Sept. 22, 2004

Hi, All;
This Week: More (than you ever wanted to know) about PHISHING - Part 1
Yes, I know I have had several columns on this problem, but it is becoming more rampant and sneakier in emails.
************************************************************************

The following excerpt is from "OUCH: The Report on Identity Theft and Attacks on Computer Users
Volume 1, No. 9. September 8, 2004"
************************************************************************

Major threat this month: Phishing attacks that seem to come from Citibank, Paypal, Citizens Bank and US Bank Phishing attacks have been doubling every month. In a phishing attack, the thieves pretend to be sending you to a reputable site like Citibank and ask for your private data, so they can steal your money or your identity. Recent research reports that one in twenty people are fooled by these types of attacks, which is why the thieves keep at it. One of our goals is to make sure you don't get caught in the scams. Also this month, graphical spam is increasing. Spammers send you a picture of the offer instead of the text of the offer, so that your company or internet provider's spam blockers are powerless to stop them even if they use very bad language. The attacks discussed here are the tip of the iceberg.

To be safe:
1. DON'T open email attachments from anyone unless you know the sender
and you were expecting the attachment.
2. DON'T click on links in emails or web sites unless you can guarantee the email came from someone who is not trying to fool you and that the web site is actually the site you think it is.
3. DON'T disclose private information unless you initiated the need to do so.

************************
What To Avoid This Month
I. Emails from people trying to get you to divulge private details. These are often trying to steal your identity (and your money)
I.1 Maintenance Update (from Citibank)
I.2 PayPal account limited
I.3 Citizens Bank Fraud Verification Process
I.4 Citibank with various subjects and possibly a time stamp
I.5 Attn: Citibank Update
I.6 "notice: US Bank"

(more on this next week)

'Til next week,
(ComputerFAQ#208)


Robert

Please send your questions to

Sept. 22, 2004 More on Phishing, Part 1

Sept. 15, 2004 Who are the ISP's in East County?

Sept. 8, 2004 Screen in Windows XP doesn't refresh

Sept. 1, 2004 From India: Computer doesn't start #2, only LEDs and fan come on

Aug. 25, 2004 From India: Computer doesn't start, doesn't show POST Power On Self Test

Aug. 18, 2004 Reminder- Terrorist Computer Attacks Like During Republican Convention

Aug. 11, 2004 More Phishing

Aug. 4, 2004 Three Old Viruses WORM_BAGLE.AF, WORM_BAGLE.AM, WORM_MYDOOM.M

July 28, 2004 Celebrating the 200th ComputerFAQ

July 21, 2004 Sleep, Standby & Hibernation

July 14, 2004 Parts of Windows Screens, such as Status Bar

July 7, 2004 Parts of Windows Screens, such as Desktop

June 30, 2004 Losing the Address Bar and Accurate Communication

June 23, 2004 Spyware and How to Remove It

June 16, 2004 Suggestions for the iMac writer of June 9

June 9, 2004 MacIntosh User Finds Trick to Display Emailed Photos

June 2, 2004 Internet Options "Cookies" Configuration

May 26, 2004 Internet Options Box #2

May 12&19, 2004 Worm_Sasser.B and Clearing Old URL Addresses from IE

May 5, 2004 The F5 Refresh key and other Function keys

Apr. 28, 2004 First Purchase on Ebay and More on Recycling Computer Eqpt.

Apr. 21, 2004 Repairing a Laser Printer and More about Disposing Used Computer Equipment

Apr. 14, 2004 How to get rid of an old PC

Apr. 7, 2004 Another Virus Alert

Mar. 31, 2004 Keeping Both Home and Ebay Pages Open At the Same Time

Mar. 24, 2004 A Complex Alert about a Very Complex Virus

Mar. 17, 2004 A Hoax Virus Can Cause You To Damage Your Computer

Mar. 10, 2004 Should I Reload Windows?

Mar. 3, 2004 HTML Email Viruses: Disable Preview and Receive Only Text Email

Feb. 25, 2004 Spoofing and Zombies

Feb. 18, 2004 Using Spyware

Feb. 11, 2004 Spyware

Feb. 4, 2004 Phishing and the MyDoom virus

Jan. 28, 2004 Microsoft Extends Support for Windows '98 and ME

Jan. 21, 2004 More Keyboard Shortcuts

Jan. 14, 2004 The Lifesaver "Undo" and Other Keyboard Shortcuts

Jan. 7, 2004 Microsoft quitting support for Windows 95 & 98 plus minimum computer requirements for Windows XP

Dec. 24, 2003 The Trouble with Mice

Dec. 17, 2003 System Restore & Windows Safe Mode

Dec. 10, 2003 Backing Up using an external USB Hard Drive

Dec. 3, 2003 SpamSubtract, a good way to reduce spam, also other ways

Nov. 26, 2003 Disgusted about Spam

Nov. 19, 2003 How Vulnerable is Your Computer to Data Theft?

Nov. 12, 2003 Safely Deleting Thousands of tmp Files

Nov. 5, 2003 Finding the Windows Search Button & Misc Program Problems

Oct. 29, 2003 How to Print a List of Files

Oct. 22, 2003 Fall Cleanup Part 3

Oct. 15, 2003 Fall Cleanup Part 2

Oct. 8, 2003 Fall Cleaning of Your PC

Oct. 1, 2003 Explanation of DSL

Sept. 24, 2003 Installing DSL at the Shopper

Sept. 17, 2003 What New Computer Should I Buy? Part 2

Sept. 10, 2003 What New Computer Should I Buy?

Sept. 3, 2003 Protecting from Viruses and Worms

Aug. 27, 2003 Current Viruses "Bast Worm" and "Sobig"

Aug. 20, 2003 Does Microsoft Password Make Changing Passwords Easier?

Aug. 13, 2003 Passwords and Passport Part 2

Aug. 6, 2003 More About PassPort and Passwords

July 23 & 30, 2003 Where Are Microsoft Passport Passwords Stored? and More About Passport and Passwords

July 16, 2003 Internet Explorer Helpful Hint Part 2

July 9, 2003 Internet Explorer Helpful Hint Part 1

July 2, 2003 Some More Icons Explained

June 25, 2003 Online Ordering

June 18, 2003 Followup on Refilled Ink Cartridges

 

July 05, 2000 Introduction to ComputerFAQ

July 12, 2000 Computer Definitions

July 26, 2000 More Computer Definitions

August 02, 2000 Defining Bits, Bytes and Hex

August 09, 2000 Internet Service Providers (ISP)

August 16, 2000 Backup up your PC

August 23, 2000 Backup Devices.

August 30, 2000 What is the slowest PC for Internet Access

September 06, 2000 PC Nomenclature

September 13, 2000What to do with Mail Attachements.

September 20, 2000What Happens at boot up

October 04, 2000Desktop Areas

October 18, 2000Start Button

October 25, 2000Display Made Bigger

November 01, 2000 More Monitor Controls

November 15, 2000 Right Click Display Menu

November 22, 2000 More on Desktop Menus

November 29, 2000 More on Desktop Menus

December 06, 2000 Desktop Properties Menu - part 1

December 13, 2000 Desktop Properties Menu - part 2

December 20, 2000 Desktop Properties Menu - part 3