Maybe it’s just the specific spam email lists I’ve ended up on, but of late I’ve noticed an inordinate amount of garbage email coming from people named “Mary,” with all different last names. Here’s a sample of my deleted items folder over the last several weeks (I photoshopped out a few messages from legit business contacts named “Mary” that were interspersed with these…this is just the spam):
This isn’t even all of them. Is it just my inbox, or have you noticed this as well?
1 Comment | 
Spam | Tagged: email, Fraud, Mary Mary, Scams, Spam | 
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Posted by Clint
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a collaborative effort between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the FBI, has released its 2011 Internet Crime Report. You can view or download the document here (this requires a PDF reader…if you don’t have one, I recommend Foxit).
It can be somewhat dry reading (fancy title page notwithstanding), but it includes some interesting data. The number of complaints received by the IC3 topped 300,000 for the third year running, a 3.4% increase over 2010 (but still down from the peak in 2009).
Work-at-home scams continue to be one of the top fraud types reported, though FBI impersonation scams brought in large numbers as well. I have some questions about this statistic, though: is the ratio of FBI impersonation fraud to other types reported to the IC3 genuinely reflective of their overall ratio “in the wild” (that is, including examples not reported), or is the incidence of this particular type of fraud being reported much higher than for other types because, if you get an FBI impersonation fraud email and you know it’s a scam, if you run a Google search on the scam, it’s going to direct you to the IC3 or FBI websites, where you’re asked to report it to the IC3?
I may be splitting statistical hairs here, but I’ve got an email address that gets just about every spam, scam and 419 email in the world (lucky me, eh?), and I’ve only seen one or two actual FBI impersonation messages over the past few years. Work-at-home schemes, on the other hand, simply run riot in my spam folder.
In any case, it’s a good overview of what schemes are currently most active, and at a mere 26 pages, it’s nowhere near as dull as most government documents.
Leave a Comment » | Fraud | Tagged: 2011 Internet Crime Report, FBI, FBI impersonation scams, Fraud, IC3, Internet Crime Complaint Center, National White Collar Crime Center, NW3C, Scams, Work-at-Home Scams | Permalink
Posted by Clint
You may have seen news reports or read articles online about credit and debit cards that contain RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips. These devices are used to make it possible to use a card without swiping it through a reader (those Speedpass things at the gas station use this technology).
However, according to some sources, it’s possible for thieves to use electronic devices to steal the information on these chips without your consent, by simply passing close enough to your wallet to be within range. On one hand, retailers who sell aluminum wallets would have you believe that the only way to protect yourself is to purchase their wares. But they sort of have a vested interest in making you believe that, right?
On the other hand, an actual occurrence of thieves using this method to access credit or debit cards has never been reported. On the other other hand (we’re up to three hands, if you’re keeping track), if someone’s information was stolen through a handheld RFID reader, they wouldn’t really have a way to pinpoint it as the way their information was compromised. After all, tons of fraud and identity theft victims simply have no idea how the crime occurred.
Here’s something that might make you feel safer, though: one piece of information RFID chips don’t transmit is the verification code (the three digits on the back of the card). Without this, the rest of the information transmitted would be of very little use to a thief. Some businesses may allow a transaction without this information, but most do not. Also, newer RFID chips aren’t readable except from very close up, and many are encrypted as well.
But here’s a fairly foolproof way to be safe: carry more than one RFID chip-enabled card. Together they create a jumble of information that is utterly worthless to thieves. Alternatively, you could just carry no cards at all, but let’s face it: these days, that may not be the most convenient option.
Or I suppose you could buy one of those aluminum wallets. Some of them at least look sort of cool. If you’re on a budget, you could just wrap all your cards in aluminum foil, but you might get people asking you where your tinfoil hat is.
Leave a Comment » | Fraud | Tagged: aluminum wallets, Credit Card Fraud, credit cards, debit cards, electronic pickpocketing, Fraud, RFID, RFID chips | Permalink
Posted by Clint
From: Harry Lucas (Advocate) [mailto:harry-lucas@lawyer.com]
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 4:22 PM
To: undisclosed recipients:
Subject: BEQUEST NOTICE
Attach: bequest.pdfAttention! BEQUEST NOTICE, open attachment for details.
I’m going to venture an informed guess here and say that, should you receive a message like this one, whatever else you do, you really, really should not open that attachment. Whatever is in it, you don’t want it.
Leave a Comment » | Malware | Tagged: email, Malware, Scams, trojan horse, virus | Permalink
Posted by Clint
I’ve already covered how you’re not getting a $1,000 Walmart Gift Card just for liking a page on Facebook.
Now there’s a text message version of the scam that directs victims to a website that asks for personal information.
At this point, I think we can call out a general identity theft and scam prevention tip, one you can keep in the back of your mind for all time:
You’re probably never going to get a free $1,000 Walmart gift card, ever.
Read that, then read it again. Remember it for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter which communication channel the alleged offer shows up through, it’s a scam.
Facebook or Twitter? Scam.
Email? Scam.
Text message? Same deal.
Phone call? You guessed it.
Pony Express? Scam, but you’d have to admire their dedication, if nothing else.
I suppose there might be a scenario in which you could win a gift card, such as a raffle at your church or other reputable organization. But you have to actively enter to be eligible for those. People don’t just contact you out of the blue to give away massive gift cards. It would be nice if they did, but wishing something is true does nothing to alter the cold, hard facts.
1 Comment | Identity Theft, SMiShing | Tagged: Fraud, Identity Theft, Scams, SMiShing, text message scam, Walmart, Walmart gift card scam | Permalink
Posted by Clint
