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Botnet Scams
Tax Related Identity Theft Scams Up 300%
…9. That’s nearly 300 percent. Thieves may steal victims’ refunds, trick them into disclosing Social Security or credit card numbers, or even pose as the IRS. Below is more information for those common and lesser-known tax scams to watch out for. Employment Identity Theft Scams: If you ever receive documentation in the mail indicating earned income that you are not aware of, it may mean that someone else has used your Social Security numbe…
Top 5 Scams to Watch Out For
#1 Nigerian Scams: According to a Dutch study, victims of advanced-fee scams, which are also known as 419 scams or Nigerian scams, lost more than $9 billion in 2009, almost 50% more than the previous year. (This PDF contains the statistics from the study.) While these types of scams are generally understood to be Nigerian in nature and origin, and are in fact named after the 419 Nigerian code that made them illegal, advanced-fee scams were launc…
The Twelve Scams of Christmas," or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt IV of IV
Robert Siciliano identity theft expert Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season. According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey…
Botnets Turn Your PC into A Zombie
A botnet is a group of Internet-connected personal computers that have been infected by a malicious application, which allows a hacker to control the infected computers without alerting the computer owners. Since the infected PCs are controlled remotely by a single hacker, they are known as bots, robots, or zombies. Consumers’ and small businesses’ lax security practices are giving scammers a base from which to launch attacks. Hackers use botnet…
Summer Heat: On-line Dating Scams PT II
After my recent post Summer Heat: On-line Dating Scams a reader responded with the following: “I just had a similar experience that you described in your blog “Summer Heat: On-line Dating Scams”. I had joined Plenty of Fish and upgraded my profile to have more exposure. I received an email from “exquisitedaddy” a few weeks ago. We started sending emails back and forth. Then he asked me to IM on Yahoo Messenger. His IM email address w…
Beware Of 10 Tax-time Scams
We are approaching tax time. Scammers are ramped up and looking for your money. Learn these tax season scam tips and watch your back. 1. Text messaging scams or smishing a.k.a Phexting. Like phishing but texting. Criminal hackers have access to technology that generates cell phone numbers and access to mass text messaging services. They send texts that install keyloggers or direct you to websites that steal your data. 2. Tax preparer scams. Repo…
419 Scams Double, Over $9 Billion in Profits
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert A recent study by Dutch investigation firm Ultrascan shows we are half as smart (or twice as dumb) as we were in 2008 as advanced fee scams doubled in losses to over $9 billion. 419 Advance Fee Fraud Statistics 2009 (PDF) It is believed that while the scams are known to be Nigerian in nature, coined after the 419 Nigerian code making them illegal, scams were launched from 69 other countries in 2009. T…
THIEVES INITIATE NEW IDENTITY THEFT SCAMS IN TIME FOR TAX SEASON
uni-ball® teams with Identity Theft Resource Center and Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano to Warn Consumers of Latest Scams and Offer Anti-Theft Solutions Oak Brook , Ill. – March 4, 2009 – Tax time scams are at an all-time high, according to Robert Siciliano, well-known identity and security theft expert and author of the book “The Safety Minute: How to Take Control of Personal Security and Prevent Fraud.” As economic pressure…
Biggest Botnet Goes Bust
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert News of the Spain based Mariposa botnet reveals close to 13 million Zombie PCs in more than 190 countries affected. Further investigation determined half of the Fortune 1000 companies had PCs on the Bot. Three men have been arrested and a 4 th is sought. The sole purpose of the Bot was to gather user names and passwords for banks and email services. In an example of good v s . evil, whitehats vs. bla…
Telemarketing Scams Target the Elderly
We hear it over and over how the elderly are often targeted by scammers. Elderly are simply “elders” and no smarter or dumber than anyone else. If anything, they are wiser. However, as we age we often get feeble, weaker in the mind. That slightly weaker state of mind is when the scammer strikes. You one day may be part of a telemarketing scam. The psychology behind the success of these scams might have to do with the nature of the scam. Often th…
Online Auto Sales Often Involve Scary Scams
Online auction and classifieds websites are unwittingly participating in car sale scams. Ads gain credibility by appearing on eBay, Craigslist, and other online automobile sales websites, but some are either completely phony or have been copied and pasted from other websites. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 14,000 complaints from 2008 through 2010, from consumers who have been victimized, or at least targeted, by these…
Cyber-Scrooges Set in Motion the 12 Scams of Holidays
…t shopping via our mobile devices. The scary part is that 88% of us would be willing to trade personal information in order to receive a great offer—something that could cause us to fall into scammers’ traps. Here are the “12 Scams of the Holidays,” the dozen most dangerous online scams to watch out for this holiday season, revealed today by McAfee. To make sure your holidays are not stolen by the Grinch, here are some tips on how to protect you…
Approaching Holidays Bring “12 Scams of Christmas”
Whether you like it or not, whether you’re ready or not, the Christmas machine has arrived—well before Thanksgiving—at least as far as stores and advertisers are concerned. And there’s no question that scammers, identity thieves, and criminal hackers have already begun setting traps for holiday shoppers. So whether they’re using PCs, Macs, or mobile devices, consumers should be looking out for “The 12 Scams of Christmas”: the dozen most dangerou…
The Twelve Scams of Christmas," or Popular Online Attacks This Holiday Season Pt I of IV
Robert Siciliano identity theft expert Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, McAfee, Inc. revealed the “Twelve Scams of Christmas” – the twelve most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season. According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey,…
email Addresses Hacked via a Botnet or Phished?
…ter “Monday is the 1st day of the week!” is Mit1dotw! Research in the data breach showed 6% of the passwords reflected this strong style. There is however buzz in the IT security world that the data may have been leaked via a botnet. A botnet is a robot network of computers connected to the internet that all share a common technology, a virus/spyware that allows a criminal hacker to remotely access and control the machine. A botnet can be 10 PCs,…
The 12 Scams of Christmas and Other Attacks
Identity Thieves and Cybercriminals Take Advantage of the Holiday Season, Aiming to Steal Consumers’ Money, Identities and Financial Information. As cybercriminals begin to take advantage of the holiday season, be cautious. Scam I: Charity Phishing Scams Hackers take advantage of citizens’ generosity by sending e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charitable organizations. Scam II: Fake Invoices from Delivery Services Cybercriminals often s…
Be Aware of Tax Time Scams
The Internal Revenue Service has issued its annual “Dirty Dozen” ranking of tax scams, reminding taxpayers to use caution during tax season to protect themselves against a wide range of schemes ranging from identity theft to return preparer fraud. An IRS notice informing a taxpayer that more than one return was filed in the taxpayer’s name or that the taxpayer received wages from an unknown employer may be the first tip off the individual receiv…