When people feel this way, one of the opportunities that will evenutally knock on their doors is Multi Level Marketing (MLM). There are other names for it – network marketing, social marketing, direct distributing. Legally speaking, most of the legitimate companies that use this form of marketing are not pyramid schemes. At least not legally. However, they do strongly resemble pyramids in their structure.

Some people do make money with these opportunities. A few make really good money! However, often what you are told or shown isn’t the whole picture. The vast majority of people lose money in these businesses. If you’re meeting with someone about an opportunity like this, be forewarned with the information from these sites.

Pyramid Scheme Alert

PSA purports itself to be a non-profit, donation driven organization dedicated to revealing the truth about multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes. Founder Robert FitzPatrick has written a book on the topic and has been consulted as a professional by different media outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

Here you can find information on legal proceedings against MLM companies, news about them, and alerts as well. PSA does have an e-mail list that you can sign up for, to get regular information.

I find the site fairly well organized and easy to use. It appears to have the most in-depth information of the sites listed here.

MLM Survivor

This is a bit of a different site, in that it is a site within a site. What the heck does that mean? Well, MLMSurvivor has had a site since 1999 that featured information about Quixtar/Amway, Equinox/Trek Alliance and other MLM’s.You can get to it by clicking on the Original MLMSurvivor Site link.

The original site has hundreds of pages of personal stories, research, and an MLMSurvivorsClub with over 8,000 members on Yahoo! Groups.That site is somewhat wrapped inside a new blog that functions a bit more like a news site.

It appears to have been only recently resurrected, with just a few posts starting late last October. Looks like Amway is in the courts again.

The Pink Lighthouse

Just in case it seems like all these sites are about Amway, well, they aren’t. The Pink Lighthouse is a blog put together by a former Mary Kay Consultant. It sure seems that the pink isn’t all that you might think!

There are dozens of personal stories to be found here. Perhaps the most common thread between them all is that the products are great! However, the personalities that they had to work with (more like work for) was the biggest problem. Lots of inventory purchasing that seldom gets sold and tons of pressure to keep buying inventory just so the upline can make their monthly goals. Apparently Mary Kay isn’t an MLM, but rather a Dual Marketing system. I’m not sure what that means, but I do know you can put lipstick on a pig and it’s still a pig.

After you’ve read through these sites, I can see how you wouldn’t touch an MLM pyramid scheme with someone else’s ten foot pole. Yet still, the fact remains that there are people that make money with some of these business and there are even a few that have made millions. The question then remains, are you willing to do what it takes? Statistics only would say the odds are against you.

Have you had an MLM pyramid scheme experience, good or bad? Do you know of any other resources you’d recommend to people checking out MLM’s? You’d be doing us all a favour by sharing them in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Social sites like Facebook are built around communities. In the real world, a community is a safe haven, but it’s not so in the digital world because of its faceless nature and facebook impostors. Social hacking is a term that was born from this very phenomenon. Just to give you an example…

You get a link on your profile from a friend (or a username which sounds like a friend). It’s just a casual click on that link which lures you to a web page asking for some personal details. A person who is not aware of terms like phishing or malware falls prey to this cleverly disguised scam attack from Facebook impostors. Malware links can even infiltrate your accounts and leech away profile info like passwords and addresses. Or even more seriously, bank account numbers. That itself can set of a domino effect as the others in your contact book start getting attack mails from your account.

Social networking sites like Facebook have a huge user base. Facebook alone has more than 300 million users. Even if a small percentage of infiltration attempts succeed (and they do), you can do the math.

Protecting your Facebook profile from scammers and spammers requires serious ammo. The first fortifications are of course the security firewalls and countermeasures employed by Facebook itself. But just like any other war, the foot soldier is the most important piece around which the battle can turn. The foot soldier is you and what you do to protect your account. Facebook gives you some privacy controls to help you thwart spammer snoops.

Here’s the checklist on how to configure your profile to protect yourself from scammers –

Stop Facebook Impostors – Configure the Privacy Settings

This is the first port of call. After you log-in, on the top right corner of the blue bar you will see the Settings link. Hover over it to get the dropdown and the Privacy Settings.

The Privacy page is all about allowing or disallowing others from looking at all the information on your Facebook page. Information can be broadcasted from your profile, a Facebook search result with your name, what gets written on Wall Posts, news feeds of your recent activities, and from the applications you authorize to pull information from your page.

