|
Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 05/28/2008 Web Safety – Protecting
yourself from The IRS Economic Stimulus Phishing email I’d
heard and read about it, and I was almost disappointed that I didn’t
receive mine sooner, but finally there it was on May 9th –
The Fake email supposedly from IRS about the Economic Stimulus rebate asking
me to fill out and submit a form to prevent a delay in me getting my check. It was
sent with High Importance to attract my attention. The email looked to be on
official IRS stationary, asking me to click on a link so I could get my
stimulus refund direct deposited to my own bank account, to avoid any delays.
As
Phishing – or these phony emails trying to steal your identity and bank
information are so prevalent today – both Internet Explorer 7 and
Firefox have built-in alarms to tell you when you’re being directed to
a Phishing site. But when
I clicked on the link IE7 gave me no
indication it was a bogus site:
However,
I don’t use IE7 except for when I’m on the Microsoft site –
which you have to. Instead I
use Firefox, and Firefox immediately
told me this was a web forgery site:
So this
was actually a bogus email scheme sent to millions of Americans to try to
steal their bank account information. The site
itself was professionally created, and it would walk you though a step by
step online forum to enter your personal banking information; your account
number and your pin number, so that supposedly your stimulus check would be
direct deposited. I was
able to trace the origin on this specific email to some hacker site in North
Korea, and I would prefer to spend my stimulus money in my own country. I went to
the actual IRS website and quickly found their page on how to detect Phishing
emails, and how to report them, which I did.
This
particular site was closed down within a few hours, but I’m sure dozens
more sprung up in its place. There’s things you can do to prevent falling for an email scam. Probably
the best thing you can do is be aware of the problem, and know that your
Bank, credit card companies, nor the IRS are going to send you unsolicited
letters asking for your financial information and access codes. The next
thing is to use a browser than can detect scams, and I’m not sure why
IE7 didn’t catch this one, as it has caught others, but I use and rely
on Firefox anyway. 3rd
is a little internet know how, and I’ve created some simple rules for
you to remember when you receive a questionable email, and I’ll talk
about these next week. For Raw
Bytes |
|
|
For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2008 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
|
