phishing posts

Twitter Resetting Passwords Following Phishing Attack

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Feb 2nd 2010 at 5:00PM

This morning, many Twitter users found themselves effectively locked out of their accounts. Following a phishing attack, Twitter took the unprecedented measure of locking down several users' accounts and requiring them to reset their passwords. The owners of the accounts were sent messages that read, "Due to concern that your account may have been compromised in a phishing attack that took place off-Twitter, your password was reset."

According to The Next Web, unconfirmed reports from users claim that the attack is associated with @THCx, a service that purports to offer helpful tips and tutorials. The service has picked up 42,000 followers in recent days, but doesn't follow any accounts in return. ~~It's suspected that the exploited flaw resides in NutshellMail, which allows the e-mail-like managing of tweets.~~

Tags: password, phishing, security, top, twitter

Amazon Relents After Removing Macmillan Books, Scammers Eye the iPad

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Feb 1st 2010 at 11:54AM

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines....

The Macmillan publishing house is one of the largest publishing companies in the world. Because of an e-book price dispute, though, Amazon actually removed Macmillan's vast collection of titles from its Web site. The online retailer has apparently relented, though, and will allow Macmillan to charge its own set prices for bestsellers and other content. [From: The Huffington Post and Engadget and All Things Digital]
The most important rules for avoiding Net scams are to never click on foreign links and to be particularly wary of schemes that capitalize on current trends and fears. Predictably, phishers and scam artists are now attempting to lure interested iPad shoppers with dummy links and fake Web sites. [From: The BBC]
Foursquare is a revolutionary social networking site that actually (gasp!) tries to inspire people to meet and communicate in person. The site is now partnering with television network Bravo to create an interactive scavenger hunt experience that incorporates Bravo programming like 'The Real Housewives' and 'Top Chef.' [From: The New York Times]
Microsoft is currently developing a cell phone camera/bar-code-reader that can scan certain tags. The so-called "hyper links in the physical world" will be located in magazines, newspapers, billboards and other mediums so that consumers can instantly access related digital material. [From: CNET]
Consumers have downloaded over 1 billion apps from Apple's App Store but the pro-capita numbers aren't quite as staggering. According to research firm Flurry, the average iPhone owner only regularly uses between five and 10 apps. [From: The New York Times]

Tags: amazon, apple, foursquare, ipad, macmillan, microsoft, morningxtra, phishing, top

Web

Build-Your-Own Phishing Kits Make Cybercrime Easier than Ever

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Jan 19th 2010 at 8:29AM

DIY Phishing Kits Make Cybercrime Easier than Ever

DIY is all the rage these days. People are building musical instruments, beer keg-monitoring robots, baby rocking machines, and iPhone-controlled cars, and gaining the satisfaction of making something with their own hands while saving a little cash. Bad news for the Web browsing public however, the DIY fad has spread to cybercrime and phishing scams.

Marc Rossi, R&D manager at Symantec, told USA Today that DIY cybercrime kits sell for between $400 and $700, and are largely responsible for the explosion of phishing scams and malware infections in late 2009. The kits are apparently so easy to use, that if you're tech savvy enough to download an album or a movie, you can use one to create a custom and convincing looking messages from UPS, Facebook, or Microsoft. The messages usually contain links that install malware capable of stealing banking information and turning the victim's PC into a bot in the attacker's vast network of controlled spam machines.

Tags: cybercrime, diy, malware, phishing, scam, security, top

Web, Social Networking

Twitter Hit by Another Direct Message Phishing Scam

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 29th 2009 at 11:01AM

It seems like every day that a new phishing scam hits Twitter, and Wednesday was no different. According to CNET News, Twitter warned its users to be on the lookout for a phishing scam that attacks via direct messages. "[If] you've received a strange (direct message), and it takes you to a Twitter log-in page, don't do it!," Twitter warned in a post.

Of course, this isn't the first scam that disguises itself in a direct message. But this message attempts to fool you by posing as a dear friend. According to Sophos, the message reads: "hi. this you on here?" and is followed by a link to the phishing site. The link, if clicked, redirects you to a fake Twitter log-in page, where the phishers intend to steal your user name and password. If you enter both, you'll see a faux over-capacity page that's supposed to make the scam seem more real. When Sophos logged in to the false page, it was directed to the over-capacity page, and then to a blog by someone called NetMeg99. It's unclear as to whether or not that blog is part of the scam, too.

Tags: microblogging, password, phishing, scam, security, socialnetworking, top, twitter, web

Advice, Editor's Picks, Web

10 Ways to Spot an E-Mail Scam

by Chris Morris (RSS feed) — Oct 26th 2009 at 12:24PM

The increasing flood of e-mail hitting your inbox can lower the guard of even the most cautious person. In the rush to keep up with important notes, it's easier than ever to fall prey to the scam artists and identity thieves who lurk online.