The great thing about Facebook is that it allows us to configure each small part of our profile (see screenshot above). This is what we should be aware of.

Be aware of your friends

• Social sites make it very easy to add friends with a click. Soon enough we have an unmanageable bunch. Organizing friends into groups or Friend Lists is one way. Profile views can be set for Everyone, Only Friends, Friends of Friends or customized for specific Friend Lists. You can also exclude certain friends/Friend Lists.
• On the Privacy page, click on Profile. Control who gets to see each bit of information by clicking the dropdown and selecting one. You can also click Customize to further fine tune the selections. Never set it to Everyone – that’s like opening the front door. Also, remember that your friends might have other friends who are absolute strangers to you.



• One absolute area that you should keep private is the Contact Information. You can set it to No one.
• Save all changes.

Be invisible – remove yourself from searches

Given Facebook’s high search listing, anybody (say, scammers) searching for you or some area of related interest would find it easy. When you sign up, the default setting allows everyone to search for you. Later, one way to discourage that is by removing yourself from public search listing and also controlling your visibility from within Facebook.

• From the Privacy page, click on Search to access the settings for search. Under the heading Public Search Listing, deselect the option to create a public search listing of your profile.
• To cloak yourself further, you can control your search visibility from within Facebook by selecting Only Friends for Search Visibility. And then tighten up security by setting what they get to see in your public profile.

Caution with applications

Third party applications have given Facebook a good name and sometimes have left it red faced too. Third party applications with doubtful roots could be spyware by another name. Applications which you authorize need your profile info to work and sometimes that of your friends in the network (that also goes for apps installed by your friends). To cite another example, quizzes and puzzles are fun but they can influence you to reveal some personal information. So, tread on the side of caution.

• From the Privacy page, click on Applications. The Overview describes the situations in which an application accesses your information. From the Settings page you can checkmark the types of information your friends can see about you through applications.
• You can also go to the Applications page (click on Applications on the foot bar) and edit the privacy settings for each individual application. A privacy setting controls the status display on your Facebook profile page.

Screen your messages

A scam behind a Facebook impostor’s message is the oldest trick in the scammer’s book. Beware of messages which ask for personal information or cash/donations. Even if you receive a message from a pal asking for sensitive information or monetary help, verify the request with a phone call. You can also do an authenticity check by asking questions which can be back-checked.

Be wary of direct links

Don’t click on direct links that you get in messages or wall postings especially from unknown sources. They could be a ruse to malware sites or fake login sites. Look at each link carefully before being trigger happy with your mouse. A genuine link can be made out by looking up the domain name with a Google search. Though with a shortened URL, it could be a problem. Many links direct the user to a fake Facebook login page which can compromise your password. Facebook usually never asks you to log-in again to view another page.

Community rip-offs

Joining a community may get you a bunch of contacts in one go. But it can also be a scam trap if the community is a sham. Fake communities could serve as marketing gimmicks, often with the intent of building mass mailing lists. Select your community and look around the member profiles before jumping in.

These are just some of the ways we can guard against scam attacks. The best way of course, is to click logout and pick up the telephone. But that’s like picking up paranoia and ditching the fun of social networking. Simple precautions like choosing a secure password, familiarity with all the security options and safe browsing habits can keep us protected. For more Facebook security tips, check out Mahendra’s post – 10 Solid Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy.

What other tips do you think can help to keep our guard up? And leave the scammers dry…

Image Credit: Jesse Gardner

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Here is an example of one of these roguee programs. It is called Antivirus 2008 and there is another called Antivirus 2009 that looks identical to it but with the different year. If you have never seen anything like this… Then good for you! You are doing a great job at security (or you are using a Mac or Nix’ box!)

I’ve found a great free app that helps remove fake antivirus applications. It’s aptly called Remove Fake Antivirus. Check out the list of applications that it detects and removes. Each of these links will take you to the author’s blogspot which will tell you more about the threat.

