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Security Information |
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Be Aware of Phishing Scams!
If you use emails actively in your communication, you must have received various messages claiming to be from Ebay, Paypal and a number of banks. A recent email as if from U.S. Bank Corporation that I received contains the subject "U.S. Bank Fraud Verification Process" and in the body of the mail it says "We recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your U.S. Bank Internet Banking account may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party. Protecting the security of your account and of the U.S. Bank network is our primary concern. Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily limited access to sensitive account features. To restore your account access, please take the following steps to ensure that your account has not been compromised:". It continues with a link to a webpage, which looks very similar to original web page of the bank. The misleading web site appears authentic with familiar graphics and logos. The wordings are professional right down to the legal disclaimer at the bottom of the page. If you happened to be holding an account of the claimed bank, followed the instructions of the email and input your account, pin, password, etc. you are doomed. You just have handed over access to your account to a con artist, who, in a matter of days, will drain off all the money available in that account. This new scam, which is proliferating in a very rapid pace, is called "Phishing". Phishing is a form of identity theft, where a con artist with the help of official looking email containing link to phony web pages capable of harvesting information, tricks an unsuspecting victim into divulging sensitive personal data. Scammers use these data to bilk victims out of their savings. One of the most common phishing campaigns being waged has targeted users of Web auction giant eBay and its PayPal division with financial services giant Citibank serving as another popular target. However, recently, every major bank has been hit with this scam. Crooks send out huge amounts of emails with an expectation that some of these email address owners may have online access to their accounts at the bank. The term "Phishing" is a deviation of the word "Fishing". In hackers' lexicon, in many words, "F" becomes "Ph". The term derives from the fact that scammers use sophisticated bait as they "fish" for users' personal information. According to Gartner, a research firm, illegal access to checking accounts gained via phishing has become into the fastest growing type of consumer theft in the United States. Roughly 1.98 million people reported that their checking account was breached in one way or another during the last year and US$ 2.4 billion were defrauded from the victims! Gartner also estimated that 57 million U.S. Internet users have received phishing emails and 3 percent of them may have fooled into revealing their personal sensitive information. The Anti-Phishing Working Group has also spotted a dramatic increase in reports of phishing attacks in recent months. Since November, 2003 phishing scams increase by about 110 percent each month. In April alone, the group identified 1125 unique phishing scams, a sharp lift of 178 percent from the previous month. MessageLabs, a company that watches phishing scams closely, has noted an even more dramatic increase in number of phishing emails. It claims to see phishing messages jump from just 279 in September, 2003 to a staggering 215,643 in March of 2004. The scammers also started to use more sophisticated technologies in recent months. The latest generation of phishing scammers uses several methods to trick users, including pop-up graphics to mast the true web URL of the phishing site and the installation of Spywares and Trojans on victim's computer. The perpetrators also take advantage of security bugs in web browsers, in which the URL in the address bar appears to be for one site but is, in fact, a link to a totally different site. A new Windows worm under the name "Korgo" is able to infiltrate into victim's system with a key logging Trojan, steal information that the victim input in web forms and secretly transmit to designated server. There are a number of variants of this worm and they are spreading rapidly. However, Microsoft in April came up with a patch to seal this glitch. Many computers without the patch are still vulnerable to this potentially dangerous worm. A U.S. Treasury report provides consumers with steps to prevent and report phishing scams:
Other cautionary measures you should take in order to protect yourself are:
About The Author Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of MORE RESOURCES: Turkey slams West for security warnings 'harming' tourism The Associated Press - en Español Turkey summons ambassadors of nine countries over security alerts The Jerusalem Post I-Team: State Police end security post outside former Gov. Charlie Baker's Swampscott home CBS Boston Should iPhone users use security keys and Advanced Data Protection? The Washington Post US pushing Abbas on plan to boost PA security presence in northern West Bank The Times of Israel Air Force sees national security threat in Chinese-owned corn mill Successful Farming Dallas Zoo making 'significant changes' to security FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth CBP proposes efforts to strengthen aviation security | U.S Customs and Border Protection Security Principles: Addressing underlying causes of risk in complex ... Federal Trade Commission News Redbot Security Promotes Keith Cox to Principal Security Engineer Kansas City Star US. Department of Homeland Security and Finnish Ministry of the ... Homeland Security FTC approves order requiring Chegg to tighten data security Higher Ed Dive Is There Liability from In-Home Security Monitoring? Security Sales & Integration AI, Processor Advances Will Improve Application Security Security Boulevard Enforcement of Fisheries Rules Will Enhance Maritime Governance ... The Pew Charitable Trusts LAX power outage halts security screening, delays flights and traps ... Los Angeles Times The WordPress Security Guide To Keep Your Site Safe Search Engine Journal Holland & Knight Data Privacy and Security Report: January 2023 ... Holland & Knight TikTok's Transparency Campaign Echoes Effort by Huawei to Ease ... The Wall Street Journal ImagineIF Libraries Adds Security Presence to Kalispell Branch Flathead Beacon Security increased at State Farm Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LVII WDAF FOX4 Kansas City Keep Your Home Safe and Secure Consumer Reports Explainer-Why U.S. Seeks Closer Security Cooperation With the ... U.S. News & World Report Don’t Let API Leaks Sink Your Ship | API Security Newsletter Security Boulevard WTO Reform Should Include Clarification of National Security ... Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, PA Gigamon Appoints Chaim Mazal Chief Security Officer Business Wire Is It Time to Start Worrying About Quantum Computing Security? InformationWeek Need an Insurance Policy Against Ransomware Attacks? Get Silverfort’s Free Identity Security Assessment Security Boulevard New DEG website boasts enhanced security measures, advanced ... Repairer Driven News The best smart home security systems of 2023 Popular Science The Week in Security: Russia takes aim at Ukraine with Sandworm, the truth about Russia’s top search ... Security Boulevard How to effectively communicate cybersecurity best practices to staff Security Magazine How Bad Are System Failures and Security Incidents? The New Stack Suspects sought after security guard interrupts smash-and-grab robbery at Dior pop-up on Melrose KABC-TV ‘Disturbing’ force used at Fresno homeless shelters by private security. Here’s what happened Fresno Bee The forgotten Black woman who invented the video home security ... The Washington Post Lazarus Group Attack Identified After Operational Security Fail Infosecurity Magazine Fire fatalities in decline according to Indiana Dept. of Homeland Security data - MyWabashValley.com How Will ChatGPT Impact Web2, Web3 and Online Security? Spiceworks News and Insights Monmouth basketball coach King Rice says job security not a ... Asbury Park Press Vanta Names Security Leader David Eckstein as CFO Business Wire CCS security team looking for solutions after 8th gun found in school since September ABC6OnYourSide.com Expected Security Measures for Businesses in 2023 The National Law Review Unlawful Southwest Border Crossings Plummet Under New Border ... Homeland Security Biden Administration Announces Additional Security Assistance for ... Department of Defense DHS Announces Process Enhancements for Supporting Labor ... Homeland Security DHS Continues to Prepare for End of Title 42; Announces New ... Homeland Security |
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