E-mail scams and phishing attempts evolve constantly, hoping to take advantage of the latest trends and current events. Although the e-mails change, the people behind them inadvertently send up the same warning signs again and again. We dug through mountains of spam to find the most prevailing trends. We've collected some actual scam e-mails and highlighted the warning signs to help you spot a hustle the next time one lands in your inbox.

Tags: e-mail, e-mailscams, features, phishing, scams, security, top, web

Web, Social Networking

Twitter Lets Users Fight Back as Phishing Scams Spread

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Oct 15th 2009 at 6:34AM

As Phishing Scams Proliferate Twitter Fights Back

The pool of phishing scams on Twitter is seemingly bottomless. Every time we turn around, there is a new one popping up, or an old one reemerging, or some other unfortunate development that sends us rushing to the presses only to give users the same advice over and over again: Don't click on that link.

The most recent scam comes in the form of a direct message declaring "you're on this vid!" followed by a link. Click the link and you'll be led to a page that looks an awful lot like the login page for Twitter. But don't be fooled. Check that address bar and you'll quickly see that you are not, in fact, on Twitter. If you make the mistake of trying to log into the fake page, your account will be hijacked and used to send the same message to all of your followers.

Tags: phishing, scam, security, spam, top, twitter

Web

FBI Busts Up Worldwide Phishing Ring

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Oct 9th 2009 at 6:28AM

The FBI has busted up a major spam and bank fraud ring that spanned from coast to coast, and even had ties to Egypt. Fifty-three suspects in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Charlotte, North Carolina have been indicted, with dozens of them already in police custody. An additional 47 Egyptian suspects have been named, and authorities there are working to apprehend them now.

The scam centered around phishing spam e-mails, in which the crooks posed as representatives from a bank and asked the victims to update their personal information by following a link. If targets followed the link, they were taken to a bogus banking site that harvested their personal and banking account information. The 100 criminals, working in concert, immediately withdrew money from their victims' accounts, transferring their spoils to fraudulent accounts.

Tags: crime, fraud, identity theft, IdentityTheft, phishing, scam, top

Web

After Phishing Attempt, Wife Bans FBI Head From Online Banking

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 8th 2009 at 12:35PM

Don't feel bad if you've recently fallen for an e-mail scam. They're not always easy to identify. Just ask FBI Director Robert Mueller. Mueller received an e-mail from his bank asking him to verify some account information. After entering said information, Mueller says he realized that the e-mail was part of a phishing scam. According to CNET News, he immediately changed his passwords and breathed a sigh of relief.

The FBI chief avoided the wrath of phishers, but not his wife (video after the break). She nixed online banking in their household and said, "It is our money. No more Internet banking for you!" During a speech Wednesday in California, Mueller said that he'd tried to explain to his wife, promising that he'd learned his lesson and calling the near slip-up a "teachable moment." He was taught a lesson, alright, and one he should have learned long ago, at that. "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." [From: CNET News]

Tags: banks, expire-images:2010-10-8, fbi, hack, money, online banking, OnlineBanking, phishing, scam, web

Web

Hotmail Password Scam Spreads to Gmail, AOL Mail, Yahoo!

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Oct 6th 2009 at 4:05PM

Yesterday, reports emerged that 10,000 Hotmail account addresses and passwords had been posted to the site PasteBin.com. Today, BBC News revealed that it has discovered another incriminating list containing log-in information for 20,000 additional e-mail addresses. The new batch, though, not only includes information from compromised Hotmail accounts, but also from Gmail, Yahoo!, AOL, and several other major e-mail providers.

Some of the accounts are dormant and unused, making them easy marks for scammers, but the BBC says that it has confirmed the authenticity of many of the addresses. A Google spokesperson said the lists were the fruits of an "industry-wide phishing scheme," and that the passwords for all of the compromised Gmail accounts have been forcibly reset.

Tags: AOL mail, AolMail, e-mail phishing scam, E-mailPhishingScam, Gmail, Hotmail, password protection, PasswordProtection, phishing, safety, security, top, yahoo mail, YahooMail

Web, Social Networking

Colon Cleansing Spam Running Through Facebook

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Oct 2nd 2009 at 6:38AM

Grifters love Facebook, and there seems to be no limit to the ingenuity and creativity of the shadowy con-artists. According to the Counter Measures blog, a new scam has emerged, which may be connected to previous schemes, incorporating hacked accounts, new phishing techniques, and status updates that falsely appear to be posted via SMS.

The scam began with phony spam status updates, actually posted through the Facebook mobile portal (m.facebook.com), that touted the colon cleansing benefits of ColonRevi.com (which has been disabled). The link actually redirects people to another supplement-shilling site where the new phishing lure would appear. Leaving the page causes what appears to be a real-time support chat window to launch, offering discounts for the products. Instead, the chat window was actually a scripted part of the scam intended to snare more victims.