1. Cyber Security
2. Alpha Antivirus
3. Braviax
4. Windows Police Pro
5. Antivirus Pro 2010
6. PC Antispyware 2010
7. FraudTool.MalwareProtector.d
8. Winshield2009.com
9. Green AV
10. Windows Protection Suite
11. Total Security 2009
12. Windows System Suite
13. Antivirus BEST
14. System Security
15. Personal Antivirus
16. System Security 2009
17. Malware Doctor
18. Antivirus System Pro
19. WinPC Defender
20. Anti-Virus-1
21. Spyware Guard 2008
22. System Guard 2009
23. Antivirus 2009
24. Antivirus 2010
25. Antivirus Pro 2009
26. Antivirus 360 and
27. MS Antispyware 2009

OK so I am assuming that you have one of these infections and you want to use Remove Fake Antivirus to fix your machine up. Let’s see how we can do that. First we start by downloading the application from here. That is a direct link because the download page is polluted with Google ads and confuses users as to what to download. The author’s site can be found here.

Run the application and you will first see its welcome screen listing the nastiness it can deal with and then you will see this screen:

Go ahead and hit ‘Yes’ and it will start scanning  your local machine for the fake applications listed above.

You can go ahead and click Show details to get a closer look as to what is going on:

As it goes through each possible infection you will see it listed on the console. Don’t be alarmed, this does not mean that your PC has the infections.

Up until now my only solution was Malware Bytes demo version. But now it looks like Remove Fake Antivirus 1.35 is going to be my go-to program. It took 6 minutes to run the full scan. I had originally located this application while battling Antivirus 2009 yesterday. And it worked like a charm!

Once the application has completed you will see this screen:

Click Yes and all the files that Remove Fake Antivirus could not remove because the files were in use will then be kicked to the curb. The author’s site also serves up suggestions for how to deal with and prevent these types of infections. Among them is to set the UAC prompts to the highest levels – I guess I should not have mine disabled, eh?

Remove Fake Antivirus – Download

For more information about fake antivirus software, read Ryan’s post “Detect Fake Antivirus software & Spyware Removal programs“. How do you deal with rouge or fake antivirus or spyware applications? Do you have policies that keep this type of stuff out of your corporate environments? What do you do or use? Please share with us in the comments so we can learn from each other!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Today, I’m going to talk about the top 5 email scams that litter inboxes all over the world.

Now, given the fact that 90% of e-mails sent world wide can be regarded as spam, undoubtedly a large proportion of that spam will be scams trying to get your hard earned money. Fortunately, given the huge amount of inactive email accounts most of this spam will go unopened and will lie dormant forever.

But some of it is opened in offices, schools and homes all over the world. They deceive you into thinking they are something they are not. Here are five email scams you should watch out for.

The Bank

When opening a bank account of any kind you are informed beyond any doubt that the bank will never, ever, send you an e-mail asking for your information. Why would they? They already have it. But millions of people still reply to e-mails asking for just that. These e-mails will normally have a professional layout and will have originated from a domain very similar to the banks in the hope that when you see the e-mail address you assume it is from the bank.

Popular ones include telling you your bank card is about to expire and they need your information or there is a sum of money on the way to you and they need your information to process the transaction. Don’t believe a word. They want your details to rob you of every cent you have.

Nigerian Inheritance

Ever got a poorly written e-mail from a bank manager in Africa telling you that a rich guy died along with all his family in a plane crash and he wants to transfer money to your account? These kinds of email scams are called “419 emails” or Nigerian scams.

If you reply and begin talking to them they will shower you in promises and may even up the amount of money you’re going to get. Then, before the transfer can be made they’ll ask you for a few thousands dollars to cover their expenses. More like their holiday next summer.

Phishing Email Scam

These e-mails will often appear to come from sites you actually use, such as PayPal. If they find your profile they send you an e-mail that looks exactly like one from the site. They will redirect you to a bogus site which, once again looks just like the actual website. Once you sign in all of your info will go straight to them meaning they can do what they wish with your money.

Virus E-Mails

Many people who want to scam you will create programs and spy applications that will send them your bank details as soon as you use any online monetary service. They normally skulk around in the attachments of e-mails. Many scammers will find a funny picture or video and will send it to as many people as they can.

They are getting into the mindset of your typical office worker who will forward the e-mail to all his/her family, friends and co-workers. When these email scams are successful, scammers can often retrieve thousands of peoples details. Think about it. If they send it to one person who then sends it to thirty, each of these people will again send it to all their contacts. Hundreds of peoples’ details all in a very short space of time.

