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The scam involves tiny Trojan horses that are installed on your PC without your knowledge--and which then run up your phone bill by dialing for-pay numbers. They're able to do this in part because of security holes within Internet Explorer. THESE SOFTWARE phone dialers do have legitimate uses. They're often used by sites that offer pay-per-view content, such as interactive games, sports trivia, or pornography, as a way to keep track of the minutes you've used and to charge you on your phone bill. It works like this: The site asks you to download a small applet containing the dialer. Once loaded on your system, the applet disconnects your ISP service and dials the pay-per-view site. You are then charged for however many minutes you remain connected to the site. The fact that you downloaded and installed the app is considered consent for the telephone charges. The problem is that sometimes dialers are installed on your system without your consent, and change your dial-up settings to call expensive long-distance numbers. This scam is usually perpetrated by fraudulent companies that set up sites full of ActiveX multimedia content. Should you visit the site or click a pop-up ad for the site, the dialer would be downloaded onto your system along with the rest of the site's content. The only possible clue this has happened to you is the appearance of pop-up ads from sites you don't use; the real proof is the extra charges on your next phone bill. These fraudulent companies have two ways of running up your phone bill. One is a high per-minute charge (as much as $5) for allegedly using their service. This appears on your phone bill but actually will be paid to the company. The other is to have your computer make direct calls to international numbers. If you complain, your phone company may be willing to forgive the high per-minute service charges, because they're used to scams that take advantage of their customers in this way. But they're less likely to forgive the charges for the direct dialed numbers, because it's harder to convince them that you didn't call the number yourself. SO WHAT DOES Internet Explorer have to do with this? It's a flaw in this browser that allows the scam to work. The flaw, discovered by security company eEye Digital Security in August 2003, allows Web site visitors to unknowingly install malicious code, including dialers, from compromised sites. Because of the flaw, Internet Explorer doesn't distinguish between legitimate ActiveX content and malicious Trojans. While Microsoft has issued a patch for this flaw, several security experts insist the patch does not solve the problem, only the immediate symptoms. And, to make matters worse, there's also a new Trojan horse, Qhosts, that, while unrelated to dialers, makes use of the same IE flaw to change the way infected users look up Web sites on the Internet. It's not only dial-up ISP users that are vulnerable to this scam, but some DSL and cable-modem users too. How? In some cases, 56K modems (either internal or external) remain connected to active phone lines even after broadband service is installed on a computer. MY ADVICE to DSL and cable-modem users is to remove the phone line to your PC's internal modem, and, if you're not using it, to remove your external modem all together. If you need your modem for receiving faxes on your PC or other purposes, then crank up the volume so you'll be sure to hear every time it dials a number. My advice to everyone is to download and periodically run Spybot Search & Destroy, a free anti-spyware app that removes virtually all known dialers from your PC. By and large, the Internet is safe to surf, but even I am surprised at some of the things Spybot finds loaded on my PC. Yes, it's a bit of a hassle to run one more app, but it's like maintaining a car. If you don't periodically clean it out, it might not run one day--or worse, it may end up costing you a small fortune. |
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| Learn about a charity before you donate-FREE! Consumer protection advocates are warning Internet users that scam artists are trying to take advantage of Tuesday's terrorist attacks. Spam solicitations have been sent out urging Citizens to donate money to the Red Cross or other relief organizations. But the e-mails direct potential donors to private Web sites apparently designed to steal credit card numbers! http://www.ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/H_Home.asp |
| Does your Computer have Spyware installed on it? Try the following link. If you do not have Spyware it will come up with the SkyMaps page. If you have Spyware the Spyware information page will come up. Click here to find out:. Good Anti-Spyware Program (Spybot) |
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At long last somebody got smart and wrote
this...thank goodness!!!! NOW EVERYONE SAY IT WITH ME ... 1) I will NOT get bad luck, lose my friends, or lose my mailing lists if I DON'T forward an email! 2) I will NOT hear any music or see a taco dog, if I DO forward an e-mail. 3) Bill Gates is NOT going to send me money, Victoria Secret doesn't know anything about a gift certificate they're supposed to send me, and Ford will not give me a 50% discount even if I forward my e-mail to more than 50 people! 4) I will NEVER receive gift certificates, coupons, or freebies from Coca Cola, Cracker Barrel, Old Navy, or anyone else if I send an e-mail to 10 people. 5) I will NEVER see a pop-up window if I forward an e-mail ... NEVER!!!! 6) My phone will not MYSTERIOUSLY ring after I forward e-mail. 7) There is NO SUCH THING as an e-mail tracking program, and I am not STUPID enough to think that someone will send me $100 for forwarding an e-mail to 10 or more people! 8) There is no kid with cancer in England collecting anything through the Make-a-Wish program! He had cancer when he was 7 years old. He is now cancer free and 35 years old and DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE POST CARDS, CALLING CARDS, or GET-WELL CARDS. 9) The government does not have a bill in Congress called 901B (or whatever they named it this week) that, if passed, will enable them to charge us 5 Cents for every e-mail we send. (Refer back to item 7.) 10) There will be NO cool dancing, singing, waving, colorful flowers, characters, or program that I will receive immediately after I forward an e-mail. > > 11) The American Red Cross will NOT donate 50 cents to a certain individual dying of some never-heard-of disease for every e-mail address I send this to. The American Red Cross RECEIVES donations. (Refer back to Item 7.) 12) And finally, I WILL NOT let others guilt me into sending things by telling me I am not their friend or that I don't believe in Jesus Christ. If God wants to send me a message, I believe the bushes in my yard will burn before He picks up a PC to pass it on! " Now, repeat this to yourself until you have it memorized, and send it along to at least 5 of your friends before the next full moon or you will surely be constipated for the next three months and all of your hair will fall out!!! |
