Spam Scams: How Not To Become A Victim

All spam emails we receive every day in tens or hundreds are annoying and disgusting. But the worst of them are scams, hoaxes, and illegal schemes aimed at defrauding you of your money, private information, and even your life. Being aware of how the spam scams work you will be able to protect yourself against the spammers-fraudsters and not to become a victim of their fraudulent schemes.

A lot of spam scams arrive in the form of a great investment offer. It usually works as a Pyramid scheme. Spammers ask you to pay money for a membership, goods, or simply to "invest" promising you much money as revenue. Your revenue will come from those people who will invest after you. Your investment is distributed to those who joined before you. At some point the pyramid ruins because there are not enough new investors to keep the money flowing. The spammer is at the top of the pyramid and he is the only one who benefits. The scan may not always look like an investment offer. The spammers can ask you to distribute some advertising letters to a list of email addresses, for remuneration. Although they will tell you that the list contains only opt-in email addresses, it’s not true, and you will be sending spam directly from your computer.

Another fraudulent scheme you may meet looks like a letter coming from a company that you do business with. Usually the spammer asks you to follow a link within the message supposedly to update your account. But actually this is done to worm you out your personal and financial information. If you click on that link, you will be brought to a page that will look like a company’s web site. While you are logging in or filling the form in, the program is recording your keystrokes and all your private information – account number, user name, password, social security number – is disclosed. Never click on the links included in such emails. Just open a company’s web site in a separate window and check your account details out.

Nigerian spam is one of the most dangerous email scams. The mechanism of the scam is simple. The spammer sends you a badly spelled letter on behalf of a government official, deposed ruler, or relative of a ruling family asking you for help. They have some goods, money, or jewels that they cannot access due to political reasons. They ask you to allow them transfer large sums of money into your bank account. They promise to remunerate you for your kindness, or even leave all money to you. Attractive offer, isn’t it? Don’t be a dolt, don’t believe them. They tempt you into a trap. Their object is to obtain your account number and bank transfer information. They also may ask you to send them a fee to bribe some corrupt government officials. Further you may receive additional officially looking letters where you will be asked to provide further documents, private information, and money. When they have “played” with you long enough, or believe that you may suspect to be led on, they will rob you and quite.

Take care! Don’t react upon any spam message whatever tempting offer it contains. Delete it at once, or let an anti-spam filter delete all spam before you download it into your inbox.

About the Author:
Julia Gulevich is a technical expert associated with development of computer software like AATools, Advanced Email Verifier, G-Lock EasyMail, Spam and Junk Email Filter http://www.glocksoft.com/sc/ More information can be found at Anti Spam Filter Resources http://www.glocksoft.net/sc/.
This article was posted on November 27, 2006
Article Source: articlecity

Why Your ISP Takes Bribes From Spammers

The lifeblood of the spammer is email. They need to be able to send lots of it on an ongoing basis to stay in "business". High profile spammers can send 80 million pieces of junk email every single day. Yes one single person.

ISPs all over the online world have vowed to stop spammers sending such vast amounts of email through their mail servers. Do they really keep their word? All the end user sees is that the spam keeps coming. There must be a loophole there somewhere. There is.

In the soft white underbelly of the internet there exists something known as a pink contract. The term pink contract comes from the color of the famous tinned meat that junk email gets its name from. A pink contract is simply a business agreement between the ISP and the spammer. The spammer agrees to pay the ISP to turn a blind eye to the junk email passing through their mail servers.

Surely this is bad business for the ISP? Well the answer to that is both Yes and No. Yes it's bad news for the people who receive the junk email and No it's good news for the ISPs bank balance. A monthly pink contract can pay the ISP amounts from $10,000 upwards. Bearing in mind that the average work-at-home spammer averages $100,000 net per year the above figure is small change fo the bigger junk email vendors (the guys who earn $200,000 - $400,000 per month.)

But..... the CanSpam Act 2003... surely that's going to make a difference? Of course. Any ISP in the United States can get in serious, serious trouble for signing pink contracts. Problem is that there's a whole big world wide web out there and the vast majority of pink contracts are signed with overseas ISPs where US authorities have no jurisdiction - China and Russia being perfect examples.

There's no moral to this story. Spam is a huge problem that's finally being taken seriously by Governmental bodies. However until they start imposing prison sentences or seizure orders on those individuals and companies in the pink contract business the problem can only continue.

About the author:
Niall Roche
This article was provided courtesy of Spam-Site.com which reviews and tests spam blockers for the business and end user.
Circulated by Article Emporium

How To Recognize And Prevent Pfishing Scams

The warning notice you get from your bank over the internet may be a fraud. It is a scam intended to make you give up secure financial information. This article will show you how to recognize and deal with these frauds.

Have you ever received e-mail messages that threaten to close your PayPal or Ebay account unless you send them information? It's a scam called "phishing." It is pronounced "fishing." It means what it says. Internet scam artists are fishing for information. It comes from Internet fraudsters who send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal information from you. Their objective is to extract sensitive information from unsuspecting victims.

The Federal Trade Commission(FTC) warns you that when phishers send you a fraudulent e-email, they want you to update, validate,or confirm your bank, credit card, or PayPal account, including passwords. Some phishing e-mails threaten to terminate your account if you don't respond. The messages direct you to a website that looks just like a legitimate organization's site. However, it isn't. It's a bogus site whose sole purpose is to trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.

The FTC suggests these tips to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam:

If you get an e-mail message that asks for your personal or financial information, DO NOT REPLY. Do not click on the link in the message. Legitimate companies don't ask for this information via e-mail. If you are concerned about your account, contact your bank or credit card company using a telephone number you know that is genuine.

All the scam merchant needs is for you to access his/her website. Then, you are hooked. To avoid an inadvertent mistake, stay off the internet until you have established contact with your financial institution.

Use anti-virus software and a firewall. Keep them up to date. Some phishing e-mails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the Internet without your knowledge.

Anti-virus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files. Anti-virus software scans incoming communications for troublesome files. Look for anti-virus software that recognizes current viruses as well as older ones that can effectively reverse the damage and that updates your files automatically.

A firewall helps make you invisible on the Internet. It blocks all communications from unauthorized sources. It is especially important to use a firewall if you have a broadband connection. Operating systems like Windows also may offer free software updates to close holes in the system that hackers or phishers could exploit.

Don't e-mail personal or financial information. E-mail is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. If you initiate a transaction and need to provide such information, look for indicators that the destination site is secure. Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof. Some phishers have forged security icons.

Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them. Check for unauthorized charges,address changes,and unexplained account balances.

Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them. These files can contain viruses or other software that can weaken your computer's security.

After you are back on the internet, forward spam e-mail that is phishing for information to spam@uce.gov. Also, forward the suspicious e-mail to the company, bank, or organization impersonated in the phishing e-mail. Most organizations have information on their websites about where to report problems.

If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint to ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft. Victims of phishing can become victims of identity theft. While you can't entirely control whether you will become a victim of identity theft, you can take some steps to minimize your risk. If an identity thief is opening credit accounts in your name, these new accounts are likely to show up on your credit report. You may catch an incident early if you order a free copy of your credit report periodically from any of the three major credit bureaus.

You can learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam at ftc.gov/spam

About the Author:
Bob Carper is a veteran information systems consultant specializing in verbal and written communication. He holds a BS and an MBA degree. He is an ardent railfan and belongs to the New York Central Historical Society. Visit http://www.secure-webconference.citymax.com
Submitted on 2007-02-07
Article Source: http://www.articlesarea.com/