Lottery Email Scams

These have a low forward rate and as such require a lot of work by the low tech scammers. They will tell you that you have won a substantial amount of money in an e-mail address raffle or something similar. They tell you that you must reply to the e-mail, just like the inheritance e-mails.

Eventually, you will be asked for a few thousand dollars to cover fees. Don’t fall for it. This is the real world and you don’t just win a $3 million prize in a raffle you never entered.

My advice to combat the above e-mails which are very popular comes in two forms.

• Be aware that any e-mail asking you for any information such as account numbers, passwords or account verification long after you signed up is fraudulent. Legitimate companies will never contact you to ask for such information.
• Install protection software such as Norton 360 2.0. They can be costly but so can having your bank account drained.

What other email scams have you received?  Tell us about them so the other readers can be warned to look out for them.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Recognizing an Email Scam

People are constantly receiving emails for things like male enhancement products (what’s that all about anyway?) or for hotel and travel deals and other offers, but the really nasty emails are the ones you get that try to trick you into parting with your money. A few examples of the most common scams include:

• The Nigerian email scams
• The PayPal Scams
• Foreign Money Transfer scam
• Check out my webcam scam
• Pyramid Chain Letters

In almost every case, the email comes from a con artist who’s intent on taking you for as much as they can. In the case of the Nigerian scam, folks have actually traveled overseas to collect what they believe are multi-million dollar cheques, only to either get kidnapped or robbed. The Paypal scams fool countless Internet users every year into entering their Paypal logon information and emptying their accounts.

The other scams are all similar – a promise of a large electronic transfer into your bank account if you provide your bank account details, links to websites that install a trojan keyboard logger script that can capture your credit card information when you visit your online bank  account. According to a 2009 survey by the Consumer Federation of America, about 2 percent of email users exposed to “fake check” scams actually responded to them with a loss totally about $3000 to $4000 each.

Protecting Yourself From Email Scammers

The first step in protecting yourself from these con artists is by using your email account in a way that doesn’t put you at risk. If a company that you do business with sends you an email that offers a link where you can click to log into their account – don’t click it! Open up a separate browser, type in the URL, and log in. There’s never a need to click on any link in an email. One of the fastest ways to identify such a scam email is by using an email client that displays the link when you hover your mouse over it. You’ll see that in every case the actual link is never the same as the legitimate company’s website.

Tracking Down the Culprit

If you have the time, dedication and passion to take a stand against these spammers and con artists, there are a few tools you can use to track them down and report email scams. The first step is to trace the email to the source. Stefan wrote an excellent article on how to trace emails, and that’s where you should start.

In most cases, spammers try pretty hard to hide their identity using various methods, including “spoofing” the header with bogus information, using proxy servers to hide their location of origin, or using hijacked “spam-bot” home or business computers or misconfigured SMTP servers. However, there are times when the sender won’t be very smart, they’ll mess up or best of all they may not even properly cloak their IP at all.

Even if you can’t extract their originating IP and location, you may still be able to determine:

• Which infected computer is serving as the spam-bot
• Which mis-configured company smtp server is hijacked
• Which internet service provider is allowing the spammer to send out unsolicited mass emails
• Which proxy server (or servers) were used to attempt a “cloaked” identity
• Whether an anonymous email service was used to send the illegal scam message

You can also find some great resources for tracing emails and locating the spammers at Spam.Abuse.net. And of course make sure to support the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE) which works to promote legislation against unsolicited spam. Since 2000, more and more states have created some excellent laws – and the more legislation there is moving forward, the more successful you’ll be in the next stage of this process, which I like to call… Fighting Back.

Fighting Back – How to Report Email Scams

Finally, depending on what information you can extract from the header, you can follow the steps below to shut down the scammers one spam-bot or SMTP server at a time, and in some cases you can even earn some extra money taking the scammers to court. Don’t believe it? Steve, over at AngryOx.com, successfully sued a company for spam.

On April 7 of this year, he collected a check from PrintPal for $623.54. Why did they have to pay? Because they willingly used a spammer to send unsolicited email, against the current laws of the state of Virginia. Businesses beware – users no longer have to try to chase down that elusive shadowy scammer through forged headers and proxies. If your company is advertised, then you’re busted. So don’t purchase the service of spammers or you’ll end up in court!

Steve even offers a free template for a settlement letter that you can use when you file your small claims lawsuit against the spammer. Just search the spam email for any links to purchase a product or that advertises a legitimate site. That’s the company you should go after if you choose this tactic in your war against spam.  In the case of the scams, it’s a different story. However, the laws are still on your side.

