I've noticed a recent and disturbing surge of news stories on Internet scams and personal security, and many of these scams prey on human nature and generosity. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, for example, donors were duped into sending aid to false charitable organizations, and Trojan viruses, which came attached to photos of the disaster, attacked many.
Amidst all of this, software-makers are still trying to fend off pesky hackers. In a recent report from the FBI, Internet auction fraud was sited in 62.7 per cent of victim complaints to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). I don't mean to cause alarm, but even with the antivirus software available to us today, Internet crime, identity theft and computer viruses are still a serious concern.
The phenomenon is global, spanning both the real world and cyberspace. The U.S. Department of Justice reported recently that to date, "Operation Global Con" has arrested 565 people throughout North America and Europe for being involved in various offline and on-line mass-marketing schemes. Most Internet fraud occurs through "phishing", which happens when an unsuspecting computer user is coerced into revealing personal bank account information or login passwords. Many times, these attacks come in the form of an e-mail, which claims that your account information has either expired or needs updating. These e-mails then link to a website that looks incredibly similar to that of eBay, PayPal or even your bank.
If you're fooled by the scam, scammers can purchase stock, manipulate auctions or buy items on-line using your account info. Plus, it's all done in a way that's difficult to trace and often goes undetected until the victim has been cheated out of thousands of dollars. It's very rare for your bank to ask for any personal account information by email, and you should never enter personal information on-line unless you're absolutely positive that the source can be trusted.
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