The Internet Crime Complaint Center continues to receive reports of individuals’ e-mail or social networking accounts being compromised and used in a social engineering scam to swindle consumers out of thousands of dollars.
Here’s how it works: Hackers infiltrate your social networking page, claim to be you, and write your contacts/friends. They portray themselves as “victims” who were robbed while traveling abroad and state they need money immediately because they don’t have a passport, money, credit cards, or cell phone and are stranded.
Some claim they only have a few days to pay their hotel bill and promise to reimburse costs upon their return home. Recipients may be tempted to respond to these appeals because they appear to be from a friend and there’s a sense of urgency to help.
If you receive a similar notice and aren’t sure if it is a scam, you should always verify the information before sending any money. If you have been a victim of this type of scam or any other cyber crime, report it to the IC3 website at www.IC3.gov.
The IC3’s database links complaints for potential referral to the appropriate law enforcement agency for case consideration. Complaint information is also used to identity emerging trends and patterns.
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Showing posts with label victims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victims. Show all posts
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Fraudulent Telephone Calls Allowing Fraudsters Access to Consumer Financial and Brokerage Accounts
The FBI Newark Divisionreleased a warning to consumers concerning a new scheme using telecommunicationsdenial-of-service (TDoS)attacks.
The FBI determined fraudsters compromised victim accounts and contacted financial
institutions to change the victim profile information (i.e. email addresses, telephone
numbers and bank account numbers).
The TDoS attacks used automated dialing programs and multiple accounts to overwhelm
victims' cell phones and land lines with thousands of calls. When victims answered
the calls they heard dead air (nothing on the other end), an innocuous recorded
message, advertisement, or a telephone sex menu. Calls were typically short in duration
but so numerous that victims changed their phone numbers to terminate the attack.
These TDoS attacks were used as a diversion to prevent financial and brokerage institutions
from verifying victim account changes and transactions. Fraudsters were afforded
adequate time to transfer funds from victim brokerage and financial online accounts.
Protection from TDoS attacks and other types of fraud requires consumers to be vigilant
and proactive. In Newark’s Public Service Announcement (PSA),
they recommend consumers protect themselves by:
* Implement security measures for all financial accounts by placing fraud alerts with
the major credit bureaus if you believe they were targeted by a TDoS attack or other
forms of fraud.
* Use strong passwords for all financial accounts and change them regularly.
* Obtain and review your annual credit report for fraudulent activity.
If you were a target of a TDoS attack, immediately contact your financial institutions,
notify your telephone provider, and promptly report it to the IC3 website at: www.IC3.gov. The IC3 complaint database links complaints to assist in referrals to the appropriate law enforcement agency for
case consideration. The complaint information is also used to identity emerging
trends and patterns.
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The FBI determined fraudsters compromised victim accounts and contacted financial
institutions to change the victim profile information (i.e. email addresses, telephone
numbers and bank account numbers).
The TDoS attacks used automated dialing programs and multiple accounts to overwhelm
victims' cell phones and land lines with thousands of calls. When victims answered
the calls they heard dead air (nothing on the other end), an innocuous recorded
message, advertisement, or a telephone sex menu. Calls were typically short in duration
but so numerous that victims changed their phone numbers to terminate the attack.
These TDoS attacks were used as a diversion to prevent financial and brokerage institutions
from verifying victim account changes and transactions. Fraudsters were afforded
adequate time to transfer funds from victim brokerage and financial online accounts.
Protection from TDoS attacks and other types of fraud requires consumers to be vigilant
and proactive. In Newark’s Public Service Announcement (PSA),
they recommend consumers protect themselves by:
* Implement security measures for all financial accounts by placing fraud alerts with
the major credit bureaus if you believe they were targeted by a TDoS attack or other
forms of fraud.
* Use strong passwords for all financial accounts and change them regularly.
* Obtain and review your annual credit report for fraudulent activity.
If you were a target of a TDoS attack, immediately contact your financial institutions,
notify your telephone provider, and promptly report it to the IC3 website at: www.IC3.gov. The IC3 complaint database links complaints to assist in referrals to the appropriate law enforcement agency for
case consideration. The complaint information is also used to identity emerging
trends and patterns.
