Hacking is the illegal access by unknown and unauthorized party(s) to a computer system to destroy or disrupt the system or to use it to carry out illegal activities.
Run Firewall Protection Software — Using a computer without a firewall is like going on vacation and leaving the front door to your home wide open. A firewall creates a protective barrier between your computer and the Internet, essentially making your connection invisible to Internet hackers. A firewall keeps others from seeing that important confidential information. This barrier helps prevent others from being able to intrude into your computer or home network and retrieve important information like credit card numbers or passwords.
INTERNET EXTORTIONInternet extortion involves hacking into and controlling various industry databases, promising to release control back to the company if funds are received, or the subjects are given web administrator jobs. Similarly, the subject will threaten to compromise information about consumers in the industry database unless funds are received.
Monday, October 27, 2008
FRAUDULENT SPAM E-MAIL PURPORTED FROM FBI DEPUTY
DIRECTOR JOHN S. PISTOLE.October 16, 2008: A spam e-mail claiming to be from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole is currently being circulated. This attempt to defraud is the typical e-mail scam using the name and reputation of an FBI official to create an air of authenticity…
HIT MAN E-MAIL RETURNS.August 28, 2008: The IC3 continues to receive thousands of reports concerning the hit man e-mail scheme. E-mail content has evolved since late 2006; however, the messages remain similar in nature, claiming the sender has been hired to kill the recipient…
STORM WORM VIRUS.July 30, 2008: Be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware) which mention "F.B.I. vs. facebook". The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook. Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet connected device and causes it to become infected and become part of the Storm Worm botnet
PHISHING AND VISHING ATTACKS TARGETING USERS OF EPPICARDS.June 13, 2008: The IC3 has received reports of phishing attacks targeting users of EPPICards. The EPPICard is similar to a debit card. EPPICards are issued by a state agency for the purpose of receiving child-support payments. The cards are currently used in 15 states
TIPS ON AVOIDING FRAUDULENT CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION SCHEMES.July 8, 2008: Since late May and early June 2008, there have been several natural disasters throughout the country – including tornadoes, wildfires, and floods – which have devastated lives and property. In the wake of these events which have caused emotional distress and great monetary loss to numerous victims, individuals across the nation often feel a desire to help these victims, frequently through monetary donations
HIT MAN E-MAIL RETURNS.August 28, 2008: The IC3 continues to receive thousands of reports concerning the hit man e-mail scheme. E-mail content has evolved since late 2006; however, the messages remain similar in nature, claiming the sender has been hired to kill the recipient…
STORM WORM VIRUS.July 30, 2008: Be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware) which mention "F.B.I. vs. facebook". The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook. Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet connected device and causes it to become infected and become part of the Storm Worm botnet
PHISHING AND VISHING ATTACKS TARGETING USERS OF EPPICARDS.June 13, 2008: The IC3 has received reports of phishing attacks targeting users of EPPICards. The EPPICard is similar to a debit card. EPPICards are issued by a state agency for the purpose of receiving child-support payments. The cards are currently used in 15 states
TIPS ON AVOIDING FRAUDULENT CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION SCHEMES.July 8, 2008: Since late May and early June 2008, there have been several natural disasters throughout the country – including tornadoes, wildfires, and floods – which have devastated lives and property. In the wake of these events which have caused emotional distress and great monetary loss to numerous victims, individuals across the nation often feel a desire to help these victims, frequently through monetary donations
Pyramid Scheme
Pyramid schemes, also referred to as franchise fraud, or chain referral schemes, are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme there is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.
Some Tips to Avoid Pyramid Schemes:
Be wary of "opportunities" to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
Independently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest.
Some Tips to Avoid Pyramid Schemes:
Be wary of "opportunities" to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
Independently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest.
Common Health Insurance Frauds
Medical Equipment Fraud:
Equipment manufacturers offer "free" products to individuals. Insurers are then charged for products that were not needed and/or may not have been delivered.
"Rolling Lab" Schemes:
Unnecessary and sometimes fake tests are given to individuals at health clubs, retirement homes, or shopping malls and billed to insurance companies or Medicare.
Services Not Performed:
Customers or providers bill insurers for services never rendered by changing bills or submitting fake ones.
Medicare Fraud:
Medicare fraud can take the form of any of the health insurance frauds described above. Senior citizens are frequent targets of Medicare schemes, especially by medical equipment manufacturers who offer seniors free medical products in exchange for their Medicare numbers. Because a physician has to sign a form certifying that equipment or testing is needed before Medicare pays for it, con artists fake signatures or bribe corrupt doctors to sign the forms. Once a signature is in place, the manufacturers bill Medicare for merchandise or service that was not needed or was not ordered.
Equipment manufacturers offer "free" products to individuals. Insurers are then charged for products that were not needed and/or may not have been delivered.
"Rolling Lab" Schemes:
Unnecessary and sometimes fake tests are given to individuals at health clubs, retirement homes, or shopping malls and billed to insurance companies or Medicare.
Services Not Performed:
Customers or providers bill insurers for services never rendered by changing bills or submitting fake ones.
