StopSign Internet Security Blog

You’ve probably heard about Phishing, but what about Vishing? If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t heard of it, but it’s a growing method used for fraud, and you should learn more about it before it becomes an issue for you.

Simply put, vishing is like phishing (fraud perpatrated via email), but it’s usually done on the phone, and in particular over a Voice Over IP, or VoIP connection. (Think Skype and other VoIP services) A visher will call a victim and attempt to get sensitive and/or confidential information from them, like a credit card number, Social Security number, bank account information… anything they can use to get access to your money or important info.

Often times the vishing attempt will start out familiar. Here are some examples of how a vishing attempt could be set up:

• An automated call from your bank claiming there’s a problem with your ATM card. They’ll probably ask you to “confirm” your bank account number.
• A person on the line claiming to be from a government agency (think: the IRS) with a tax problem they’ve found. A verification of your Social Security number will surely be involved in this case.
• A department store attempting to clarify a purchase on a credit card. They’re likely to ask you to verify your credit card number, expiration date, and the “3 numbers on the back of the card”. Do that, and you may as well fill up their holiday wishlist for them yourself.

The list could literally go on and on, but I’m sure you get the picture. Anywhere you have, or could have, used your SSN, your credit card, bank account, etc. is a potential front for a fraudster.

Once they have your information, the sky’s the limit. So how can you prevent yourself from being a victim? Well first off, most companies won’t ask for sensitive information over the phone, especially if they initiated the call. In fact, many services and companies have that fact listed on their website and in their documentation. Secondly, if you have a feeling the call may be real, but you’ve got a funny feeling about it, hang up, go through your paperwork to find the right number to call back, and verify things that way. If it was a scam, you’ll know right away, and if it was a legitimate call, you can take care of the problem right there. That extra few minutes double checking could mean the difference between being scammed or not.

If you or someone you know is becomes the victim of online fraud or any other type of cybercrime (or even just an attempt at it), you need to contact the authorities as soon as possible. Keeping it to yourself can lead to repeated attacks, as well as continued spread of Internet fraud, crime, and even increased distribution of viruses and spyware through crime networks that try to set up shop on your computer.

Depending on what level of fraud and/or cybercrime you’re dealing with, you may have to notify multiple agencies. But regardless of how many places you have to contact, doing so will be the first step to stopping the crooks in their tracks. Please use the list below as a starting point to report any incident:

• An Important First Step:

  If the fraud you’re reporting reporting is, or becomes, aggressive or threatening in any manner, contact your local authorities. The police in your community should be made aware of any potential threats to you, your family, your home, etc.

• Get Into The System:

  Head to IC3.gov, the “Internet Crime Complaint Center”. This site is a partnership between several government agencies, including the FBI. The IC3 has an online complaint submission form that you can use to report online fraud and other Internet-related scams.

• If It’s International…:

  If you feel you’re the victim of an international scam operation, contact econsumer.gov, a coalition of about 2 dozen countries who want to help stop cross-border cybercrime. You may also want to contact a US Secret Service field office to let them know, too.

• Contact Credit Reporting Companies:

  If you think you’ve been the victim of identity theft, contact any one of the big 3 credit reporting companies. They’ll get your information disseminated to all three. Their contact info is as follows:

  • Equifax

    equifax.com; 1 (800) 525-6285

  • Experian

    experian.com; 1 (888) EXPERIAN

  • TransUnion

    transunion.com; 1 (800) 680-7289

Don’t just be a victim of online fraud and cybercrime. Contact the appropriate authorities and government agencies and stop Internet-related crime before it stops you.

“There’s a sucker born every minute.”

- P.T. Barnum (Attributed)

What is the Nigerian Email Scam?

I’m sure that by now you’ve heard of the Nigerian email scams that are still being emailed out to millions of people every year and claiming new victims. These scams continue to bilk innocent people out of their money and more, even though the basic scam itself has been around for hundreds of years.

These emails are a typical example of how fraud and various scams are easily disseminated among a large group of people. The Internet is a great distribution method for crooks who want to attempt this scam since emails are cheap and getting millions of email addresses to send their letters to is relatively easy.

What Are the Basics of This Scam?

The Nigerian scam emails are a variation on the old “Spanish Prisoner” con and they’re sometimes referred to as “Advanced Fee Fraud” or a “419 scam” (based on the article in the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud). No matter what name is used, the modern variant of these scams go roughly like this:

• A Wealthy Foreign Patron

  A rich person from another country, or possibly a representative for said person, contacts you, generally via email (though fax and snail mail aren’t unheard of). Regardless of who contacts you, it’s actually a con artist and not a rich person or their rep.

  • NOTE Although are normally referred to as “Nigerian scam emails”, these emails can technically come from any foreign country.
• A Large Sum of Money (Trapped)

  The rich person/con artist claims they’re trying to invest their money, or maybe just trying to get it out of the country (often due to political upheaval or pressure), but needs an external bank account to transfer it all to safely. That’s where you come into the equation.

• The Deal

  In exchange for transferring a large sum of money and “helping” the con artist, you are guaranteed a percentage of the transaction. This is normally a large enough percentage that it’d be like winning the Lottery.

• A Problem Arises

  If you should be so… unfortunate… as to accept the offer, you’ll no doubt be contacted and told that there is some kind of problem: Some official needs to be bribed, perhaps a transfer fee is needed, new or underestimated attorney fees, or something along those lines. The con will ask you to front a certain amount of money to take care of the problem and will assure you that you’ll either be compensated at the end of the transaction or that the amount you’re getting in exchange for the deal once it all goes down will overshadow the “small” amount of money you’re asked to put up.