-----
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Cyberbullying Advice for Parents from InternetSafety.com & the Cyberbullying Research Center
/PRNewswire/ -- Cyberbullying, the practice of harassing another individual through digital channels such as email, instant/text messaging, and social networking websites, affects roughly one in five children. At times it has led to tragic results such as the recent suicide of Australian teenager Chanelle Rae, who took her own life after nasty messages were circulated online about her appearance. The problem has received national attention in the U.S. as well with a series of highly publicized incidents, including the recent introduction of the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act named after a 13-year-old who committed suicide in 2006 after an online harassment campaign initiated by a friend's mother.
According to Sameer Hinduja, InternetSafety.com's cyberbullying expert and co-founder of the Cyberbullying Research Center, cyberbullying ups the ante on the age-old practice of bullying in several ways. First, victims often do not know who the bully is or why they are being targeted. The cyberbully can cloak his or her identity behind a computer or cell phone using anonymous email addresses or pseudonymous screen names. Second, the hurtful actions of a cyberbully are viral, enabling an entire school to be involved in a cyber-attack or at least find out about the incident with a few keystrokes. This can add immeasurably to the victim's trauma.
Signs that a child is being cyberbullied include a marked change in computer habits such as less frequent computer use, nervousness when a new e-mail or instant message arrives, constant looking over his or her shoulder when at the computer, and anger or depression either at or away from the machine.
To deal with cyberbullying, InternetSafety.com and Hinduja recommend strategies such as:
-- Working together with the child to arrive at a mutually agreeable
course of action, including soliciting input from the child for
resolving the situation.
-- When necessary, explaining the importance of scheduling a meeting with
school administrators (or a trusted teacher) to discuss the matter.
-- Refraining from immediately banning access to instant messaging,
e-mail, social networking Web sites, or the Internet in general.
Hinduja warns that this strategy neither addresses the underlying
interpersonal conflict nor eliminates current or future instances of
cyberbullying victimization. It will also likely close off a candid
line of communication and promote overt defiance of the ban for
children accustomed to frequent online access.
-- Paying even greater attention to victimized children's Internet and
cell phone activities.
-- Considering installing parental control filtering software and/or an
online tracking program like Safe Eyes (http://www.safeeyes.com/) to
block emails from known cyberbullies, monitor and record online chat
sessions, or in extreme cases block IM, email or social networking
sites completely. Over 70% of teens surveyed by the National Crime
Prevention Council reported that being able to block cyberbullies was
the most effective method of prevention.
"If you're using filtering and blocking software, tell your children about it and explain why you have chosen to take that step," Hinduja said. "Open communication is key to maintaining the level of trust that children need to confide in their parents about problems they are having--online or offline."
"While cyberbullying rarely ends in suicide, these extreme cases demonstrate just how harmful the practice can be," said Joe Stradinger, Chief Evangelist for InternetSafety.com. "The Internet and other new communication methods have made bullying much more potent and troublesome, and parents need to be vigilant to protect their children from serious emotional harm."
For more on cyberbullying, visit the InternetSafety.com blog at http://blog.internetsafety.com/ and the Cyberbullying Research Center blog at http://blog.cyberbullying.us/
-----
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According to Sameer Hinduja, InternetSafety.com's cyberbullying expert and co-founder of the Cyberbullying Research Center, cyberbullying ups the ante on the age-old practice of bullying in several ways. First, victims often do not know who the bully is or why they are being targeted. The cyberbully can cloak his or her identity behind a computer or cell phone using anonymous email addresses or pseudonymous screen names. Second, the hurtful actions of a cyberbully are viral, enabling an entire school to be involved in a cyber-attack or at least find out about the incident with a few keystrokes. This can add immeasurably to the victim's trauma.
Signs that a child is being cyberbullied include a marked change in computer habits such as less frequent computer use, nervousness when a new e-mail or instant message arrives, constant looking over his or her shoulder when at the computer, and anger or depression either at or away from the machine.
To deal with cyberbullying, InternetSafety.com and Hinduja recommend strategies such as:
-- Working together with the child to arrive at a mutually agreeable
course of action, including soliciting input from the child for
resolving the situation.
-- When necessary, explaining the importance of scheduling a meeting with
school administrators (or a trusted teacher) to discuss the matter.
