Hoaxes, Spam and Fraud
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As we continue to rely on the internet to a greater extent it becomes incumbent upon us to do our part in putting a stop to hoaxes, spam and frauds. Below you will find a number of links that will allow you to be a little more informed as to how you can achieve this. Whether it is refraining from passing along that "incredulous" story or recognizing fraud ,identity theft schemes or a potential security or virus threat the links below will help. There is no easy cure however if we continue to educate ourselves, keep up to date on the issues ,and remain vigilant we will be doing our part to help stem this growing tide.
Hoaxes & Scams
Before you forward that email please check it out here
http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp There are a lot of viruses out there. But some aren't really out there at all. Virus hoaxes are more than mere annoyances, as they may lead some users to routinely ignore all virus warning messages, leaving them vulnerable to a genuine, destructive virus. Next time you receive an urgent virus warning message, be sure to check the list of known virus hoaxes above.
http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/security_response/threatexplorer/risks/hoaxes.jsp
Symantec Security Response uncovers hoaxes on a regular basis. These hoaxes usually arrive in the form of an email. Please disregard the hoax emails - they contain bogus warnings usually intent only on frightening or misleading users. The best course of action is to merely delete these hoax emails. Please refer to this page whenever you receive what appears to be a bogus message regarding a new virus, or promotion that sounds too good to be true.
This site is no longer active and will no doubt eventually disappear entirely. The site had been supported and funded by the US Department of energy for the last 13 years. In addition to describing hoaxes and chain letters found on the Internet, they discussed how to recognize hoaxes, what to do about them, and some of the history of hoaxes on the Internet. The above links are still active for the time being and the general information contained therein is still valid.
Fraud
Please take the time to visit these sites operated by various Canadian and American Government organizations dedicated to fighting internet frauds and scams.
Established in January of 1993, Phone Busters is a national anti-fraud call centre jointly operated by the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Phone Busters plays a key role in educating the public about specific fraudulent telemarketing pitches. Phone Busters is the central agency in Canada that collects information on telemarketing, advanced fee fraud letters (Nigerian letters) and identity theft complaints. The information is disseminated to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. The data collected at Phone Busters is a valuable tool in evaluating the effects of various types of fraud on the public. It also helps to prevent future similar crimes from taking place. Here is a booklet in PDF http://www.phonebusters.com/english/documents/CanadianGuide-el_000.pdf 1.9mb
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/cyberfraud.htm This site is operated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The Internet serves as an excellent tool for investors, allowing them to easily and inexpensively research investment opportunities. But the Internet is also an excellent tool for fraudsters. That's why you should always think twice before you invest your money in any opportunity you learn about through the Internet. This alert tells you how to spot different types of Internet fraud, what the SEC is doing to fight Internet investment scams, and how to use the Internet to invest wisely.
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/internet/ This US Department of Justice outlines the major types of internet crime. In general, the same types of fraud schemes that have victimized consumers and investors for many years before the creation of the Internet are now appearing online (sometimes with particular refinements that are unique to Internet technology). With the explosive growth of the Internet, and e-commerce in particular, online criminals try to present fraudulent schemes in ways that look, as much as possible, like the goods and services that the vast majority of legitimate e-commerce merchants offer. In the process, they not only cause harm to consumers and investors, but also undermine consumer confidence in legitimate e-commerce and the Internet. Here are some of the major types of Internet fraud that law enforcement and regulatory authorities and consumer organizations are seeing:
This is an excellent resource especially for seniors and families of seniors. Sponsored by the US National Consumers League.
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