• A Forged Header: Even if the spammer tried to forge the header, uses a proxy or uses an anonymous email service – once you have a court proceeding, you can issue each of those entities legal documents that require them (in most cases) to open up their logfiles and provide the court with the identity of the spammer who used their service or server. Also check out JunkBusters technique of issuing “Notification and Offer” letters to spammers in order to force a lawsuit if the spammer doesn’t comply with a request for payment for every unsolicited message sent to your email account.
• If it’s a pyramid money scheme or “deceptive,” as in attempting to steal your money in some manner – report it to the FTC in addition to filing your own lawsuit. They’ve been known to go after major spammers, and your report could make a big difference in alerting them to a significant scamming operation.

Of course, the most important thing you can do to protect yourself in the first place is to filter out the spam. Tina’s article on how to get a grip on spam or Will’s article on five free “throwaway” email services that can help, are both excellent guides that can help reduce or eliminate spam.

To find out if you have the right to sue spammers (and make quite a bit of money in the process), check out SpamLaws.com for the laws in your state that limit spam. Many of these are from 2003 or later, so you may have legal rights regarding spam that you don’t even realize. Suing the spammers, or the businesses that hire them is one of the most effective ways to put an end to this madness once and for all.

Have you ever successfully tracked down a spammer? What tools or techniques did you use? Share them with us in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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How Does Fake Antivirus Software Work?

The irony of these fake removal software packages are that while they advertise and promote themselves as product that will help you remove malicious software from your computer, the moment you download and install it, you’ve just been infected by one of the worst trojans you could have on your computer. The moment it’s installed, you start getting pop-up windows that say you’re horribly infected and to click on a particular link so you can download the full version of the antivirus software to thoroughly clean your computer. Another version presents itself as a legitimate antivirus software and fakes a “full system scan,” which results in a long list of horrible viruses and other assorted nasty-looking infections. However, when you click on “remove,” you’re informed that you only have the trial version and that you need to buy the full version to remove the viruses. Few people realize that the scan results themselves are fake.

The Top Antivirus and Spyware Removals to Avoid Like the Plague

At the end of 2008, ComputerWorld reported on how the latest version of Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) discovered and removed “Antivirus 2009,” from a reported 394,000 PCs in just the initial nine days after it was released. What this reveals is that the scammers who write this fake software are successfully taking advantage of the fear computer users have regarding computer infections, and also their lack of computer knowledge. Thousands of people click on the link to download fake antivirus software and essentially voluntarily infect their computer with a trojan.

1. The Infamous Antivirus 2009

These days, Antivirus 2009 (and Antivirus 10 or Antivirus 360) is so well-known as malware that you most likely will not find the scammers using legitimate websites to promote the product using its actual name, instead scammers are resorting to setting up sites to help people remove Antivirus 2009. If the user clicks on the link, and downloads and installs the software, they’ll find themselves infected with the malicious software.

“Removing” the viruses from your computer entails signing up (and paying for) a full version of the software. If you fall for this particular trap, all you end up with is a charge on your credit card and bogus software. Fortunately, there are now a plethora of websites throughout the net that tell people how to remove this particular trojan. Unfortunately, there are also a variety of websites that the scammers are producing, that portray themselves as an “Antivirus 2009 removal tool,” while they simply install and run the same sort of bogus software. How do you tell the difference between a legit site and a bogus one?  Check out listing number 7 on Aibek’s list of essential security downloads. The Web of Trust is a great tool to identify dangerous fake antivirus sites.

2. Conficker Worm Installs Spyware Protect 2009

Do you remember the recent Conficker worm fiasco that had IT folks around the country scrambling to patch PCs before they could get infected? Well, an April 10th, 2009 article on CNET reports that investigators finally have a clue behind the motives of the Conficker worm creators. Apparently the motive is to make money using fake antivirus software and they attempted to do so by having the Conficker worm install antivirus software called Spyware Protect 2009 on target computers.

The technique used is essentially the same as the other fake antivirus applications. The software provides users with a list of nasty infections that their computer allegedly has, and the only way to remove them is by visiting the website and submitting your credit card information in order to buy the full version. Apparently the whole point of the Conficker worm was yet another fake antivirus scam. Obviously, if your computer ever displays the window above, you’re likely infected with the Conficker worm.

