...have been recognized as by the US Congress as powerful means of helping people to avoid being victimized by advance fee loan scams and other types of financial fraud. Social media is a powerful force, reaching millions of people. The user-friendly design of the major social networking groups encourages users from all age groups and skill sets to communicate and to share information. That is exactly why social media has attracted the attention of government officials and consumer advocate organizations as a tool in the fight against advance fee loan scams. Knowledge is the best protection a person has against this type of financial predator. Social media plays two very important roles in raising public awareness by helping spread loan scam knowledge far and wide. Advance fee loan scams, as recently reported by DirectLendingSolutions.com, continue to evolve, shifting their form, gathering a phony aura of legitimacy from what is in the public eye. When the government got involved in trying to help ease the foreclosure crisis, for example, advance fee loan modification scams began to proliferate. The site has been publishing people's loan scam experiences since 2007, and reading those first hand experiences clearly demonstrates that despite shifts in form and detail, the fundamental structure of an advance fee loan scam remains the same. These sorts of scams have become a financial industry scourge, moving government officials and consumer advocacy groups to action. Congress requested...
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...has recently been gaining increasing notice from the public due to productions like the MTV show Catfish and the general increase of occurrences. Because of this, one would think that the attempts at intervention to try and stop this type of scam would increase also, but in reality no real progress has been made. The key to reversing the issue of online dating scams is identity verification. Both government legislation and social media sites, like Match.com or Facebook, have made fairly feeble attempts to protect users. Professor Aunshul Rege, a professor at Temple University in Pennsylvania, specializes in cybercrime and stresses the role dating sites play in the advancement of...
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...CYBER SCAM AND ITS EFFECTS November 27, 2011 SUBMITTED BY: FETALVER, FRANCIS VIOLETA, ROGENE CRIS SUBMITTED TO: MRS. MARY GRACE P. ALFANTA I Introduction Background of the Study Experts and law-enforcement officials who track Internet crime say scams have intensified in the past six months, as fraudsters take advantage of economic confusion and anxiety to target both consumers and businesses. Thieves are sending out phony emails and putting up fake Web sites pretending to be banks, mortgage-service providers or even government agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Cell phones and Internet-based phone services have also been used to seek out victims. The object: to drain customer accounts of money or to gain information for identity theft. Most scams are done by e-mail (Spam). They entice users to give them critical information like usernames, passwords, credit card information, or other types of account information. Most of these e-mails can easily be identified as fraudulent, by identifying a couple of general characteristics. If someone pretending to represent a company or organization contact you by e-mail to supply them with usernames, passwords or other critical information by e-mail, then you can be certain it’s fraudulent. Today we have something we call SSL (Secure Socket Layer). E-mail is one of the most un-secure methods to send user information and passwords. Most organizations...
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...Why or why not ? 1.Spamming - Social Networking Sites can sell one's personal information to anyone who wants to buy it, including spammers and on line predators. Even if the terms of understanding claim that no personal information will be sold, the site can change its policy at any time. social networking sites like Myspace and Bebo are full of spam and scams! Many users receive emails nearly every day from anonymous users asking to date and chat on other websites. It continuously becomes frustrating to receive all these useless spam emails and no solution is being revised. Other Scam is an extra problem for the users. Unfortunately, some scammers trick members and scam them in so many ways to steal their accounts. A ordinary recognized trick could be through a phishing website which looks very similar to Facebook and fools people in believing that they are still on the official Facebook website. Once a member logs in using the email and password, scammers can now access his account and scam his friends, spreading further spam and malware through the website. Fake websites can also steal your bank information if consumers fall prey to their advertisements. If you have never come across a problem like this before, it is your responsibility to avoid such a threat and keep your information secure. 2.Privacy Issues - Endangerment to one's Privacy is one of topmost concern of those using these services. Social Networking Sites require or give a person, the option to provide personal...
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...Why or why not ? 1.Spamming - Social Networking Sites can sell one's personal information to anyone who wants to buy it, including spammers and on line predators. Even if the terms of understanding claim that no personal information will be sold, the site can change its policy at any time. social networking sites like Myspace and Bebo are full of spam and scams! Many users receive emails nearly every day from anonymous users asking to date and chat on other websites. It continuously becomes frustrating to receive all these useless spam emails and no solution is being revised. Other Scam is an extra problem for the users. Unfortunately, some scammers trick members and scam them in so many ways to steal their accounts. A ordinary recognized trick could be through a phishing website which looks very similar to Facebook and fools people in believing that they are still on the official Facebook website. Once a member logs in using the email and password, scammers can now access his account and scam his friends, spreading further spam and malware through the website. Fake websites can also steal your bank information if consumers fall prey to their advertisements. If you have never come across a problem like this before, it is your responsibility to avoid such a threat and keep your information secure. 2.Privacy Issues - Endangerment to one's Privacy is one of topmost concern of those using these services. Social Networking Sites require or give a person, the option to provide personal...
