Amelia Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 THE INTERNET'S MOST SUCCESSFUL SCAMS March 21 2010 by Bob Sullivan redtape.msnbc.com Most people think they'll never fall for a scam. In fact, that frame of mind is precisely what con artists look for. Those who believe that they know better are often the last to raise their defenses when criminals are nearby. Yes, Virginia, people lose money online. A lot of it. They wire cash to London, they can't help investigating the one-in-a-million chance they really are related to a dead prince from Africa, and they sometimes even travel to Nigeria to find out. Just in case. Many of the scams you read about are sensational, such as the silly "hit man" scam created by real amateurs (recipients get an e-mail that says send me all your money or I'll kill you). And you've also seen lists that offer oddly skewed results, such as the recent FBI announcement that scammers pretending to be FBI agents are now the most prevalent Internet crime. You’d figure those numbers are a bit exaggerated because victims of FBI scams are a bit more likely to report those scams to the agency. Fantastic stories like these only serve to convince many consumers to let their guard down even more, helping to increase the pool of marks for the professional scammers. Read the rest here http://redtape.msnbc.com/2010/03/most-pe...-those-who.html Quote <p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">"Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you."</span></span> Eph 4:29</span><br><br><img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/gizmotimetemp_both/US/OR/Fairview.gif" alt="Fairview.gif"> Fairview Or</p>
Neil D Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 Wow, Mel....this is really interesting....I would have prolly fallen for a scam that this guy lists.... 1] The romance scam.... I would really have fallen for this one....And to think, there are guys [and girls] out there who prey on those of us who are willing to take a leap of faith on love..... 2] The Anti-virus popup/scam.... Some of these will actually disable your computer unless you fork over $$$....luckily, there are others out there who know how to disable the virus...but only if you have a second computer/laptop available... 3]Facebook.... "Facebook is no longer a Web site -- it's a full-fledged platform, rapidly approaching the scale of the Internet itself. Many young users spend more time on Facebook than on e-mail, and actually use Facebook as their e-mail service. That means scammers are now crawling all over the service, since they always go where the people go. There are hundreds of Facebook scams, such as phishing e-mails, Trojan horse infections, misleading advertisements and so on." 'Nuff said..... 4]Becoming a bot How the heck can a person take over MY computer and send out fake emails is anyone's guess...remedy: Keep your software protection up to date, and avoid the seedier side of the internet...like downloading illegal music or games....these are a main source of infections.... Ok, last but not least in the top 5 ways of sucessful internet scaming- 5) The fakosphere Quote: The Web is now littered with fake blogs, fake ads, fake acai berry products, fake work-at-home jobs and fake Web sites saying how great all these things are. You'll even see ads for such products on all major media Web sites, as they've become the Web's answer to late-night infomercials. ...I know it's tempting to obey one rule that will make your tummy flat, make your bank account fat or make your cancer disappear. But you can't believe everything you read online. Never purchase a product without searching Google using this search term: "(Product name) scam" and "(Product Name) complaint." Then, spend three minutes familiarizing yourself with the reputation of the item you are about to buy and the price you are about to pay. One or two complaints might say one thing, but 500 complaints should certainly scream at you that you should put that credit card back in your wallet. Good advise, guys... Quote Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. George Bernard Shaw
GreatLakesGramma Posted March 22, 2010 Posted March 22, 2010 I had one of those windows pop up once, telling me there was some infection and I needed to run a scan. I had read about them before. If you click on it, including on the x in the corner, it will not close. You have to bring up the task manager and close it that way. My son just got a scam email claiming he needed to reset his Facebook password, which included a "helpful" attachment for him to use. Of course he deleted it. He's taken care of a lot of infected computers in his work as an IT technician. Quote Catherine God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26. "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." -- C. S. Lewis
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