Exposing CyberCrime



Latest Cybercrime.....
The early January report about a Salt Lake man who sold non-existant tickets on EBay to the Fiesta Bowl. He scammed many people and when they went to pick up their tickets he never showed up. You probably read about it, it made nationwide headline news! Well, the FBI has found him and he is going to jail! Our advice....Be careful who you send thousands of dollars to.

Beware of Fake IRS E-Mails.....
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws, warns all taxpayers against fake emails claiming to come from the IRS and including IRS name and logo as a means to trick more potential victims. In certain cases some other federal institutions may also be mentioned in these messages. Each email mentions either recipient's tax refund or economic stimulus payment.

Similar to the previous IRS scam campaign, the aim of cyber criminals in this case is to steal personal and financial information including Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, PIN numbers and other important facts. Similar crimes are being done not only via emails but also via telephone where a potential victim is asked not to email but to tell all necessary information.

The e-mails and calls usually state that the IRS needs the information to process a refund or stimulus payment or deposit it into the taxpayer's bank account. The emails can also include links or attachments to what appears to be the IRS Web site or an IRS "refund application form." However, no matter how reliable and serious all these things may look like, the only aim that they have is to steal information.

Everybody should remember that the IRS does not send unsolicited e-mails about a person's tax account or ask for detailed personal and financial information. Additionally, the way to get a tax refund or stimulus payment, or to arrange for a direct deposit, is to file a tax return. Finally, the IRS never asks people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.

In order to avoid similar problems, the IRS recommends accessing their official website only through www.irs.gov rather clicking on the links in the received e-mail or opening an attachment provided in the same phony e-mail. The IRS spokesman Dan Boone warns that "No matter how official or real these e-mails appear, be aware that they are phony and dangerous. The IRS will never send e-mails about your taxes and will not send unsolicited faxes". Therefore, everybody who receives a questionable e-mail, fax or even a phone-call claiming to come from the IRS, is highly recommended to inform the IRS via phishing@irs.gov.

A Warning To You.....
Many people have lodging websites, and guess what? Some have websites but don't have actual lodging, really. There have been reports of people planning a trip, paying the money and traveling to a destination only to find that the lodging property they rented did not exist! They got your money and now you need to find a place to stay. This type of scam is another form of "cyber-crime", but doesn't happen on Internet travel directories such as ours. Why?, they have to be real to be listed on our website. A scammer will not use a service like ours because they don't want to be known by anyone. Besides, when someone asks to be included on our pages, we visit with every lodging owner and personally check out their units!

Attention Visitors: Beware of sharks when surfing the Net.....
You can do almost anything on the Internet these days -- from paying your gas bill to buying a flat-screen TV. But that doesn't mean it's safe.

* Easy to get burned: If you're not careful, it's easy to order something online and pay for the item but never receive it. That's what happened to Lesly Curtis, a mental-health-care worker in New York City.
A year and a half ago, Curtis was looking for an obscure book that she thought might help one of her patients. "It wasn't the kind of thing you could just find in any bookstore," said Curtis. But Curtis thought she might find the book online because she had had success shopping on the Web in the past. Indeed, one of the psychology sites she checked had the book for sale. She ordered it on the spot using her Visa card.
Unfortunately, despite numerous e-mails and calls to customer service, Curtis never received the book. "Everybody blamed the problem on someone else," she explained. "Eventually, I just gave up on the money as lost."
When shopping online goes smoothly, it's quick and convenient -- and you can often get a great bargain. But as Curtis found out, no matter how routine the online shopping experience becomes, sending money over the Web is not without risk.
About a third of consumers who have shopped online report difficulties, according to a 2001 study by the National Consumers League. One of the most common problems: not receiving merchandise a person already paid for. Other complaints include being billed for unordered merchandise or being hit with undisclosed charges.

* Safeguards: Good Housekeeping recommends protecting yourself by following these four rules:

1. Try to stick to reliable merchants. Most complaints come from shoppers who buy from small or obscure Web retailers that don't have the resources to make good on lost or stolen merchandise. Go with well-known companies with solid customer service.

2. Scrutinize unfamiliar sites. If you're buying a hard-to-find object that's available only from a relatively unknown merchant, make sure you're dealing with a secure site. When providing financial information, check that the Web site's URL when entering your credit card information starts with "https" or "shttp" rather than with "http," advises Jean Ann Fox at the Consumer Federation of America. The https informs you that it is a secure page.

3. Pay the right way. Assuming that a Web site is secure, your credit card is the safest way to pay because cardholders cannot be held liable for more than $50 in unauthorized charges.

4. Watch out for scams. Crooks sometimes establish a site with an intentionally misspelled address, hoping to trap consumers who make common typing errors when they enter the site.

E Mails From Your Bank, Credit Card Companies, Etc.
They are not real. A surge in emails from banks and other financial concerns have been appearing daily. They look real at first, but they are not. Just this week alone we have seen them come in from US Bank, Fleet Bank, PayPal and a few others. These "Fraud Artists" create emails and pages that look like the legitimate website of your online banking services and ask you to update or verify your information. DON'T DO IT! It's another scam to get your credit card or account information. Legitimate companies Never Ask For This Information, especially through emails.