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...10 Internet Scam 1. Phishing scams Phishing email try to trick the intended victim into visiting a fraudulent website disguised to look like a valid eCommerce or banking site. The victim thinks they are logging into their real account, but instead everything they enter on the fake site is being sent to the scammers. Armed with this information, the scammer can wipe out the victim's accounts, run up their credit cards, or even steal their identity. 2.Nigerian 419 Scams Nigerian 419 scams (aka Advanced Fee Fraud) date back to the days when fax machines and snail mail were the primary business communication tools. Today, email is the preferred method of these scammers and there are more Nigerian 419 Advanced Fee Fraud scams - and victims - than ever before. 3. Lottery Winning Scams Lottery winner scams attempt to trick recipients into believing they have won large sums of cash, and then bilks them out of their own dough in a similar fashion to the Nigerian 419 scam. 4.Scareware Scams Scareware erroneously claims the system is infected and instructs the user to purchase a 'full version' in order to clean the bogus infections. Sometimes, fake antivirus software gets installed by the user who became a victim to an advertising scam. Other times, a rogue antispyware scanner may be installed by exploit, a so called 'drive-by install'. Regardless of how the rogue software gets installed, the user is often left with a hijacked, crippled system. To avoid becoming a victim, before installing...
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...Scams on the Internet Charity Rittman Com/150 Dr. Maisah Robinson May 14, 2010 Scams on the Internet Thieves are always finding ways to steal individual’s money or personal information. The Internet, phone and the United States mail service have quickly become preferred methods of perpetrating crimes. These mediums provide predators with a safe platform to run scams with little risk of their identities revealed. Knowledge and education are the keys to confronting these types of crimes. The e-mails have misspellings, poor grammar and run-on-sentences. Please keep in mind that common sense is the best defense concerning cons and scams: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and if something does not seem attainable, it probably is not. If anyone receives these bogus e-mails do not reply or click on any links attached to it; attachments may contain codes or viruses that could infect the person computer. The scams now being implemented are too numerous to list, though most are just a different version of scams previously used and found to be successful for these would be successful for these would-be criminals. The tricks and scams are the same just different people doing the same con games. The internet has made it easy to retrieve information, almost an open book to anyone with a computer. Some of the favorite frauds are: • Ponzi schemes promise high returns , early investor only benefit • Affinity fraud use religious...
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...technology as a mainstay in their life through the use of gadgets such as the computer, smartphones and tablets to name a few. The ability to pay bills online, shop for clothing and food, communicate with family and friends through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have most people young and old taking the leap of faith onto the internet bandwagon. In fact, having access to such a vast array of information has open up a plethora of opportunities to include finding love online. While most people welcome this opportunity to find their true love using this alternative there are those who do not share their enthusiasm. Neil Postman the author of Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology believes that America has become too reliant on technology and as such has become a slave to it. He writes that the acceptance of technology as the master means that “a new kind of social order” is inevitable and will lead to “rapid dissolution of much that is associated with traditional beliefs (1992, pg. 71). “ Postman’s beliefs regarding America’s obsession with technology has not stifled people in their pursuit of romance; despite the risks involved such as scams, identity fraud and the stigmas that have been identified with this type of romance, people continue to seek true love. Finding love the traditional way such as face to face is still the preferred method for some people, therefore they do not look upon online romances favorably. In a study conducted by Anderson...
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...internet provides us with facilities and information man couldn’t imagine of having within a few seconds a few decades ago. Today, we take it for granted. One of the boons of the internet is Social Networking websites. For many, social networking IS the internet. Ever since the innovation of social networking websites, more and more people are beginning to use the internet. These sites help us stay in touch with friends and family all over the world, and staying in touch is just the beginning. Social networking has changed the world, and is constantly doing so. There have been suggestions that social networking is only a “fad” and will soon go out of “fashion”. But is it really just a fad or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Social networking has facilitated so many processes like advertising, marketing; it increases the job opportunities, and spreads news faster than ever, it is used for recruitment by companies, for sharing pictures, experiences…almost everything. Social media is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “a form of electronic communication (as for web sites for social networking and micro-blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages and other content as videos. We live in a society where communication is the key to everything. People want to know about what’s happening in the lives of their friends, relatives and even their favorite idols. Today,...
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...Tax refund scams is a rapidly growing and costly financial crime in the United States. Wifredo Ferrer, the inspector general at the Department of Treasury has estimated that by 2016 tax refund scams will cost tax payers $21 billion (Rosen, 2014). The Fiscal Times reports that in 2013, $5.2 billion has been defrauded from the federal government in fraudulent tax refunds. Although this number is shockingly high, auditors believe that the actual number is much higher (Ehley, 2014). To illustrate how costly this crime is, Treasury Department auditors found that in 2012 an estimated $3.3 million has been issued to a single address in Lansing, Michigan through 2,137 refunds (Ehley, 2014). What has contributed to this type of fraud is rise in online tax filing where con artist can use stolen identity to file a phony tax return. Another cause of surge in this type of fraud is that the law requires the government to send a refund checks within six weeks after an individual files the tax return (Rosen, 2014). However, it may take employer several months before they make W2 forms available. For this reason con artist can get away with fraudulent tax refunds as long as they file a bogus tax return before a legitimate one is received (Rosen, 2014). In fact, Corey Williams, one of the known tax refund con artist, has illustrated just how easy it is to commit this type of fraud in his 60 Minute interview with Steve Kroft. Williams explains that he was able to buy a list of stolen identities...
