Financial scams on the Web

It's a rare day when an electronic mail user fails to find a message from someone representing some sort of financial scam, be it a phishing attack designed to fool the user into giving up personal information or out and out fraud intended to get the user to part with cash. The use of the Internet has grown explosively in the last five years, and many individuals now devote at least a bit of time every day using the Web for work, shopping or just the sending and receiving of e-mail. With the growth of the Internet as a useful service, crooks have taken it upon themselves to use the Web for fraud. As time goes on, the problem of financial scams on the Web will only get worse, as the thieves seem to find new means to avoid all attempts to stop them.

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Below is a listing of the more widespread financial scams facing users of the Internet these days:

Nigerian e-mail scheme. The Nigerian method is already well-known, and it is so well known that one would think that no one would fall for it these days. An offer arrives in your inbox from a person claiming to be an acquaintence of someone who was a high ranking official in the Nigerian government. That person has been removed from his position and needs help in taking millions of dollars in funds from Nigeria. All they ask in return for sharing 10% of the cash is the use of your bank account. Oh, and they will need some money to help enable the sending of the money, so if you could send $1000 or so, that would help. Should you be fortunate, all you will lose is the money you transfer to them. If you aren't particularly lucky, you could lose the money in your bank account, as well. There are different versions of this crime; we recently received a notice with a similar theme purporting to be from "Mrs. Yasser Afafat." It's hard to imagine that individuals would really reply to requests for money from total strangers, but greed takes over and people actually participate in these schemes.
 

Pharming scam - Similar in concept to a phishing attack, a pharming attack uses some Web browser shenanigans to fool a person into going to a fake Website for a bank or other organization when the cconsumer thinks he or she is actually paying a visit to a real one. When the victim types in the name of a real Internet site, such as that of their bank, their Web browser is tricked into redirecting them to the fabricated site. A pharming attack is best avoided using spyware detection software, such as Spybot. Pharming makes use of some malicious software that must be downloaded to the user's PC.

Phishing attacks - Phishing is a rather new crime that makes use of sending electronic mail messages that look to be from a financial organization, such as Wells Fargo, Citibank, PayPal or even Ebay. The phishing crooks send e-mail that looks official and threatens that due to "security violations" your account may momentarily be canceled. So that they may "substantiate" your ID, you are asked to follow a link and fill out a form with your personalized information. If you click the link, you will be transported to a Website that seems like the official site of the company cited. But if you complete the form, the criminals will have stolen your username, password and/or credit card information. A phishing attack is not difficult to keep away from. Your bank is never going to contact you for your password due to the fact that your bank already is aware of your personal information. Just pay no attention to electronic mail messages that ask for name, date of birth and/or Social Security Number. If uncertain, call the organization and ask if the messages are genuine.