Medicare Fraud:
Medicare fraud can take the form of any of the health insurance frauds described above. Senior citizens are frequent targets of Medicare schemes, especially by medical equipment manufacturers who offer seniors free medical products in exchange for their Medicare numbers. Because a physician has to sign a form certifying that equipment or testing is needed before Medicare pays for it, con artists fake signatures or bribe corrupt doctors to sign the forms. Once a signature is in place, the manufacturers bill Medicare for merchandise or service that was not needed or was not ordered.
Advance Fee Scheme
An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value, such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift, and then receives little or nothing in return. The variety of advance fee schemes is limited only by the imagination of the con artists who offer them. They may involve the sale of products or services, the offering of investments, lottery winnings, "found money," or many other "opportunities." Clever con artists will offer to find financing arrangements for their clients who pay a "finder's fee" in advance. They require their clients to sign contracts in which they agree to pay the fee when they are introduced to the financing source. Victims often learn that they are ineligible for financing only after they have paid the "finder" according to the contract. Such agreements may be legal unless it can be shown that the "finder" never had the intention or the ability to provide financing for the victims.
Impersonation/Identity Fraud
Impersonation fraud occurs when someone assumes your identity to perform a fraud or other criminal act. Criminals can get the information they need to assume your identity from a variety of sources, such as the theft of your wallet, your trash, or from credit or bank information. They may approach you in person, by telephone, or on the Internet and ask you for the information.The sources of information about you are so numerous that you cannot prevent the theft of your identity. But you can minimize your risk of loss by following a few simple hints.
Some Tips to Avoid Impersonation/Identity Fraud:
Never throw away ATM receipts, credit statements, credit cards, or bank statements in a usable form.
Never give your credit card number over the telephone unless you make the call.
Reconcile your bank account monthly and notify your bank of discrepancies immediately.
Keep a list of telephone numbers to call to report the loss or theft of your wallet, credit cards, etc.
Report unauthorized financial transactions to your bank, credit card company, and the police as soon as you detect them.
Review a copy of your credit report at least once each year. Notify the credit bureau in writing of any questionable entries and follow through until they are explained or removed.
If your identity has been assumed, ask the credit bureau to print a statement to that effect in your credit report.
If you know of anyone who receives mail from credit card companies or banks in the names of others, report it to local or federal law enforcement authorities.
Some Tips to Avoid Impersonation/Identity Fraud:
Never throw away ATM receipts, credit statements, credit cards, or bank statements in a usable form.
Never give your credit card number over the telephone unless you make the call.
Reconcile your bank account monthly and notify your bank of discrepancies immediately.
Keep a list of telephone numbers to call to report the loss or theft of your wallet, credit cards, etc.
Report unauthorized financial transactions to your bank, credit card company, and the police as soon as you detect them.
Review a copy of your credit report at least once each year. Notify the credit bureau in writing of any questionable entries and follow through until they are explained or removed.
If your identity has been assumed, ask the credit bureau to print a statement to that effect in your credit report.
If you know of anyone who receives mail from credit card companies or banks in the names of others, report it to local or federal law enforcement authorities.
Nigerian Letter or "419" Fraud
Nigerian letter frauds combine the threat of impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance fee scheme in which a letter, mailed from Nigeria, offers the recipient the "opportunity" to share in a percentage of millions of dollars that the author, a self-proclaimed government official, is trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria. The recipient is encouraged to send information to the author, such as blank letterhead stationery, bank name and account numbers and other identifying information using a facsimile number provided in the letter. Some of these letters have also been received via E-mail through the Internet. The scheme relies on convincing a willing victim, who has demonstrated a "propensity for larceny" by responding to the invitation, to send money to the author of the letter in Nigeria in several installments of increasing amounts for a variety of reasons.
Payment of taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria. In actuality, the millions of dollars do not exist and the victim eventually ends up with nothing but loss. Once the victim stops sending money, the perpetrators have been known to use the personal information and checks that they received to impersonate the victim, draining bank accounts and credit card balances until the victim's assets are taken in their entirety. While such an invitation impresses most law-abiding citizens as a laughable hoax, millions of dollars in losses are caused by these schemes annually. Some victims have been lured to Nigeria, where they have been imprisoned against their will, in addition to losing large sums of money. The Nigerian government is not sympathetic to victims of these schemes, since the victim actually conspires to remove funds from Nigeria in a manner that is contrary to Nigerian law. The schemes themselves violate section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code, hence the label "419 fraud."
Payment of taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria. In actuality, the millions of dollars do not exist and the victim eventually ends up with nothing but loss. Once the victim stops sending money, the perpetrators have been known to use the personal information and checks that they received to impersonate the victim, draining bank accounts and credit card balances until the victim's assets are taken in their entirety. While such an invitation impresses most law-abiding citizens as a laughable hoax, millions of dollars in losses are caused by these schemes annually. Some victims have been lured to Nigeria, where they have been imprisoned against their will, in addition to losing large sums of money. The Nigerian government is not sympathetic to victims of these schemes, since the victim actually conspires to remove funds from Nigeria in a manner that is contrary to Nigerian law. The schemes themselves violate section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code, hence the label "419 fraud."
If you receive a letter from Nigeria asking you to send personal or banking information, do not reply in any manner. Send the letter to the U.S. Secret Service, your local FBI office, or the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. You can also register a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel.
If you know someone who is corresponding in one of these schemes, encourage that person to contact the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service as soon as possible.
Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as Nigerian or foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
Guard your account information carefully.
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