to use a religious attribute (a devoted Christian) to try to gain your trust into believing that you are dealing with an honest person. They've also claimed that their location is Iceland, yet if you are a little more Internet-savvy, you can surely find out from just the e-mail address that the IP address (which can determine the true location of the region the e-mail had been sent from) is from Lagos, Nigeria. (First lie spotted.)
The e-mail continues with using caps lock all over "her" late-husband's profession as part of an oil supply company and a large sum of his wealth. As part of the entire scheme of being a good, devout Christian, this woman claims to want to send this money over to you (a total complete stranger) and entrusting you to set up a charity.
And most of all, there is the whole story of her cancer problem, which is intended to stir deeply into your heart and find it in you to sympathzie for this good Christian woman. She closes the e-mail by reminding you once again that she awaits for you to reply and is willing to make further contact with you, and reaffirms her religious attributes.
While probably the first time you ever read an e-mail that's similar to this, you may find yourself unsure and asking yourself questions (even though you're probably getting the idea that it has to be fake) of whether, maybe is it true this time? Or, I feel sad if this is real, maybe she really does need my help.
While it's not ever unheard of a good Samaritan giving their money out randomly before, consider:
Why would this person completely trust me in setting up said charity if she has never met me before? How could she assume that I wasn't the type of person to run off with the money?
And then if you've discovered so strange IP mismatching, consider whether you're willing to even trust someone who claims to be from somewhere when the IP address says otherwise. Another note which is difficult to not avoid generalizing is that a large number of scam do actually originate from Nigeria (419 Scamming takes its name from the code used as "Advanced-Free-Fraud"), but it is certainly not limited to only this place. Other areas such as the Ivory Coast, the Balkans, United Kingdom, United States, China, and many, many more places have dozens of scammers who similarly follow these kinds of formats.
A number of these scams also go beyond the cancer story and with disasters such as 9/11, the Haiti and Katrina disasters, using these kinds of world news that people have become very sympathetic towards to in order to turn them into victims. Others have pretended to be soldiers during wars or stationed in areas claiming that they want to leave to you a large of sum of money because they are dying, while others have simply come to scam you with the pretext of staring a wonderful and meaningful relationship with you.
Another big example of a typical scam (if it isn't a sob story) is one much like this:
Dear Sir,
we are currently looking for a real and genuine seller from Ghana or any other source who is capable to supply Gold Dust on a very regular basis.
I have a very serious and ready buyer in the USA who is financially able to buy more than 50 kgs a day if the seller can supply.
The buyer has got an office in Ghana and likes to do the Assay for the Gold dust at PMMC in Accra,Ghana.The payment will be made in full to the seller immediately after the final Assay completed and received of the Assay report from the refinery that to be accepted to both the buyer and the seller.
The buyer will NOT pay any upfront payment for anything whatsoever.
However, as you mentioned your source can supply on CIF, so please send me your details offers including procedures, payment terms etc.
If you have any real sellers,please feel free to send your offers as soon as possible
Warmest Regards
Matiur Rahman
OR
Date 6/2/2007
Ref: 475061725
Batch: 7056490902/188
Winning No: GB8701/LPRC
CONGRATULATIONS
Australian Lottery Bonanza
Dear Sir/Madam
The Lucky Winner
We are delighted to inform you of your prize release on the 5th of February 2007 from the Australian International Lottery programme. Which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail addresses. Your name was attached to ticket number; 575061725 8056490902 serial number 6741137002 This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 5-13-33-37-42 bonus number 17,which consequently won the lottery in the second category. You here by have been approved a lump sum pay of US$300,000.00 (THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW 47509/02 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category. All participant were selected through a computer balloting system drawn form Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotions program which is conducted annually. This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomorate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the commmunities where they have operational base.
Further more your details (e-mail address) falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam, Holland, as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$300,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch office in AFRICA. We hope with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of the year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:
Simply contact our fiducial agent, JESSIE HELEN at jessie_helen_au@sino.net to file for your claim.
Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name, address and telephone number to help locate your file easily. For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participant or unofficial personnel.
Note,
All winnings MUST be claimed by the 5th of March ,2007; otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity. Congratulations once again on your winning.
