Online Trading – A Warning!

Posted on 7 Apr/2011 by mxw

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Online Trading, a guide by US-CERT


Online trading can be an easy, cost-effective way to manage investments. However, online investors are often targets of scams, so take precautions to ensure that you do not become a victim.

What is online trading?

Online trading allows you to conduct investment transactions over the internet. The accessibility of the internet makes it possible for you to research and invest in opportunities from any location at any time. It also reduces the amount of resources (time, effort, and money) you have to devote to managing these accounts and transactions.

What are the risks?

Recognizing the importance of safeguarding your money, legitimate brokerages take steps to ensure that their transactions are secure. However, online brokerages and the investors who use them are appealing targets for attackers. The amount of financial information in a brokerage’s database makes it valuable; this information can be traded or sold for personal
profit. Also, because money is regularly transferred through these accounts, malicious activity may not be noticed immediately. To gain access to these databases, attackers may use Trojan horses or other types of malicious code.

Attackers may also attempt to collect financial information by targeting the current or potential investors directly. These attempts may take the form of social engineering or phishing attacks (see Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information). With methods that include setting up fraudulent investment opportunities or redirecting users to malicious sites that appear to be legitimate, attackers try to convince you to provide them with financial information that they can then use or sell. If you have been victimized, both your money and your identity may be at risk.

How can you protect yourself?

  • Research your investment opportunities – Take advantage of resources such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database and your state’s securities commission (found through the North American Securities Continue reading →
Posted in Anti-Scam Protection, banking, Email Scams, money laundering, Ponzi Schemes, Scam Reports, Stocks & Shares | Leave a comment

TweekServ is a Scam Job (transaction Processing)

Posted on 6 Apr/2011 by mxw

TweekServ is a Scam – TweekServ is a Scam | TweekServ is a Scam – TweekServ is a Scam | TweekServ is a Scam – TweekServ is a Scam

It’s just the usual ‘transaction processing’ scam – you get counterfeit checks, they get your hard-earned cash. DO NOT GET INVOLVED.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply and interest in a part-time position with TweekServ Inc.
In the future please e-mail me at job@tweek-servinc.com

The main strategic aim of our company is to provide quick, easy, efficient and secure ways for businesses to outsource services locally, nationally and globally, to maximize their competitive advantage and cost effectiveness.
The goal of our company is to ensure both, the most reliable security level and simplicity of use and availability.
We are happy to offer you the Payment Processing Agent position. 

Here are the job Requirements:
- 18 years of age or older;
- internet access to promptly reply to emails;
- availability by phone (1-2 hours a day);
- a bank account to process payments 

We welcome competent and reliable approach to work, responsibility and initiative in search of the most efficient ways of job implementation.
Each Payment Processing Agent is provided with employment benefits after successful completion of probationary period (30 days). 

The employment benefits include:
- Stock options;
- 401k;
- Flex-Time;
- Health & Dental;
- Professional development programs

You will find detailed description of the job following the link:
http://www.tweek-servinc.com/vacancies/payment

We strongly recommend to read our FAQ:
http://www.tweek-servinc.com/vacancies/payment/faq

Some important facts:
1. You don't need to invest your own money to get started;
2. This is not a sales position. While employed with us, you are guaranteed a Base Salary as well as commission per task processed;
3. Each remittance will be accompanied by an invoice ensuring legality of transaction. 

If you are interested in the offered vacancy or have any questions please contact us at job@tweek-servinc.com
We appreciate your time and sincerely hope to see you in TweekServ Inc team!

Best Regards,

Steven Brown
TweekServ Inc
job@tweek-servinc.com
Phone: 1-347-860-9971
Fax: 1-585-410-6049

*Please note that some e-mails may enter your SPAM folder and may delay our process of communication. Please add our e-mail address to your filter/safe list to ensure that you receive our e-mails without any delay. If for some reason you do not hear from us within 24 hours with further information, please give us a call at 1-347-860-9971 and we will provide you with the necessary information.

Here’s some lies they use to get you interested…. (from their website at http://www.tweek-servinc.com/vacancies/payment/faq#fq_1) Continue reading →

Posted in banking, Email Scams, money laundering, Scam Reports, spoof websites | 3 Comments

… and now the FTC weighs in.

Posted on 10 Mar/2011 by mxw

After the IC3 list released earlier, the FTC publishes it’s own list of ’Consumer Complaints’ for 2010

The Federal Trade Commission today released the list of top consumer complaints received by the agency in 2010. And for the 11th year in a row, identity theft was number one. Of 1,339,265 complaints received in 2010, 250,854 (19%)  were related to identity theft.  Debt collection complaints were in second place, with 144,159 complaints.

For the first time, “imposter scams” – where imposters posed as friends, family, respected companies or government agencies to get consumers to send them money – made the top 10. The FTC also has issued a new consumer alert, “Spotting an Imposter”, to help consumers avoid imposter scams.

