CYBER NOTES September, 2006 by Dave Benore

PHISHING PROBLEMS

Last month I discussed Internet security problems involving viruses, worms, and hackers. These types of “malware” (bad software) can be almost perfectly stopped by the security suites available by well know suppliers such as Zone Alarm, Norton, and McAfee. These programs stop your computer from doing something it shouldn’t but they don’t stop YOU from doing something you shouldn’t.

Remember con-artists? They would contact you by phone or letter and convince you that you could get something for almost nothing. Well—THEY ARE BAACK—on the Internet! The act of going “fishing” for information over the Internet is called “Phishing”. The information being sought is your private information such as Social Security number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc. This is IDENTITY THEFT! It can cost you anything from your good credit rating to all the money you have!

Here is how it often works. You get an email that looks very official. It gives you some kind of story that ends in “we need the following information from you”, or words to that effect. The song and dance may be very lengthy and seem to make sense. They may say something like “please send us your social security number to confirm your identity” (or whatever else they seek).

Or they may say you have won something like a lottery (which you have not entered). To collect your winnings all you have to do is send them so many dollars to cover handling fees, etc. Or some other scam. Yes, a SCAM! It’s all a scam to either steal your money, or your identity and then your money. Remember “There is no free lunch”?

Rule One: DON’T EVER GIVE OUT INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF TO SOMEONE WHO CONTACTS YOU OVER THE INTERNET! Banks don’t need to confirm your account numbers, they already have them! Ditto for credit card numbers. No federal government agency will ask you for your social security number. They already know it.

Rule Two: When you click on a link to jump from one web site to another, don’t give out any private information at the new site. Links can jump to counterfeit web sites that exist only to steal your identity. They may look exactly like the real web site but they are not.

Rule Three: The only web sites you can really trust are ones that YOU enter in the web address box--especially true of bank or brokerage web sites. There have been instances of links that go to what looks exactly like your bank’s web site, but it’s not. When you enter your account number to access your account the site has just stolen your identity. The bad guys can then empty your account. Happy computing!