If you see a link to a suspicious web site do a google search on it with scam or fraud.
e.g. search for xxx.com (fraud OR scam) where xxx is the site url.
Hottest hoaxes / urban Ledgends in the summer of 2007 according to Snopes:
Most of the top 25 in the summer of 2008 had to do with Barack Obama. True | False
1.
Do not open any email message with an attached filed called "Invitation". It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer.
2.
You can receive a cash reward for forwarding messages to test a Microsoft/AOL e-mail tracking system.
3.
The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act seeks to require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing mastectomies.
4.
Starbucks or Oscar Mayer refused free product to G.I.s serving in Iraq, saying it didn't support the war and anyone in it.
5.
E-mail messages stating "Osama bin Laden Captured" and "Osama bin Laden Hanged" had attachments or links which installed trojan horses on your computer.
6.
New dollar coins were designed eliminating the motto "In God We Trust".
7.
New Navy ship "USS New York" was being built using steel from the World Trade Center.
8.
A college student evades a rapist by dialing #77 on her cell phone.
9.
Proposal from Nancy Pelosi to implement a 100% tax on stock market windfall profits.
10.
Document by comedian Jay Leno urges Americans to focus on the positive.
Terms:
Malware
Malware is a hybrid of the phrase " malicious software ". Malware is an all encompassing catch-all term to describe any program whose function is at least partially malicious. Spyware and Adware are types of malware. Malware also includes viruses, worms and trojans.
Spyware - Adware
Spyware represents a wide range of software ranging from the relatively harmless to the highly dangerous. It does not self replicate like worms or viruses but can be equally destructive if not more so.
In it's least malicious form spyware is used as a marketing tool by looking at what banner ads you look at or your web surfing habits in order to target you with specific pop-up ads.
At its most destructive and dangerous, spyware can perform real-time tracking and recording from a remote location of all the keyboard presses made on an unsuspecting user's computer - including the recording of private and personal information such as usernames, passwords and bank account details.
See: Virus - Security Page in Technology in technology
Fake Check Scams
Consumers paid with phony checks for work or items sold, instructed to wire money back. See Overpayment scam
Nigerian Money Offers (419 scams)
False promises of riches if consumers pay to transfer money to their bank accounts. 419 refers to the part of the Nigerian criminal code covering this.
Pfishing
A term denoting "spoofed" emails and fraudulent Websites that look like they are legitimate banks (e.g. PayPal, Bank of America),
designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as
credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security
numbers, etc. By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online
retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5%
of recipients to respond to them.
