31. October 2007 by admin.

Federal Trade Commission Spoofed Email

added October 30, 2007 at 11:18 am | updated October 31, 2007 at 08:09 am
US-CERT is aware of fraudulent email messages purporting to be from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Fraud Department”. These messages refer to a complaint filed against the email’s recipient and appear to be from “frauddep@ftc.gov”. The email messages contain a link to malicious software and should not be followed. Please see the Federal Trade Commission website for additional information.

More information can also be found in the US-CERT Cyber Security Alert SA07-303A.

US-CERT encourages users to take the following preventative measures to help mitigate this risk:

• Do not follow unsolicited links in email messages.
• Install anti-virus software, and keep its virus signature files up-to-date.
• Review the Reducing Spam Cyber Security Tip.
• Review the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks Cyber Security Tip.

Source: produced by US-CERT

Posted in Internet Crime | No Comments »

30. October 2007 by admin.

#1: LEAD BY EXAMPLE!!
¨: Educate your children about not sharing personal information
¨Emphasize the importance of NOT making a lot of online acquaintances and talking with them about sex.
¨Be reasonable
–Don’t pull the plug on the computer!
¨Be open with your children and encourage them to come to you when they come across a problem
–Remember laws, rules, hardware, and software cannot replace YOU as the first line of defense.
¨Encourage Internet access take place in a central area of the home
¨Encourage your kids to share e-mail, instant messages, and online profiles with you.
¨CREATE A SAFETY PLEDGE FOR PARENTS AND ALL CHILDREN TO SIGN. (Place on all computers within household that children have access to.)

Posted in Internet Safety, General | No Comments »

26. October 2007 by admin.

California Wildfires Spawn Phishing Sites
added October 26, 2007 at 03:15 pmUS-CERT has received reports of multiple phishing sites that attempt to trick users into donating funds to fraudulent foundations in the aftermath of the California Wildfires. US-CERT warns users to expect an increase in targeted phishing emails due to the recent events in California.Phishing emails may appear as requests from a charitable organization asking the users to click on a link that will then take them to a fraudulent site that appears to be a legitimate charity. The users are then asked to provide personal information that can further expose them to future compromises.Users are encouraged to take the following measures to protect themselves from this type of phishing attack:1. Do not follow unsolicited web links received in email messages.
2. Contact your financial institution immediately if you believe your account/and or financial information has been compromised.

For additional information regarding phishing, US-CERT recommends reading the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks document.

Source: produced by US-CERT

Posted in Internet Crime | No Comments »

26. October 2007 by admin.

Welcome to the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Gibson County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Garnett heads-up investigations related to cyber and computer related crimes. Our goal is to have this area of our website act as an information portal for anyone wanting to gather more information on computer-related crimes. We have created an Internet Safety discussion area on our forums for citizens to participate in discussion. Cyber and computer related crimes is an area that continues to evolve and change regularly. We will continue to add and update this page on our website. Also if you want to add comments to any of articles that are posted, we encourage you to do so. To prevent spam you must register and provide a valid e-mail address. Once your first comment is posted it will be reviewed before being published. This should take no longer than 24 hours.

You can contact our cyber crime unit by sending an e-mail to cybercrime-at-gibsoncountysheriff dot com

(NOTE: please drag mouse over and copy & paste e-mail address into our e-mail header. DO NOT click on link)

Posted in General | No Comments »

25. October 2007 by admin.

# The most correct answer…No one knows. Estimates range from 200 million to 1.6 billion web pages. AOL alone sends and receives approximately 600 million emails….a day!
# May 2007: Netcraft LTD survey received responses from 118,023,363 sites, an increase of 4.4 million sites from April. The internet has added 12.8 million web sites thus far this year, on pace with growth in 2006, when the Web gained a record 30.9 million sites.

Posted in General | No Comments »

25. October 2007 by admin.

This is not a new e-mail scam, but it has resurfaced and we have received a few complaints recently from residents receiving the same or a similar e-mail.

==========================================================

—– Original Message —–
From: john frank
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 6:09 AM
Subject: get back to me immediately

This is the only way I could contact you for now,I want you to be
very careful about this and keep this secret with you until I make
out space for us to see. You have no need of knowing who I am or
where I am from.I know this may sound very surprising to you but
it’s the situation.i have been paid some ransom in advance to
terminate you with some reasons listed to me by my employer.It’s
someone I believe you call a friend, I have followed you closely for
a while now and have seen that you are innocent of the accusations
he leveled against you. Do not contact the police or try to send a
copy of this to them,because if you do, I will know,and might be
pushed to do what I have been paid to this is the 1st time I turn
out to be a betrayer in my job. I took pity on you,that is why I
have made up my mind to help you if you are willing to help yourself.
Now listen,I will arrange for us to see face to face,but before
that, I need $6000. I will come to your home or you determine where
you wish we meet;I repeat, do not arrange for the cops and if you
play hard to get, it will be extended to your family.Do not set
any camera to cover us or set up any tape to record our
conversation, my employer is in my
control now.
Payment details will be provided for you to make a part payment of
$3000 first,which will serve as guarantee that you are ready to
co-operate,then one of my boys will deliver a copy of the video
tape to you that contains his request for me to terminate you(I
tape recorded our conversation),which will be enough evidence for
you to take any
legal action against him.i advice you be fast about this before he
employs another person for the job. You will pay the balance of
$3000 once you receive the tape.
Warning; do not contact the police, make sure you stay indoors
once it is 7.30pm until this whole thing is sorted out,if you
neglect any of these warnings, you will have yourself to blame.
You do not have much time,so get back to me immediately Note:I
will advise you keep this to yourself alone, not even a friend or
a family member should know about it because it could be one of
them.
contact me for now on this e mail: xxxxx@hotmail.com
Good Luck.

==========================================================

Posted in Internet Crime | No Comments »