Issue 29.10
If you are not acquainted with the term “Phishing”, here is a short description. Phishing is when someone purports to be someone they are not – a company or person – in order to get information from you that you would normally not give out. This information can be anything from your address or birthday to your social security number, bank information or passwords that protect your identity or personal files.
In the past, these scams have usually come in the form of emails telling you that your account or registration needs to be re-filed or updated. They purport to be from your bank, email, e-bay, facebook, Credit Card Company, etc. Most people have learned to ignore these kinds of notices, and banks have informed their customers to never respond to these types of inquiries. Most legitimate entities make it a point to only reveal personal information after you sign in with your secure password. You can also request it by emailing them from the email account you have on file with them.
In many cases, crooks may try to hack into your account or computer to see what they can find that they might be able to use (such as your credit card numbers, etc.) Their ultimate goal, however, is to get enough information to actually steal your identity. With your name and information, they can buy things and leave you to pay for them or to actually clean out your accounts.
A recently developed phishing method uses pop-up ads to steal information. In this approach, the criminal creates a pop-up ad that looks like a reminder to upgrade or extend your subscription to a service or product. They may even use look-alike logos to convince you that they are legitimate. They may try a number of different ones until they happen on the one you actually use. For example, you may get a renewal notice for antivirus programs like Norton, McAffee, Kaspersky and AVG over a period of days. You will ignore those you don’t use, but when they hit on the one you do use, you may think it is real and click on the renewal.
This typically will take you to a site that looks like the company you use or a false agent for that company. They then take your credit card information to complete the sale. Not only do you get nothing in return, but they immediately start using your credit card to buy things and transfer money into their accounts. After a few days, they disappear (before you get your bill or realize the product you ordered is not coming) and start up as a new “company,” scamming other victims.
The best way to avoid this scam is to never reply to pop-ups that ask for money. If you think you may need to renew, open the program you are renewing and use their interface to do it, or go directly to their website. If you think you have already been scammed, contact your credit card company immediately and give them all information you have so they can get your money back and track the criminals. The banks can only do this for a couple of days (until the criminals disappear) so do it right away. For more information about internet safety, go to http://wiki.internetsafetypodcast.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
In the meantime, remember to be safe – and always have a backup of anything important.
Shaun McCausland has been in the computer industry for 29 years (locally with Musicomp & Bits ‘N’ Bytes) and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation, service, training and repair. If you have questions, you can reach him at 668-7118.