Phisher Attack!

You're checking your incoming email messages, and you see a message with the subject line reading: eBay New Unpaid Item Message from JohnDoe: #48249x99x -- response required.

Chances are the message is bogus. It's called phishing, which is a computer term meaning an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as user names, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Even a message, supposedly from your ISP can be phishing. The following is one such example:

Dear Email Account Owner,

This message is from ...the... messaging center to all ... email account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused email account to create space for new accounts.

To prevent your account from being deactivated you will have to update it.

CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT

• Email Username : ................
  
• Email Password : ................
  
• Date of Birth : ......................
  
• Country or Territory :............
  

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this email will lose his or her account permanently. Thank you for using ...

Warning Code:ucrV64MT1

Thanks,
WebMailTeam

Yeah, right. If you receive such an email, Don't Go There!

To lure the victim into revealing a password or other sensitive information, a phisher might pose as above, or the message might appear as being sent by such firms as, PayPal or a retailer you commonly deal with. Phishing messages often appear as being sent by a bank stating in the subject line: "verify your account" or "confirm billing information", and in the body of the message say something like: "During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your account information. . ." Again, Don't Go There!

Phishers even pose as a governmental office, such as the IRS, DMV, etc, requiring the victim to disclose information that can be used in an identity theft scheme. The IRS reports that fraudsters have increasingly targeted tax payers using phishing attacks that masquerade as messages from the IRS.

Phishing on the web will continue to rise in 2008, particularly:

• e-greeting card scams
  
• e-mail messages directing the victim to a fraudulent telephone number
  

Right, Don't Go There!

Herb

Counterfeit Maine Lobsters?

I shopped at a local supermarket that advertised a sale of fresh Maine lobsters. But when I spoke to the clerk, I learned the lobsters didn't actually come from Maine. He smiled and said, "Well that's just what they call them."

The word scam popped into my mind, and the clerk must have picked up on it, and he added all lobsters from the waters of Newfoundland to North Carolina are called Maine Lobsters.

So sellers take advantage of the solid reputation established by the Maine Lobster industry and advertise their lobsters as being from Maine even if they weren't harvested there.

In the case of the photo, these actually are Maine lobsters. They're two pounders and freshly harvested from a small fishing village on the coast a couple of miles from Acadia National Park.

Herb

Advance Fee Fraud

AKA, The Nigerian Scam

The mechanics of the con: The Mark (victim) receives correspondence, typically an email from a supposed wealthy foreigner who promises a big something-for-nothing to the Mark. All the Mark has to do is provide a bank account into which the foreigner can move a vast sum of money from his country for safe-keeping. For just doing that, the foreigner is willing to share a hefty share of the money with the Mark.

A current version of this long-running con is known as the Nigerian Scam. An email scam of this type typically begins with such phrases as:

"THIS LETTER MAY COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BUT IT IS OUT OF MY DESIRE TO SHARE THIS MUTUAL PROPOSAL WITH YOU, I GOT YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS THROUGH THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE IN NIGERIA.

MY NAME IS DR.PATRICK MEZUE A GENERAL SECRETARY IN FINANCIAL TRUST SECURITIES COMPANY HERE IN NIGERIA THERE IS A CONSIGNMENT CONTAINING A SUM OF (30,000,000.00USD)THIRTY MILLION UNITED STATESDOLLARS DEPOSITED IN OUR COMPANY FOR SAFE KEEPING BY ONE MR. GUEI WALTER BEFORE HIS DEATH, NO ONE HAS COME TO CLAIM THIS CONSIGNMENT AS A BENEFICIARY TILL DATE.I AM HONORABLY SEEKING FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AS FOLLOWS:

(1) I WANT YOU TO ACT AS A BENEFICIARY

(2) I WANT YOU TO PROVIDE A BANK ACCOUNT WHERE THIS MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED I WILL PROVIDE YOU THE ENTIRE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS FOR THIS CONSIGNMENT TO PROVE THE CONSIGNEE AS ABENEFICIARY TO THE COMPANY.

Of course, the Mark will not only set up the bank account but will be asked to deposit front money, allegedly needed for paying fees and processing costs, etc. These so-called fees, however, will actually end up in the con artist's pocket.

This scheme is actually a modern adaptation of a famous old con game Spanish Prisoner con of the 1920's where a handsome reward awaited the Mark for his help in freeing a wealthy prisoner languishing in a dungeon-like Spanish prison.

The fictional story, The Spanish Prisoner, written in 1910 by Arthur Train, served as the M.O. for this scheme. The con-man spins a tale to the mark that a wealthy person is imprisoned in Spain under an assumed identity. The wealthy prisoner cannot reveal his true identity, but for a certain sum of money, the prisoner can be freed. The con main has supposedly been raising such funds and only a small sum is now needed from the mark to secure the prisoner's release. In return the mark will be financially rewarded on the prisoner's release and maybe even marry the prisoner's beautiful daughter.

Herb Holeman

It's not a crime, but ...

Swiping your debit card at the gas station may be convenient, but it can put a hold on the money in your bank account. To cover your gas purchase, banks place a hold on your funds. The amount varies, maybe $50 or even $100. The bank's rationale for doing this is that it doesn't know how much money you are spending until you've finished pumping.

Of course the dollar amount of gas that you may have purchased may be less than the funds held out by the bank. Problem is, it can take up to seven days from the date of your gas purchase before the unused funds the bank has held becomes available to you.

Herb

Fraud at the Fuel Pump?

When a gallon is not always a gallon.

Because of temperature variation you don't always get the gallon of gas that you pay for when filling up at a gas station. So here's some advice on how to save money when pumping gas into your car.

1. Fuel up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. This is because service station storage tanks below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. Service stations don't have a temperature compensation device at the pumps.

2. Don't squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode when pumping gas into your car. The trigger has three settings -- low, middle, and high. Use the slow setting and pump at low speed. This minimizes the vapors that are created while pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY because the more gas you have in your tank the less air is occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Those big gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere,
so it minimizes the evaporation.

4. Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, don't fill up because it's likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you could pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.
Herb