3. PC AntiSpy Returns Fake Spyware Results

Another application that returns bogus results, listing some of the worst known spyware applications as infecting your computer is PC AntiSpy, a bogus spyware-fighting application that is nothing of the sort. Instead of helping you keep your computer clean, this application uses scare tactics to get users to click on a link to pay for a version of PC AntiSpy that can remove the nasty Spyware that supposedly exists on the computer.

As you can see, some of these software packages appear pretty authoritative and legit. Unfortunately the only real functionality they have is acting as a trojan. Like many other fake applications like this one, a multitude of helpful websites and forums post instructions on how to remove it. Scammers are becoming sneakier — they too start their own “how to” web page in order to target people who are already infected and looking for help.

4. WinDefender – The Copycat Class of Fake Antivirus and Spyware Removals

Another significant group of antivirus applications are those that attempt to copy the names of legitimate, well known applications. For example, SpyWareBot and TheSpyBot both attempt to copy SpyBot Search and Destroy. These applications depend upon computer users who aren’t technically savvy and aren’t sure exactly what the legitimate software is called. Another example of this is WinDefender, which attempts to copy Windows Defender.

The success of these applications comes from the fact that so many people are, in fact, fooled by the similarity of the application names to legitimate antivirus software. The most important rule of thumb to follow when you’re looking for good antivirus or anti-spyware software is to only shop at websites that you know are reputable. Whenever an antivirus ad automatically pops up unexpectedly on your computer screen, under no circumstances should you ever click the link to “run a scan.”

Final Words – Use Caution and Common Sense

Nothing says that you need to use only Norton or Symantec for your antivirus needs, but if you’re going to branch out and try other software companies, it’s important that you understand the legitimacy and integrity of that company.  The examples above are only four of the hundreds of fake antivirus and anti-spyware applications out there – and their names change just as fast as people can figure out that they’re fake. If you need some advice for legitimate antivirus software, check out Aibek’s 2008 poll where MUO users chose the best antivirus software available.

Have you ever been infected by any fake antivirus trojans? Which one was it, and how hard was it to clean it off your computer? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

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The easiest way to avoid being scammed or multiply false information is to always mistrust mass mails, unrequested offers or small print. I believe you guys reading MakeUseOf find it rather easy to spot when something’s wrong and I believe you all know that a search engine is the best place to test your hypothesis should you have any doubts.

Google reveals that there are many websites that collect the story behind the fraud or that uncover legends and myths as such. These sites can be both helpful and entertaining.

Let’s have a look at the best…

Ripoff Report

Ripoff Report was founded in an effort to fight unethical behavior among people. The website has been operating since 1998 and is available to users worldwide.

If you as a consumer has had trouble with a company, this is where you can share your frustration and warn other potential customers.

For the less experienced consumer and internet user the site has a collection of helpful tips what to do or not to do. The Consumer Tips addresses issues like how to protect your identity, spot work-at-home scams or avoid telephone cramming.  An excellent resource you should point anyone to, who mindlessly forwards such offers to you.

Snopes

Ever heard the story that Jamie Lee Curtis genetically is a male or a hermaphrodite? Since there is neither a proof for nor against this case, it cannot be said for sure, but this story appears to be an urban legend.

Snopes has been uncovering urban legends since 1995 and quite frankly is a fantastic source for online entertainment. The main site features a Top 15 list of legends on the left and a rich selection of categories in the center.

If someone tells you a story you’re not so sure of, go ahead and search Snopes. And if you think you have uncovered a myth that is not yet listed on Snopes, become a part of the supporting crew and submit the rumor, photo or video in question.

BreakTheChain

Chain emails are the worst. Fake virus warnings, false missing child reports or scary threats such as “forward or die“. Yeah right!

Please don’t foster the chain, break it! You can easily verify whether or not the chain is valid at BreakTheChain by using the search feature and a few keywords.

So these are the best three sites from my point of view. Of course there are many more. Either way, next time you come across a doubtful email, don’t just discard it. Take a moment to educate the sender with a link back to the respective article on one of those sites.

Also next time you have a bad experience as a customer, don’t just let it go, rather second a previous post of a similar issue or spread the word and you may keep someone else from making the same mistake.

What is the last scam or myth you (almost) fell for?

