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Fraud

ING Direct Fights Keystroke Loggers

ING Direct USA is doing its best to thwart keystroke logging software by using a web-based numeric keypad.

Since a secure connection won’t protect you if a keystroke logger has been installed on your computer, ING Direct is using the keypad to keep you from having to enter your numbers from your keyboard. This will keep you typing in your account number and password and hopefully, keeping it from being tracked by thieves.

If your bank isn’t using a strategy like this you should request it - it’s a great idea!

Here's what it looks like:

ING Direct PIN Input

See it in action on the live ING Direct web site

December 11, 2005
1 comment

Princess Diana Spam Scam

Princess Diana

Evidently a spam email message has started to circulate telling people they've been randomly selected to receive millions of pounds from Princess Diana's Memorial Foundation.

Ummm... right.

Here's the content of the email:

SUBJECT: You are a Beneficiary of the Diana Memorial Foundation Grant

ATTENTION: Grant Beneficiary

This is to bring to your attention that your email has been randomly selected to receive £2, 598,000.00 (Two Million and Five Hundred Ninety Eight Thousand Great Britain Pounds) and for further instructions on how you are to put claims to your grant, you are to FORWARD a copy of this notice to our International Grants Officer as well as give him a call via contact details below:

Blah, blah, blah...



Okay, it didn't say "Blah, blah, blah..." but it might as well have.

This is a simple "West African advanced fee" a.k.a. "419" scam. You reply. They say you need to send money in order to get the millions of pounds, dollars, francs, liras or whatever. You send some money, maybe your bank account number, maybe your SSN. They take your money and ask for more. Maybe they steal your identity. Maybe they sell your information to someone else.

It's all described in detail here.

Just use your head.

Last time I checked memorial foundations exist to collect money - not give it away to random people via email.

December 10, 2005
17 comments

AT&T Warns Workers Not to Be Duped by Hackers

A hacker conference held in New York July 12-14 is making AT&T pretty worried. In the past, conference-goers have called AT&T during their presentation and using social engineering hacking tecniques to get passwords and other information in order to break into computer systems. They record the conversations and later sell the videotapes at their conference. Capitalism at its best!

What is social engineering you ask? It's simply asking the right person for the information you want, posing as someone who should have access to it. For example, suppose the Director of Security from your bank called and told you there had been some unauthorized activity at the bank and he needed to confirm your account information. Would you give it to him? A lot of people would, and that's what makes a hacker's life much easier.

July 12, 2005
0 comments

Site Clues Consumers Into Credit Fraud

CardCops.com is a somewhat controversial company that fights credit fraud by exposing and publicizing web site hacks and online fraud techniques. The controversy comes up because some are worried that they show potential crackers and hackers too much detail about how to do their dirty work.

Maybe they do go too far, but they've recently released an intriguing free service just for consumers. They allow anyone to type in their credit card number to match it against a database of 100,000 credit cards that have been compromised by thieves. Type in your credit card number? Huh? Is it safe? Are you crazy?

CardCops have been around since the late '90s and work closely with law enforcement organizations like the U.S. Secret Service. Here's a quote from Dan Clements, founder of CardCops, "We're creating a situation where Joe Consumer can check his card on the Internet to see if it's been possibly abused."

Should you try this out? CardCaps is a legitimate organization and I trust their security measures, but you should make your own judgement. Even if you decide to try it, you might have to wait a while — their servers were maxed out from all the people trying out the service.

Go to the CardCops web site

June 26, 2005
1 comment

FTC Warns on Telemarketing Scheme

You're on this web site trying to learn how to protect your identity. One trick we suggest is to say, "put me on your do not call list" when telemarketers call during dinner. Federal law requires telemarketers to keep track of people who don't want to be called. Now, scammers and thieves are taking advantage of what you've learned.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning consumers that identity thieves, masquerading as federal employees, are calling people and asking them to confirm that they've requested to be put on a "do not call list." In order to make sure they have the "right person", they are asking the victims to provide social security, bank account, or credit card numbers.

Here's where common sense comes into play. The FTC does not have the time or the money to call every person in the United States asking if they want to be put on a "do not call list." Plus, the telemarketing companies would probably sue the government if they tried it.

The bottom line for avoiding scams: If it sounds fishy, it probably is fishy. Just hang up.

June 25, 2005
0 comments

Con Artists Use ‘Suckers List’ Database

Getting scammed is a bummer. You beat yourself up wondering why you weren't smart enough to see through their tricks. Getting scammed twice has got to feel a lot worse.

Some telemarketing scam artists apparently have created a list of previous fraud victims and are trying to scam them again. Their pitch is that they can recover the money that was stolen in the first fraud, if they sign up for the Teleguard service and pay a fee. They try to create an air of authenticy by stating that they're working with the Better Business Bureau or a state Attorney General's office.

So how can you tell if the people who call you are legit or not?

USE YOUR BRAIN!

Listen how Robert Kenesky, 81, of Sanborn, NY used his brain to fight fraud. The scammers tried to prove they were legitmate by putting him on hold for a few moments and then connecting him with someone who said they were from the New York Attorney General's office. His response?

“This guy rattled on for a while, and then I said, ‘Now wait a minute. If this is the attorney general’s office, I know it takes longer than 1 minute to get through to you people.”

Then he hung up the phone. Very smart.

June 25, 2005
6 comments