-- Refraining from immediately banning access to instant messaging,
e-mail, social networking Web sites, or the Internet in general.
Hinduja warns that this strategy neither addresses the underlying
interpersonal conflict nor eliminates current or future instances of
cyberbullying victimization. It will also likely close off a candid
line of communication and promote overt defiance of the ban for
children accustomed to frequent online access.
-- Paying even greater attention to victimized children's Internet and
cell phone activities.
-- Considering installing parental control filtering software and/or an
online tracking program like Safe Eyes (http://www.safeeyes.com/) to
block emails from known cyberbullies, monitor and record online chat
sessions, or in extreme cases block IM, email or social networking
sites completely. Over 70% of teens surveyed by the National Crime
Prevention Council reported that being able to block cyberbullies was
the most effective method of prevention.
"If you're using filtering and blocking software, tell your children about it and explain why you have chosen to take that step," Hinduja said. "Open communication is key to maintaining the level of trust that children need to confide in their parents about problems they are having--online or offline."
"While cyberbullying rarely ends in suicide, these extreme cases demonstrate just how harmful the practice can be," said Joe Stradinger, Chief Evangelist for InternetSafety.com. "The Internet and other new communication methods have made bullying much more potent and troublesome, and parents need to be vigilant to protect their children from serious emotional harm."
For more on cyberbullying, visit the InternetSafety.com blog at http://blog.internetsafety.com/ and the Cyberbullying Research Center blog at http://blog.cyberbullying.us/
-----
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
How to Keep Kids Out of Cyber-Trouble: Top Tips for 6 Problem Areas
/PRNewswire/ -- Every day, it seems, the news carries another cyber-horror story. Last week, five Internet predators in Pennsylvania were arrested for sexually propositioning undercover agents in a chat room, in several cases sending nude webcam videos of themselves to agents they believed were 13- and 14-year-old girls. On the same day, a truck driver in England pleaded guilty to seven counts of rape after admitting forming relationships with two girls on the Internet before sexually assaulting them.
For parents, the first line of defense against Internet dangers is to have frank and ongoing discussions about online stranger-danger, the need to keep personal information private, and the potential consequences of inappropriate online behavior. A revealing photo sent on a cellphone or posted on a social network site, for example, can live on in cyberspace for years with damaging effects on everything from personal relationships to job prospects. And a flirtatious online conversation can literally turn deadly.
Beyond the need for parent-child communication on the subject of cyber-risks, InternetSafety.com
recommends a variety of strategies that parents can use to help keep their children safe. Here are some basic tips for six common activities:
-- Sexting - The increasingly common practice of sending sexually
suggestive text messages, photos or videos through cell phones is a
big worry. It can invite public humiliation, cyberbullying or even
sexual assault. Teenagers are even being charged with child
pornography for sending or posting racy photos. One way to limit
children's sexting opportunities is to retrieve their cellphones at
night and charge them in the parents' room. Phones today are simply
small computers, and they should be regulated in the same way as those
larger machines.
-- Social Networking - Rule #1 is that children should never post
anything they wouldn't be comfortable showing to their parents,
teacher, or youth worker. One way to discourage inappropriate entries
is to join the social networks that your kids are on and 'friend' your
own children so that you can monitor what they're posting.
-- Chatting - Chat rooms are not only nesting places for predators, but
they often indirectly encourage rude and even abusive interactions
between users due to the anonymity and lack of consequences. If your
child is using chat rooms, find out which ones and check them out for
yourself. If you are uncomfortable with specific chat sites, you might
consider using filtering software to block access to those sites or
log all chats for later review.
-- Gaming - Increasingly popular MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games)
like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft are massively addictive, with
reports of non-stop sessions as long as 48 or 72 hours. To prevent the
unhealthy practice of spending more time in a virtual world than a
real one, parents should either refuse to buy these games or impose
time limits. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more
than two hours of screen time per day per child 12 and under.) If the
child breaks the rules, simply uninstall the game from the computer or
confiscate the disc.
-- Searching - On most popular search engines including Google, the
safe-search settings aren't completely effective and are easy to turn
off. For that reason, younger children should not have a computer in
their room, and their computer use should be supervised. Filtering
software can also protect both younger and older children from
exposure to websites with adult, violent or other inappropriate
content.