Picture credit: mattosense

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Mark’s experience however brought to mind a number of spam email attacks that include false warnings, including death threats, in order to deceive the recipient into falling for a scam, a phishing attack or installing malware.

A spam campaign that was active towards the end of 2007, and still continues, comes in the form of an e-mail allegedly from a private investigator hired to investigate the recipient. This is a private investigator with a heart, it seems, since the email recipient is advised that their telephone is being monitored and that it will be revealed who planned this surveillance, in a follow-up e-mail.

As a sign of good faith by the private investigator, a password-protected compressed file is attached to the message that allegedly contains a recording of the victim’s telephone conversations. In reality however, this password-protected compressed file is designed to defeat anti-malware applications running on the victim’s computer.

The file actually contains malware in the form of a Trojan horse, Trojan.Peacomm.D, which most of us know as the “Storm” Trojan. This malware is designed to gather system information and email addresses from a compromised computer. As well, this Trojan can infect legitimate system drivers, and variants can insert components into legitimate processes such as ‘Explorer.exe’ and ‘Services.exe’. (For more info regarding what Windows system processes should, and should not be running on your Windows computer see ProcessLibrary.)

Cyber criminals, being what they are, have improved upon this scheme by developing a variant of this email scam – the Hitman email. These fear-provoking emails contain a threat that the recipient will be murdered by a hired hitman. Fortunately for the intended victim, there is a way out of this predicament however; if the recipient will agree to pay a substantial sum of money to the hitman the contract will be cancelled.

These hitman emails are not a new occurrence since they have been circulating on the internet since early 2007. These frightening emails seem to be aimed primarily at a select group of professional high earners, such as doctors, lawyers, and business owners; those who are most likely to be in a position to pay the large sums of money demanded in the email.

Although there are many variations of this email, here is one example:

Good Day,

I want you to read this message very crefully, and keep the secret with you till further notice, You have no need of knowing who i am, where am from,till i make out a space for us to see, i have being paid $50,000.00 in adbance to terminate you with some reasons listed to me by my employer,its one i believe you call a friend,i have followed you closely for one week and three days now and have seen that you are innocent of the accusation.

Do not contact the police or F.B.I 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 being paid to do,beside this is the first time i turned out to be a betrayer in my job.

Now listen,i will arrange for us to see face to face but before that i need the amount of $80,000.00 and you will have nothing to be afraid of.I will be coming to see you in your office or home dtermine where you wish we meet,do not set any camera to cover us or set up any tape to record our conversation,my employer is in my control now,

You will need to pay $20,000.00 to the account i will provide for you, before we will set our first meeting,after you have make the first advance payment to the account,i will give you the tape that contains his request for me to terminate you, which will be enough evidence for you to take him to court(if you wish to), then the balance will be paid later.

You don’t need my phone contact for now till am assured you are ready to comply good.

Lucky You.

Like all email scams these emails, which contain many grammatical and spelling errors, are generally sent to a large number of people within the targeted group in the expectation (usually justified), that some will respond. Compounding the issue further, the cyber criminals may try to collect personal information from the victim in an attempt at identity theft.

Keeping in mind that email scams are sent out in bulk it’s reasonable to assume, if you should receive such an email, you are not in any danger of being murdered by a hired killer. Obviously the attempt at extortion is genuine, but the threat against your life is not.

Internet security experts always advise, if you receive unsolicited email messages, you should not reply or respond in any way, but instead simply delete the message from your inbox. In the case of this particular email scam, law enforcement officials repeat that advice; that you do NOT respond.

However, in the event you receive a threatening email that includes significant personal information that is specific to you, to ensure your safety, it would be prudent to report this to your local police department.

As an added precaution, if you believe you are the victim of a potential scam visit Scambusters.org a great site that will help keep you up to date on the latest scams circulating on the internet.

From the Scambusters.org web site:

Don’t Get Scammed!

Many scammers are very cunning, so being smart is NOT enough to protect yourself. Every day smart subscribers thank us saying they would have been scammed if they didn’t subscribe to ScamBusters. Don’t take a chance. Subscribe FREE to ScamBusters, a public service and the #1 publication on internet fraud.

(By) Bill Mullins is a Blogger who writes on Internet Security, System Tools, Free Software, and provides downloads links. Check out his Blog at Tech Thoughts

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