Tags: facebook, facebook phishing, FacebookPhishing, phishing, scams, top

Computers, Web

'Chat-in-the-Middle' Phishing Scam Tricks You With Instant Messages

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Sep 18th 2009 at 3:35PM

The RSA FraudAction Research Lab has uncovered a sophisticated and tricky new phishing scheme. Dubbed the 'Chat-in-the-Middle' scam, the new attack targets the online customers of a specific U.S. financial institution and begins, as many scams do, as an apparently innocent log-in screen.

The new twist, though, appears after the marks have entered their log-in information. Typically, once phishing victims enter their ID and password, they're redirected to a dummy Web site created by the grifters. The Chat-in-the-Middle scheme, though, incorporates a fake real-time support chat window (even if you don't have an IM service installed), through which the scammers try to dupe their targets into divulging pertinent personal information like names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Tags: Chat-in-the-Middle, identity theft, IdentityTheft, im, phishing, scam, security, top

Computers

New York Indicts Five More in International Credit Card Sting

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Sep 2nd 2009 at 6:22PM

In 2007, a two-year identity theft investigation operated by the Secret Service and the Manhattan District Attorney's office culminated with the arrests of 17 people. The sting focused on Western Express International, a now exposed crime syndicate that operated two dummy Web sites.

On Monday, the Big Apple D.A.'s office indicted five more men who, it believes, played integral roles in the money laundering and identity theft schemes. Wired is reporting that two of the men have been arrested and are in custody in New York, one man was arrested in Greece and is awaiting extradition, and two men are still on the lam. Now dubbed the Western Express Cybercrime Group by authorities, the organization operated between 2001 and 2007, allegedly stealing over $4 million dollars through various credit card scams.

Tags: crime, IDtheft, law, phishing, security, top, Western International, WesternInternational

Web

Is Phishing Finally on the Decline?

by Lee Bains (RSS feed) — Aug 27th 2009 at 6:36AM

It's about time. The Associated Press writes today that mercifully, IBM reports that phishing attacks are on the decline.

Phishing, for the uninitiated, has nothing to do with Vermont hippies. Phishing scams are typically comprised of a sketchy e-mail that links the recipient to a malicious Web page (often disguised as the log-in page of a bank or social networking site). There, the duped Web-surfer is asked for personal information -- an e-mail address, password, account number, or goodness knows what else. If you've ever read Switched, you've read plenty about them and have, hopefully, learned how to steer clear of them.

Tags: ibm, identity theft, IdentityTheft, phishing, scam, security, spam, top

Web, Social Networking

Rogue Phishing Applications Plague Facebook

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Aug 22nd 2009 at 8:35AM

On Thursday, Facebook removed six malicious applications that stole users' log-in information and spammed their friends via Facebook notifications. These phishing attacks are hardly a surprise considering how popular Facebook apps are these days. Before the first batch of apps was removed, some users were phished with messages saying that a friend had commented on a post, and including a link. After clicking said link, users were sent to a phishing site (styled to look like Facebook) and asked to enter the e-mail address and password they used for logging in to Facebook.

Shortly after the rogue apps were purged, CNET News reports, five more appeared: 'Friends,' 'Friends Gifts,' 'Matching,' 'Pok,' and 'Your Photos.' According to Trend Micro researcher Rik Ferguson, the latest apps were similar in style/functionality to earlier ones, but used different icons, provided "slightly more credible notifications," and sent "bogus" notifications to the victim's inbox. These malicious apps may look (and post notifications) like real apps, so be careful when adding any new app, even when it looks like it's coming from a friend.

There's a lesson here, folks: no matter how bad you want to send your friend that teddy bear, or those dozen roses, don't give out your personal information. [From: CNET News and Trend Micro via DownloadSquad]

Tags: application, facebook, phishing, scam, social networking, SocialNetworking, spam, top

Computers, Web

Vacationers Prime Targets for Cybercriminals

by Kaiser Hwang (RSS feed) — Jul 13th 2009 at 9:30AM

With more and more people using Wi-Fi-enabled devices -- from iPhones to netbooks to standard laptops -- the need for public Internet access is steadily growing. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are very aware of this fact and, according to Fox News, are exploiting it to the best of their ability. By creating phony Wi-Fi networks in places such as hotels and airports, crooks target carefree vacationers who are more more worried about hitting the beach than they are network security. This nonchalance can often find travelers the victims of identity theft.

Wireless security company AirTight Networks conducted a study last year in 27 airports around the world, and the results are borderline horrifying. For instance, the baggage-handling system at JFK International was being run on an insecure network. Other airports' ticketing systems were similarly run on insecure networks. Of the airports that did use encryption, 80-percent of them used the easily cracked WEP standard, as opposed to the more secure WPA and WPA2 protocols. AirTight contacted several airlines regarding the loose security in early 2009, and thankfully, airlines such as American and JetBlue have been swift to remedy the situation.

Tags: free wifi, FreeWifi, identity theft, IdentityTheft, networking, phishing, security, top, travel, wifi

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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