  This is the part where they try to part you from your money.

• Goodbye Money

  After you’ve fronted the money for the problems that arise, you’ll very likely be told of more problems that require additional money to be transferred until you’re either tapped out of money or the con artists decide to move on. Either way, you end up the loser in this con game.

Who Are Typical Victims of This Scam?

Unfortunately confidence scam victims come from all walks of life. Rich, poor, old, young… who you are and where you come from doesn’t matter to a Nigerian email scam artist. Out of the millions of emails they’ll send, they only need a handful of marks (e.g. victims) to make their email scam a success; the FBI estimates that millions of dollars are lost every year to these Nigerian/419 scams. They’ll take whomever they can get.

How Can I Protect Myself?

The first rule of Don’t Get Scammed Club is… use common sense. If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. Secondly, always be wary of any email, IM, or other communication from a stranger that involves money or personally identifiable information. If you think that you, or someone else you know, is currently being targeted by a Nigerian scam email proposition here in the US, contact the FBI or the Secret Service.

When times get tough, the crooks start coming out of the woodwork. The last thing you need is to be hit by a Visa, Mastercard, etc. credit card scam when you’re already having a hard time making ends meet. With the current world economy, scammers are stepping up their game so you’ve got to be aware of what they’re up to and keep your credit, your money, and your identity safe.

There are probably a million ways to keep from being the victim of a credit card scam or fraud attempt, but the following six habits (and these are good habits to have) will go a long way in protecting you from Visa scams, Mastercard maliciousness, and Amex anomalies.

1. Trust but Verify:

   If you receive a phone call from your credit card company, make sure you’re actually talking to your credit card company. Cardholders are increasingly reporting calls from “representatives” who sound official (even going so far as to present “badge numbers” and other official-sounding information) but end up being scam artists. If someone calls your home claiming to be from your card company, politely hang up and call the number on the back of the card itself and verify. At that point you’ve made sure you’re talking to a real credit card company rep and can address any issue they called about in the first place.

2. Review Your Credit Card Statements:

   This is a no-brainer, right? I don’t even know why I mentioned this because you keep monthly tabs on your credit card activity, looking for odd charges, inconsistencies, and anything else unfamiliar. Reviewing your credit card statement may be the only indication you have that something’s wrong, so do it every time.

3. Keep Your Card Hidden:

   At restaurants, the grocery store, or anywhere that a stranger might see your card, be sure to keep it under wraps. Visa debit card scammers (and other cards, too) have been known to sneak into legitimate businesses and install cameras to pick up either your card number or your PIN number. Keep them covered as much as possible. And don’t forget to be sure that, at a restaurant, your server actually picks up the “Merchant Copy” of your bill. Many places, but restaurants especially, print out the card number on the signed receipt.

4. Use a Secure Site (https):

   We’ve already discussed how to spot a fake website, but now you’ve also got to tie that into the first item in our post “5 Simple Tips to Staying Secure Online“. The basic gist is this: When you’re submitting sensitive information, be sure to look in the address bar to make sure you’re on a secure, or “https” site.

5. Keep One Card for Online Purchases:

   Using one credit card for online purchases will not only help keep your transactions easy to account for (“Honey, why did you put that flat screen TV on the Visa at Amazon?”), but it will also help reduce the hassle you’ll have if/when your card info gets stolen.

6. Shred Old Credit Cards & Statements:

   It’s not enough to just toss out old cards and to put your old card statements in the recycling bin. Invest in a shredder, preferably a cross-cut shredder. They’re relatively inexpensive, safe, and easy to operate. And as an added bonus, they make it darn near impossible for crooks to get/read your credit card statements.

Keeping yourself free from the headache of identity theft, stolen credit cards, and unwanted purchases is your job. Sure, your card company may have monitoring in place, but only you truly care about the security of your account, so get proactive and learn to protect yourself from credit card scams.

Gently used clothing, bartered services, even free books and bicycles… these are all commonly found deals you can luck into on Craigslist, one of the worlds most popular (mostly) free online sites for classified ads. But just like with any other popular website, the unscrupulous use Craigslist to scam folks looking for a great deal.

With all of the items and services being sold, bought, bartered, or advertised, there’s a lot of temptation for an e-crook to use Craigslist to scam people out of their hard earned cash. Luckily avoiding Craigslist scams mostly falls under common sense, but there are plenty of tricky grifters out there, so watch out!

To help you avoid scams on Craigslist, we’ve written down some of the commonly used tactics used by alert buyers and sellers to avoid hassles with scams. Hopefully these tips will help you avoid a big headache, too.

• Meet Face To Face:

  Keeping things in the real world vs. on the Internet of via snail mail will help make sure that you actually get what you paid for. And this tip leads us to…

• Locals Only:

  Only buy/sell from/to someone who is close enough to you that you could arrange to meet in a public place. Choose someplace like the parking lot of a grocery store or a department store, and only meet during the daytime. There’s no sense in letting a stranger know where you live and into your house just to save a buck on gas.

• Cash Only:

  If you’re selling something, make sure to ask for cash only. Wire transfers and checks can be faked, but cash in hand is much harder to scam with.

• Avoid 3rd Party Services:

  Many online escrow services are well-known to be run by scammers, so keep things nice and simple. If you’re dealing with someone who insists on using an online escrow service, save yourself the hassle of a headache and look for a new person to deal with.

For more details on Craigslist scams, check out the official word from Craigslist on their “about scams” page.