The top consumer complaints were:

Rank Category Number of Complaints Percentage
1 Identity Theft 250,854 19%
2 Debt Collection 144,159 11%
3 Internet Services 65,565 5%
4 Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries 64,085 5%
5 Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales 60,205 4%
6 Imposter Scams 60,158 4%
7 Internet Auctions 56,107 4%
8 Foreign Money/Counterfeit Check Scams 43,866 3%
9 Telephone and Mobile Services 37,388 3%
10 Credit Cards 33,258 2%

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.

Posted in Advance Fee Fraud, Anti-Scam Protection, Identity Theft, Scam Reports | 1 Comment

IC3 Reports 25,000 Scam Complaints per Month in 2010

Posted on 25 Feb/2011 by mxw

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received its two-millionth complaint in 2010 - IC3 receives and processes 25,000 complaints per month and 2010 was it’s second highest year (slightly down from 2009) for scam reports. The Annual IC3 Report for 2010 has just been released and makes fascinating reading.

The most common victim complaints in 2010 were non-delivery of payment/merchandise, scams impersonating the FBI  and identity theft.

Continue reading →

Posted in Email Scams | 2 Comments

Debunking Some Common Online Security Myths

Posted on 17 Feb/2011 by mxw

The US-CERT Logo

There are some common myths that may influence your online security practices. Knowing the truth will allow you to make better decisions about how to protect yourself.

How are these myths established?
There is no one cause for these myths. They may have been formed because of a lack of information, an assumption, knowledge of a specific case that was then generalized, or some other source. As with any myth, they are passed from one individual to another, usually because they seem legitimate enough to be true.

Why is it important to know the truth?
While believing these myths may not present a direct threat, they may cause you to be more lax about your security habits. If you are not diligent about protecting yourself, you may be more likely to become a victim of an attack.

What are some common myths, and what is the truth behind them?

Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Scam Protection, Trojans, Viruses, Worms | 1 Comment

Asterpix (who they?) vs. Google

Posted on 22 Sep/2010 by mxw

Some Background FirstAsterpix Logo

A company called Asterpix (www.asterpix.com) have a cool tool (Searchlight) for websites (such as this one!).  They analyse the page you are on, include any recent search terms passed in (eg. from Google) and the website you are on and generate a Tag Cloud of words and phrases that seem to be interesting, by means of search terms or frequency of occurance or other weighting.

When a user clicks on one of the phrases in the tag cloud, they are taken to a fairly plain looking Google Search Results page with a (Google Adsense) ad block at top and bottom. While the search page is hosted on Asterpixs’ website, the Google Adsense account is the original site owners.

A visitor clicks on an ad, the revenue goes to the site owner – what could be simpler?

The Problem is ….

Continue reading →

Posted in Email Scams, Google, Online Advertising, Scamdex, Websites | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

‘Nigerian’ Scam still top online Scam, says PandaLabs

Posted on 2 Sep/2010 by mxw

the best defense

PandaLabs, Panda Security’s anti-malware laboratory has drawn up a ranking of the most widely used scams over the last few years. These confidence tricks, which are still in wide circulation, all have the same objective: to defraud users of amounts ranging from $500 to thousands of dollars.

Typically, these scams follow a similar pattern: initial contact is made via email or through social networks. The intended victim is then asked to respond, either by email, telephone, fax, etc. Once this initial bait has been taken, criminals will try to gain the trust of the victim, finally asking for a sum of money under one pretext or another.

According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, “As with all the classic scams that predate the Internet, many of the numerous users that fall for these tricks and lose their money are reticent to report the crime. And if recovering the stolen money was difficult in the old days, it is even harder now as the criminals’ tracks are often lost across the Web. The best defense is to learn how to identify these scams and avoid taking the bait”.

More information at the PandaLabs website.


Posted in Email Scams, Nigeria, Scam Reports | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Powell Exotic Furniture Website Spoof Scam – PEFURNITURE.NET

Posted on 11 May/2010 by mxw

Administrative assistant needed by Powell Exotic Furniture,Good pay and flexible hours, see attached pdf for more info or sign up via www.pefurniture.net/careers.php

Here’s a new website spoof scam – take the website of a perfectly respectable, American furniture company – Nichols & Stone and copy it. Then substitute the new name ‘Powell Exotic Furniture’ and register a domain name – PEFURNITURE.NET

Here’s the domain name details  – complete rubbish as usual – created in February, updated today.

complete Domain Name: PEFURNITURE.NET
   Registrar: DIRECTI INTERNET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
   Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com
   Creation Date: 06-feb-2010
   Last update of whois database: Tue, 11 May 2010 21:47:04 UTC <<<

Registration Service Provided By: HIGH HOSTING ENTERPRISES, INC
Contact: +001.8503682092

Registrant:
    PHYLLIS THOMPSON
    William Ace        (surveyciti@rocketmail.com)
    21 E. Penn St
    Mundeline    IL,60060    US
    Tel. +1.2066664204

Obviously this is a scam. do not go there or give any of your details – you have been warned

Posted in Email Scams, Job Scams, spoof websites, Websites | 4 Comments