PLEASE REPLY THIS EMAIL, CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS AGENT AT
NAME:,JESSIE HELEN
jessie_helen_au@sino.net
Best Regards
Mrs Rosemary Banks (Co-ordinator)
BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY ON THE PART OF THE WINNERS WILL RESULT TO DISQUALIFICATION.
THANKS:
MANAGEMENT, AUSTRALIA LOTTO LOTTERY INC.
Past winners round the world with full of excitment
LOTTERY SPONSORS: CHIEF SPONSORS;
And you are left going, "Wait, what?"
These scammers are attempting to bribe you with the prospects of having won the some foreign lottery (ranging from Australia, Nigeria and Canada and sooooo much more), to writing to you about some profitable business venture overseas. And now more recently, with the rise of debts and loans, several random e-mails have probably raided your inbox with claims of low interest school and debt loans (that are NOT backed by legitimate loan services), job offers (especially for younger people looking for placement jobs and work-at-home ventures), and even fake credit card and money transactions that are waiting for your action.
These ploys immediately want you to greedily divulge your personal banking information in order to extort you out of all of your money. There is no business venture at all, or a winning lotto ticket. This is simply a scam to make you their next target.
Some of these e-mails now no longer include a long-drawn out e-mail. Instead, they simply say, please read the attachment and respond. Others will only include a single attachment or contact information.
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO NEVER CLICK ON ANY E-MAIL ATTACHMENT IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO IT CAME FROM. Especially if you notice that the file name seems very fishy (or the file extension is not one you typically see such as .txt or .jpg), but even then, you should never ever click on these attachments, especially if you do not know who the sender is!! Many forms of scamming tools and malware can be concealed within these files and by opening them, you are putting your computer at a high risk of infection. It is always important to always keep your antivirus installed as well though do not let the presence of one keep you from using common sense and avoiding any strange e-mails or attachments.
Some of these e-mails will contain subjects that say, PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY, or within the e-mail can make threatening claims against your life if you do not respond to the e-mail. Others conceal themselves as pretending to be the FBI or other official agencies that ask of your assistance regarding cases, or even ironically claim that they are contacting you to return any money stolen from scams back to you.
Also, fake online banking sites and other false companies and agencies will present other images and information that might fool you into thinking that it is an official e-mail. A Chase online banking can have the exact same graphics and logo as the official Chase banking e-mails, yet there can be some subtle differences that you can use to spot the true over the false. Even the websites you might encounter linked to these false e-mails might have similar graphics and coding as the Chase site.
Compromised E-mail Accounts and Spam
NOTE: ALL E-MAIL AND WEB ADDRESSES ARE FAKE OR MADE UP FROM MY MIND TO PROVIDE AS SIMILAR EXAMPLES FOR THIS DISCUSSION WITH THE EXCEPTION OF E-MAIL OR WEB ADDRESS INFORMATION INDICATED IN THE LETTER SAMPLES, WHICH ARE DERIVED FROM REAL FAKE SCAMMER LETTERS RECEIVED. CHASE AND FACEBOOK AND OTHER EXAMPLES MENTIONED AND REFERENCED THROUGHOUT THE ARTICLES ARE ALSO DERIVED FROM REAL SCAMS. DUE TO THE NATURE OF MOST SCAMMER SITES AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES (AS SOME MAY DERIVE THEIR WEB ADDRESS NAMES BASED ON MISPELLINGS OR VARIATIONS OF A LEGITIMATE SITE) IT IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED FOR YOU TO ATTEMPT TO VISIT THESE SITES SINCE THE CONTENT HAS NOT BEEN VISITED NOR VERIFIED AND I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYONE VISITING ANY SITE OR CONTACTING ANYONE IN THESE SAMPLE E-MAILS AT THEIR OWN RISK.
As the Internet grows older, e-scams are becoming more and more intricate, and with the development of image editing and rendering on graphics editing programs, e-mails and other fraudulent websites can now look more and more like the official site. E-mails with sob stories and unexpected lottery winnings also raid your e-mail. Just recently, I found over 199 e-mails in an extremely old e-mail account of mine I had not looked into in years, and discovered that 99% of these e-mails were from numerous scammers trying to find a potential target.
