Be the one that 'got away'
By Dave Owen

Don't let some phisher catch your financial data or steal
your identity.

I got an e-mail the other day that said, "Someone has
attempted to buy a product from you, but your shopping cart
has expired.  To renew it just 'click this link'."

That was fine and good except for the fact that I have not
been working with a shopping cart for at least ten years! 
Nor does my site have a shopping cart.

So, I went to Google and began searching for the site that
was mentioned in the e-mail.  As you can probably guess,
the site did not exist and I could not find any listing for
the product.

It's my guess they were phishing for my financial
information and would have been able to either drop a data
miner on my machine or display a form that, if filled out,
would have given my information to the wrong people.

By moving on, I was able to 'get away'.

My wife received an e-mail from someone claiming to be from
Amazon.com.  It was a very impressive form that they needed
filled out or "the account would be closed."  It was asking
for all the information that one would submit on a credit
application, including such items as her Amazon ID with
password, social security number, date of birth, checking
account information, credit cards with expiration date.

Amazon.com, along with all financial institutions, will not
send you an e-mail and ask for your information!  Period,
end of that story.

This was from a phisher hoping that she would enter the
information and then he could have a ball with our money.

By not responding with her information, she 'got away'.

My daughter-in-law received an e-mail that claimed to be
from Ebay asking for the same type of information.  The
claim was that if she did not send the information
requested her account would be closed.

Ebay will not send you an e-mail and ask for your
information.

By not responding to the message with the requested
information, she 'got away'.

Protect your financial information from these predators
with every bit of effort that you can.

It is becoming increasingly more difficult to identify
fraudulent emails, as spoofers are becoming more and more
sophisticated in their attacks. There are certain things
that you should look for that are common to many spoof
emails:

• Personal information requests: One of the biggest
  indicators of spoof email is a request for you to enter
  sensitive personal information like a user ID, password or
  bank account number by clicking on a link or completing an
  email form.
  
• Sender's address: If you receive an e-mail, you should
  not rely on the sender's e-mail address to confirm the true
  origin of the email. Even though it may look legitimate,
  the "From" field be altered easily.
  
• Greeting: Many spoof emails start with a general
  greeting like, "Welcome User," rather than being directed to
  you.
  
• Threats to accounts: Most spoof emails declare that your
  account is about to be closed and that certain information
  is required to keep the account open, active or un-
  restricted.
  
• Lost information: You should look out for claims that a
  company is updating its files or accounts. Companies like
  PayPal, eBay and other large companies with an established
  Internet presence and have security measures are not likely
  to lose account information.
  
• Links: Links that look like they connect to a valid site
  can forged. Always open up a new browser window and
  manually type in the Web site address.
  
  
  
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  Dave Owen, webmaster of www.Scam-Information.com , provides
  the information you need for a safe trip around the
  internet. For more information visit www.scam-information.
  com/phishingnews.html or send a note to: scaminfo@scam -
  information.com .