-- File-Sharing - Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks such as
BitTorrent, uTorrent, Bearshare and Limewire allow totally unregulated
access to files that other network members have shared, including
illegal pirated material and child pornography, not to mention opening
computers to security risks. Banning these programs in your home is a
good idea. Check your family computer periodically to be sure that no
one has downloaded any of them, and remove them if they have.
More tips as well as tools to safeguard children against cyber-dangers can be found at www.internetsafety.com .
-----
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Arts Across Georgia
For parents, the first line of defense against Internet dangers is to have frank and ongoing discussions about online stranger-danger, the need to keep personal information private, and the potential consequences of inappropriate online behavior. A revealing photo sent on a cellphone or posted on a social network site, for example, can live on in cyberspace for years with damaging effects on everything from personal relationships to job prospects. And a flirtatious online conversation can literally turn deadly.
Beyond the need for parent-child communication on the subject of cyber-risks, InternetSafety.com
recommends a variety of strategies that parents can use to help keep their children safe. Here are some basic tips for six common activities:
-- Sexting - The increasingly common practice of sending sexually
suggestive text messages, photos or videos through cell phones is a
big worry. It can invite public humiliation, cyberbullying or even
sexual assault. Teenagers are even being charged with child
pornography for sending or posting racy photos. One way to limit
children's sexting opportunities is to retrieve their cellphones at
night and charge them in the parents' room. Phones today are simply
small computers, and they should be regulated in the same way as those
larger machines.
-- Social Networking - Rule #1 is that children should never post
anything they wouldn't be comfortable showing to their parents,
teacher, or youth worker. One way to discourage inappropriate entries
is to join the social networks that your kids are on and 'friend' your
own children so that you can monitor what they're posting.
-- Chatting - Chat rooms are not only nesting places for predators, but
they often indirectly encourage rude and even abusive interactions
between users due to the anonymity and lack of consequences. If your
child is using chat rooms, find out which ones and check them out for
yourself. If you are uncomfortable with specific chat sites, you might
consider using filtering software to block access to those sites or
log all chats for later review.
-- Gaming - Increasingly popular MMOGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Games)
like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft are massively addictive, with
reports of non-stop sessions as long as 48 or 72 hours. To prevent the
unhealthy practice of spending more time in a virtual world than a
real one, parents should either refuse to buy these games or impose
time limits. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more
than two hours of screen time per day per child 12 and under.) If the
child breaks the rules, simply uninstall the game from the computer or
confiscate the disc.
-- Searching - On most popular search engines including Google, the
safe-search settings aren't completely effective and are easy to turn
off. For that reason, younger children should not have a computer in
their room, and their computer use should be supervised. Filtering
software can also protect both younger and older children from
exposure to websites with adult, violent or other inappropriate
content.
-- File-Sharing - Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks such as
BitTorrent, uTorrent, Bearshare and Limewire allow totally unregulated
access to files that other network members have shared, including
illegal pirated material and child pornography, not to mention opening
computers to security risks. Banning these programs in your home is a
good idea. Check your family computer periodically to be sure that no
one has downloaded any of them, and remove them if they have.
More tips as well as tools to safeguard children against cyber-dangers can be found at www.internetsafety.com .
-----
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Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
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www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Asian Extortion Scheme
The FBI is currently aware of a nationwide attempt to extort ethnic business owners, mostly
of Asian decent, through telephonic threats of violence. The telephone calls appear to be originating from foreign countries. The caller acquires an adequate amount of open source information about the victim through Internet searches. This misleads the victim into believing the subject has personal knowledge about the victim. There have been no reported incidents of violence actually perpetrated to date.
Individuals who receive phone calls or e-mails containing threats of violence and their personally identifiable information (PII) are encouraged to contact law enforcement as well as file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
-----
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of Asian decent, through telephonic threats of violence. The telephone calls appear to be originating from foreign countries. The caller acquires an adequate amount of open source information about the victim through Internet searches. This misleads the victim into believing the subject has personal knowledge about the victim. There have been no reported incidents of violence actually perpetrated to date.
Individuals who receive phone calls or e-mails containing threats of violence and their personally identifiable information (PII) are encouraged to contact law enforcement as well as file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
-----
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