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...| Internet Scam Artists | | | [Type the author name] | 4/25/2012 | Abstract Scam Artists have been around for centuries. As technology increased so has a new breed of con artist; the online scammer. Using the Internet, the online scammer has become more successful in defrauding a large target audience. This success is the focus of much concern in the past few years. Much is being done on multiple levels of government and within the public and private sectors; online fraud is still continuing to thrive. As long as the scammer is motivated by greed and able to deceive others, fraud will always be in existence. This paper examines the emergence of the scammer in cyberspace. Furthermore, I will discuss a few tactics and methods the online scammer uses in their attempt to successfully deceive others. It will provide a profile of those individuals who are victimized by scammers. Finally, it will list the steps being taken to help deal with the issue of online fraud. Scammers: Who They Are And Motives Virtual scam-artists are similar to the traditional scam artists encountered in the real world. Their fundamental motive is greed. However, there is one distinct difference; they utilize a completely different means in their mission to ultimately accomplish their goal of successfully deceiving others. The traditional scammer starts their venture off in a similar manner to that of a business entrepreneur. In regards to financing their operation, a relatively...
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...report on a security breach involving the white house and the state department. This attack was done allegedly by Russian hackers in an attempt to gain states secrets. The hackers had gained access to the state departments computers via a phishing email attack. The attack was found out by suspicious activity that was happening on the white house computers. This attack allowed them full access to the state department’s computers and eventually they were able to convince someone to give them access to the white house’s non classified systems where sensitive information like the presidents non-published schedule and other information. The state department had been battling the hackers for months on trying to keep the hackers out but with no success at doing so. The systems were taken off line in an attempt to purge the mal-ware that was installed that gave the access to the systems and for new security measures to be put into place to help prevent future attacks on the systems. (Prokupecz, 2015) The attack was done by using a phishing scam. The way this works is first someone sends a message to a user, in this case it was by an email, trying to convince the user that they are someone from inside their work place, representing an event from the work place, or represents themselves as a trusted source. They then get the user to click on a web link that takes them to a fake website. Once at the site the hacker then downloads a malware virus that does several things. The first it...
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...computer is used in every home, school, and business in America. Social networking has become a very important to communicate with others. However, people are now finding friends and romance via the internet with major websites like Twitter, Facebook, and dating sites connecting people around the world. Dating online began around the 1990's but carried with it the stigma that only desperate people used the web to search for love; however today, that stigma is completely gone and online dating websites currently attract millions of users every day, and the industry as a whole is making hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Online dating provides a way for people to meet prospective partners and to get to know them through e-mails and chats. Dating online is straight forward a person becomes acquainted with another one through the process of e-mail or social media websites like eHarmony and Facebook. The two people then try to explore their compatibility by finding out their dislikes and likes, before meeting face-to-face. There are numerous websites a person can explore when trying to find just the right match. Privacy settings, scams, or being “catfished” have always been an issue when looking for love online. With all this new technology we tend to be less social and become more attached to our phones and computers. Should we really trust online dating websites to find us matches, when we really don't know if that person on the picture is really them? One of the first...
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...★ Chapter Two ★ Site Location 101: How Companies Decide Where to Expand or Relocate [As a businessman] I never made an investment decision based on the Tax Code . . . [I]f you are giving money away I will take it. If you want to give me inducements for something I am going to do anyway, I will take it. But good business people do not do things because of inducements, they do it because they can see that they are going to be able to earn the cost of capital out of their own intelligence and organization of resources. — Paul O’Neill, former CEO of Alcoa and President George W. Bush’s first Secretary of the Treasury 1 How companies decide where to expand or relocate is not rocket science. Their decision-making process is driven by business basics; subsidies rarely make a difference. The trouble is, the way the system is rigged, companies are getting huge subsidies to go where they would go anyway. Here’s a typical search process. A company of substantial size will usually hire a site location consultant to perform the research on new locations. If the company doesn’t use a consultant, it will assign lead duties to one of its divisions, usually real estate or finance. In either case, a management team will coordinate with the consultant or internal lead, providing input about what the company needs, from operations, sales, and other departments. The company—let’s call it Acme Widget—says to the consultant: to make widgets, we need a location that has plenty of workers who ...
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...there are multiple signs as well as ways to prevent these types of scams. Some signs are evident to some and hidden to others. This part of the report on st. Jude will include the most common ways people can identify a scam and how St. Jude is legitimate. As seen One of the most common charity scams include donations required to be in cash or wire transfer. Cash contributions are easily lost or stolen simply because they are easily...
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