So, it's important that even if you personally feel savvy enough to avoid these scams, it's still vital to become familiar in other practices on how to protect yourself and lend out helpful tips to others, especially to younger children and others not too well versed with computers and the Internet, to help them avoid being caught in the lies of a scammer.
Compromised E-mail Accounts and Spam
As mentioned in a previous entry on e-mail safety, even e-mails are now compromised rapidly by marketing and scamming sites to send spam to everyone in your address book posing as you. These e-mails usually contain links and off-topic comments on "cool websites to check out", which usually turn out to be a whole scam in itself. Several of these sites, carrying from electronics from overseas to "support pages" fool you into trusting them as agreeable resource sites, yet many of these stores fail to even sell and do business accordingly at all.
But with that, it's is extremely important to never click on any foreign link that seems fishly. If the link or icon says one thing, such as Free DVDs but shows some strange link in the bottom left corner that says: http: // zzjlkjsfdk . net / and it doesn't seem quite right to you, trust your gut. It is highly likely that you're going to be right.
A good tip is to try going onto any search engine (I typically use Google) and type the name of the site, in this case zzjlkjsfdk . net. I don't reccommend copying and pasting the whole actual link since the search engine may not compute as many results, but on a daily basis, just naming the site usually will bring up a number of results. It is highly likely that the website is a scam if the results on the search engine pinpoint to other sites, such as government or even just anti-fraud database sites. And if you're even more curious, you could write the name of the site and "scam" as the search tags to see if the results link a strong relationship between one and another.
It's also important to know that if it is indeed a scam, then it is very likely that others have received similar e-mails as well, and they too, might be online asking around if this is a scam. By looking around (but never click the site itself until you deem it safe!) on other anti-scam sites (if you find the site in question mentioned there) and collectively putting the results together, you can then come to a more reasonable conclusion of whether you want to avoid visiting the site or, if you find good, hard proof that it is legitmate, can visit it. However, it is important to know that it is unlikely any special offers or anything that's promoted as FREE is legitimate. It doesn't rule out some other legitimate free sites, yet be prepared to proceed with caution about dealing with anything that is advertised as free or lucrative towards your pocket.
Also, in regards to the e-mail compromising scams, even if (as apparently some sites do sell legitimate items on these strange sites) the site is legitimate, would you feel all-too trusting of a website and business that makes its advertising through hacking you and your friends and family's e-mail addresses?
As the Internet grows older, e-scams are becoming more and more intricate, and with the development of image editing and rendering on graphics editing programs, e-mails and other fraudulent websites can now look more and more like the official site. E-mails with sob stories and unexpected lottery winnings also raid your e-mail. Just recently, I found over 199 e-mails in an extremely old e-mail account of mine I had not looked into in years, and discovered that 99% of these e-mails were from numerous scammers trying to find a potential target.
So, it's important that even if you personally feel savvy enough to avoid these scams, it's still vital to become familiar in other practices on how to protect yourself and lend out helpful tips to others, especially to younger children and others not too well versed with computers and the Internet, to help them avoid being caught in the lies of a scammer.
Compromised E-mail Accounts and Spam
As mentioned in a previous entry on e-mail safety, even e-mails are now compromised rapidly by marketing and scamming sites to send spam to everyone in your address book posing as you. These e-mails usually contain links and off-topic comments on "cool websites to check out", which usually turn out to be a whole scam in itself. Several of these sites, carrying from electronics from overseas to "support pages" fool you into trusting them as agreeable resource sites, yet many of these stores fail to even sell and do business accordingly at all.
But with that, it's is extremely important to never click on any foreign link that seems fishly. If the link or icon says one thing, such as Free DVDs but shows some strange link in the bottom left corner that says: http: // zzjlkjsfdk . net / and it doesn't seem quite right to you, trust your gut. It is highly likely that you're going to be right.
