We see so much information on the internet these days, email addresses, banking online, shopping online, we can even apply for courses on line and loans as well as many other things. It has become hard to tell whats real and whats not. SO? what can we do about it, How can we protect ourselves from the thousands of internet scams out there?
I feel the only way to combat this is to be well informed
Chain letters - are letters that promise a huge return on a small effort. The simplest form of a chain letter contains a list oy "yay" amount of people. Your supposed to send something to the person at the top of the list. Then you remove the top person from the list, sliding the second person into first place, add yourself to the bottom of the list duplicate the letter and send it out to "yay" many people. With the promise of something in return
THESE DO NOT WORK and are illegal. Chain mail is a waste of time, and still people keep forwarding them.
A. An EXAMPLE of a chain letter
B. Other scams include Sick Infants
C. Also Pyramid Schemes are very popular
D. Even Anti Chain letter Chain letters promising you will recieve no more chain letters
One of the things to beware is Pfishing, this is a fake email address linking to fake websites with the intent of gaining personal information from you. Details they are after include, bank details, credit card details, email accounts and website information. Warning, Pfishers have a known 5% sucess rate in obtaining information ... dont be part of that 5%
Recently a member of Wink found software on her computer that she didnt know was there, this software turned out to be a Pfishing tool or could also be termed a data miner, where each key stroke she pressed became known by the software and could be used to gain personal Banking details amoung other things.
What can you do about all this? a few simple steps....
1. Do not open an email you do not recognise
2. Do not open any attachments unless your expecting them
3. If you are unsure of the content of the email, email your friend and ask (In a seperate email, dont forward it back to him/her)
4. Remember Microsoft NEVER sends out emails for solicitation purposes
5. Never respond to emails requesting information
6. Keep a regular check on your internet accounts, e.g Banking, Email
7. Never make a purchase from an unsolicited email
8. Never respond to spam messages or click on links within that message
9. When forwarding an email use the blind "BCC" function and do not spread your contact list around the internet
10. Think carefully before providing your email to a website
11. Never give your primary email account to anyone or any site you dont trust
12. Have and use 2 secondary email accounts, preferable from a free service like Hotmail or Yahoo.
I hope this has been of some information to readers
The following is a list of Internet Scams by their type: this was released by WA GOvernment Consumer Protection in relation to Internet Fraud, I found it a very usefull site
(Last edited by Unique on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:35 am; edited 6 times in total)
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We see so much information on the internet these days, email addresses, banking online, shopping online, we can even apply for courses on line and loans as well as many other things. It has become hard to tell whats real and whats not. SO? what can we do about it, How can we protect ourselves from the thousands of internet scams out there?
I feel the only way to combat this is to be well informed
Chain letters - are letters that promise a huge return on a small effort. The simplest form of a chain letter contains a list oy "yay" amount of people. Your supposed to send something to the person at the top of the list. Then you remove the top person from the list, sliding the second person into first place, add yourself to the bottom of the list duplicate the letter and send it out to "yay" many people. With the promise of something in return
THESE DO NOT WORK and are illegal. Chain mail is a waste of time, and still people keep forwarding them.
A. An [link=http://lucifer.com/virus/alt.memetics/chainlet.html]EXAMPLE[/link] of a chain letter
B. Other scams include [link=http://w2.eff.org/Net_culture/Folklore/Chain_letters/sick_girl.letter]Sick Infants[/link]
C. Also [link=http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~watrous/liddell-reports-chain-letter.html]Pyramid Schemes[/link] are very popular
D. Even [link=http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~watrous/txt/chain-letter.protection-pact]Anti Chain letter [/link]Chain letters promising you will recieve no more chain letters
One of the things to beware is Pfishing, this is a fake email address linking to fake websites with the intent of gaining personal information from you. Details they are after include, bank details, credit card details, email accounts and website information. Warning, Pfishers have a known 5% sucess rate in obtaining information ... dont be part of that 5%
Recently a member of Wink found software on her computer that she didnt know was there, this software turned out to be a Pfishing tool or could also be termed a data miner, where each key stroke she pressed became known by the software and could be used to gain personal Banking details amoung other things.
What can you do about all this? a few simple steps....
1. Do not open an email you do not recognise
2. Do not open any attachments unless your expecting them
3. If you are unsure of the content of the email, email your friend and ask (In a seperate email, dont forward it back to him/her)
4. Remember Microsoft NEVER sends out emails for solicitation purposes
5. Never respond to emails requesting information
6. Keep a regular check on your internet accounts, e.g Banking, Email
7. Never make a purchase from an unsolicited email
8. Never respond to spam messages or click on links within that message
9. When forwarding an email use the blind "BCC" function and do not spread your contact list around the internet
10. Think carefully before providing your email to a website
11. Never give your primary email account to anyone or any site you dont trust
12. Have and use 2 secondary email accounts, preferable from a free service like Hotmail or Yahoo.
I hope this has been of some information to readers
The following is a list of Internet Scams by their type: this was released by [link=http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProtection/ScamNet/content/pages/type_list.html]WA GOvernment Consumer Protection [/link]in relation to Internet Fraud, I found it a very usefull site ____________________________
 
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