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Internet ScamBusters |
| Internet ScamBusters (tm) The #1 Publication on Internet Fraud By Audri and Jim Lanford C o p y r i g h t (c) 2003 Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved. Issue #64 July 16, 2003 Hi everyone: This Special Issue of ScamBusters (which is short) includes info on the Do Not Call Registry, a new Telemarketing scam and an important update to the last issue. Reminder: If you haven't yet done this, it is VERY Important: We are moving list servers. In order to continue receiving Internet ScamBusters, we ask that you go to the link below to remove yourself from the old server, and then follow the link on that page to subscribe on the new list server. http://scambusters.org/new/new.html?id=300070&[email protected] We'd appreciate if you'd do it now -- it only takes a moment. Thanks so much. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Special Telemarketing Issue ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Do Not Call Registry It's become very clear that US consumers are completely fed up with telemarketers. More than 3.4 million people visited the new DoNotCall.Gov Web site on the day it launched, June 27, 2003. Twenty-three million people had signed up by July 11! The new National Do Not Call Registry was created by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to allow consumers to register their phone numbers in a national database with the goal of limiting telemarketing calls. There are two ways to register: online or by phone. Online is easier. Simply visit: ==> http://www.donotcall.gov You will need to provide an email address so you can get a confirmation email when you register. To register by phone, you must call from the phone you wish to register in the directory. Call 888-382-1222. You must register by August 31, 2003, to be included when the program goes into effect on October 1, 2003. Thereafter, you will be included in the Registry three months after you register. Registration lasts for five years or until your phone number is disconnected. You may also un-register a number if you wish (although we don't know why you'd want to). Unfortunately, the Do Not Call Registry won't stop all telemarketing calls. The loopholes include: - Political organizations. - Charities. - Telephone survey calls. - Companies with whom you have a "prior business relationship." Cell phones may be registered. Business phone numbers may NOT be registered. There are stiff penalties for companies that do not comply. You can get more information, including how to file a complaint, at: ==> http://www.donotcall.gov/FAQ/FAQConsumers.aspx We signed up right away and recommend you do the same if you want to eliminate many of the telemarketing calls you receive. We predict one downside: some companies that can no longer telemarket will increase their use of spam. ~~~ New Nigerian Fee Telemarketing Scam It was bound to happen: A new variant of the Nigerian fee scam is being spread via telemarketing. Last week someone called and said they were trying to send us a fax. They asked for our fax number. When Audri asked who was calling, the caller said, "It's about a payment." When she asked, "What kind of payment?" He responded: "A payment to you." Then he asked her, "Who is this?" She asked again, "Who is this?" without answering. After a bit of going back and forth, he finally said, "It's a fax from the Office of the President of Nigeria." At that point, she hung up. So, be very careful about giving out your fax number when someone calls and says they are trying to send a fax. Otherwise, you may well be giving your fax number to scammers. As we were getting ready to send this Special Issue, we heard about another new variant to this scam: Apparently, scammers are now visiting business and financial chat rooms. After some interaction, they tell you they want to deposit millions of dollars into your bank account (this time from a bank in Iraq). It doesn't matter how scammers find you (spam, phone, fax, chat room, etc.). Or what country they're from (Nigeria, Congo, Iraq, etc.). Or why they want to give you the money (contract issues, they prayed and found your church was the answer, someone died, etc.). Here's the important point: If a stranger wants to deposit millions of dollars into your bank account, it's almost certainly a scam. ~~~ Another Identity Theft and/or Credit Card Scam: The Massachusetts Lottery Scam Here's another spam scam similar to those we described in the last issue: Imagine getting an email saying you've won $30,000 from the Massachusetts Lottery. You are directed to the "official" Web site of the Massachusetts Lottery at mass-lottery.org. (This site has been taken down.) The real official Massachusetts Lottery site is at: ==> http://www.masslottery.com/ What is different and somewhat convincing is that this email includes a user name and password that supposedly allows you to claim your prize. The home page of the fake site did look authentic. However, the page you went to when you logged in to collect your prize was very different. This page contained many spelling and grammatical errors. Even worse though, is that this page includes the scam. You're told, "If you are a US resident, not a resident of the State of Massachusetts, you'll br (sic) required to pay the US$500.00 gaming tax. If you are receiving from outside the united states (sic), you will have to pay US$100.00 foreign gaming tax." Naturally, they ask for your credit card number, social security number and other personal information. What to do if you get this kind of email: First, realize it is probably a scam. It's unlikely that you will be notified by email if you win the lottery. More important, lottery organizations never ask you for credit card information. Lottery tickets are purchased via cash. Most important: Do not give your credit card number, social security number and other personal information to any Web site that you visit from spam. Finally, you might be interested in Les Christie of CNN/Money's excellent article called "Burden of spoof," which is more about how scammers use fake Web sites to steal your credit card number and your identity: ==> http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/14/pf/saving/spoofing/ ~~~ Enjoy the rest of the month -- scam-free. ----------==========**********O**********==========---------- |
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