A good tip is to try going onto any search engine (I typically use Google) and type the name of the site, in this case zzjlkjsfdk . net. I don't reccommend copying and pasting the whole actual link since the search engine may not compute as many results, but on a daily basis, just naming the site usually will bring up a number of results. It is highly likely that the website is a scam if the results on the search engine pinpoint to other sites, such as government or even just anti-fraud database sites. And if you're even more curious, you could write the name of the site and "scam" as the search tags to see if the results link a strong relationship between one and another.
It's also important to know that if it is indeed a scam, then it is very likely that others have received similar e-mails as well, and they too, might be online asking around if this is a scam. By looking around (but never click the site itself until you deem it safe!) on other anti-scam sites (if you find the site in question mentioned there) and collectively putting the results together, you can then come to a more reasonable conclusion of whether you want to avoid visiting the site or, if you find good, hard proof that it is legitmate, can visit it. However, it is important to know that it is unlikely any special offers or anything that's promoted as FREE is legitimate. It doesn't rule out some other legitimate free sites, yet be prepared to proceed with caution about dealing with anything that is advertised as free or lucrative towards your pocket.
Also, in regards to the e-mail compromising scams, even if (as apparently some sites do sell legitimate items on these strange sites) the site is legitimate, would you feel all-too trusting of a website and business that makes its advertising through hacking you and your friends and family's e-mail addresses?
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
How to protect your E-mail and other Personal information
Your e-mail address might be your key to signing up to several sites, from online shopping on Amazon to using your e-mail to log onto your Facebook, yet it is still extremely important to be careful with where you are inputing vital information to. And with that, there are several precautions you can take to think before you type that e-mail or other information there. Always think before you type or click! You never know what could happen.
The main rule of thumb is: If you don't need to put your e-mail, just don't. While it's nice to apply for special offers on stores and comment on forums and other sites, always look first before you type.
You could be saving yourself some potential risk of having your own e-mail address compromised by spam if you try to limit where you are throwing your e-mail at. I'm not talking also about spam from excessive store special offers, but rather dangerous spam that can take your e-mail address over and use it as a main target site to send ridiculous spam to all of the people on your contact list.
Over these past couple of years, these sort of ploys have been used by several scamming advertisement websites that attempt to take over your e-mail address and send out strange e-mail that most of the time sound out of character to your friends and family. The messages usually contain one to two sentences advertising about a "really cool site" with the link over it, yet nowadays with links becoming even shorter and more concealed (bit.ly shorthand), it can become extremely difficult to decode whether the site you are about to click could become potentially your worst nightmare.
Even though most people are probably familiar with the pharmaceutical spam sites, some are still baffled about how they could be preyed upon if every site they visit is considered legitimate or have privacy policies.
The main rule of thumb is that many websites, no matter how safe or legitimate they may be, can always potentially have weak spots where spammers can attack. It's not safe at all to assume that any site is 100% safe and foulproof, and therefore if you can greatly minimize how many sites you are using your e-mail publicly with, it could at least potentially shorten that risk. Try to minimize the amount of subscriptions that you have in regards to sales and stores as well. If you don't frequently shop there, then see if you can remove that subscription...like spring cleaning!
Besides your e-mail, other vital information such as credit card or identifiy information (such as your Social Security number) can be vulnerable to threat, even if you are assuming that it is privately written in an e-mail or in your computer. The issue is that there are several forms of malware or even if your e-mail has been simply compromised (such as with the excessive spam) that can put this information under threat.
Protect your information!
For children and adults alike, keeping your e-mail address on the low down as possible also helps you from being under threat of not those annoying spammers, but overall from anyone who would want to scam or harm you in more dangerous ways. Nowadays with the easier access to information, a dangerous person could have public access to personal information by just knowing a name or e-mail address (as well as other information) that could lead them to know more than you would want them to know. By monitoring your activity on the Internet (what sites you visit) and what information you are putting where, you can also minimize your chances of having someone obtain information that you unknowingly placed in an inconvenient and accessible place. Think of the yellow pages, and how some people simply choose to be unlisted numbers.
Especially in regards of children, parents should encourage them to avoid giving out their names and e-mail addresses, and of course other personal information, when even on game sites such as Neopets or Gaia Online, as they too can be used by predators to prey on young children. Never give out your home address either! Children must avoid at all costs to reveal where they live, or even a hint of a location of where they live, and even with adults, it is best to be as vague as possible to avoid someone from doing a little too much research.
If you are prone to making new, spontaneous friends, always be cautious of when you are giving your e-mail address out to them. Preferrably if you can, give out an alternate e-mail address of sorts that you can use with them to talk before you feel comfortable enough to converse with them in your main e-mail. This is a suggestion for those who would like to make friends, since the Internet is definitely a place to converse and meet new people, but if you're having second thoughts about whether you want to trust that person with your main e-mail or not, this could be a good idea. It is always important to always never completely trust someone from the first impression. And sometimes even from the second, and much like how you get to know people in the real realm, you have to keep caution of who this person is now and who they can really be. The internet is also filled with people trying out a number of different personas, so it is always important to be mindful about that as well.
The main rule of thumb is: If you don't need to put your e-mail, just don't. While it's nice to apply for special offers on stores and comment on forums and other sites, always look first before you type.
You could be saving yourself some potential risk of having your own e-mail address compromised by spam if you try to limit where you are throwing your e-mail at. I'm not talking also about spam from excessive store special offers, but rather dangerous spam that can take your e-mail address over and use it as a main target site to send ridiculous spam to all of the people on your contact list.
Over these past couple of years, these sort of ploys have been used by several scamming advertisement websites that attempt to take over your e-mail address and send out strange e-mail that most of the time sound out of character to your friends and family. The messages usually contain one to two sentences advertising about a "really cool site" with the link over it, yet nowadays with links becoming even shorter and more concealed (bit.ly shorthand), it can become extremely difficult to decode whether the site you are about to click could become potentially your worst nightmare.
Even though most people are probably familiar with the pharmaceutical spam sites, some are still baffled about how they could be preyed upon if every site they visit is considered legitimate or have privacy policies.
The main rule of thumb is that many websites, no matter how safe or legitimate they may be, can always potentially have weak spots where spammers can attack. It's not safe at all to assume that any site is 100% safe and foulproof, and therefore if you can greatly minimize how many sites you are using your e-mail publicly with, it could at least potentially shorten that risk. Try to minimize the amount of subscriptions that you have in regards to sales and stores as well. If you don't frequently shop there, then see if you can remove that subscription...like spring cleaning!
Besides your e-mail, other vital information such as credit card or identifiy information (such as your Social Security number) can be vulnerable to threat, even if you are assuming that it is privately written in an e-mail or in your computer. The issue is that there are several forms of malware or even if your e-mail has been simply compromised (such as with the excessive spam) that can put this information under threat.
Protect your information!
For children and adults alike, keeping your e-mail address on the low down as possible also helps you from being under threat of not those annoying spammers, but overall from anyone who would want to scam or harm you in more dangerous ways. Nowadays with the easier access to information, a dangerous person could have public access to personal information by just knowing a name or e-mail address (as well as other information) that could lead them to know more than you would want them to know. By monitoring your activity on the Internet (what sites you visit) and what information you are putting where, you can also minimize your chances of having someone obtain information that you unknowingly placed in an inconvenient and accessible place. Think of the yellow pages, and how some people simply choose to be unlisted numbers.
Especially in regards of children, parents should encourage them to avoid giving out their names and e-mail addresses, and of course other personal information, when even on game sites such as Neopets or Gaia Online, as they too can be used by predators to prey on young children. Never give out your home address either! Children must avoid at all costs to reveal where they live, or even a hint of a location of where they live, and even with adults, it is best to be as vague as possible to avoid someone from doing a little too much research.
If you are prone to making new, spontaneous friends, always be cautious of when you are giving your e-mail address out to them. Preferrably if you can, give out an alternate e-mail address of sorts that you can use with them to talk before you feel comfortable enough to converse with them in your main e-mail. This is a suggestion for those who would like to make friends, since the Internet is definitely a place to converse and meet new people, but if you're having second thoughts about whether you want to trust that person with your main e-mail or not, this could be a good idea. It is always important to always never completely trust someone from the first impression. And sometimes even from the second, and much like how you get to know people in the real realm, you have to keep caution of who this person is now and who they can really be. The internet is also filled with people trying out a number of different personas, so it is always important to be mindful about that as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)