Tag Archives: scam

Tis the season

From the SANS Institute, things to look out for while shopping online this season:

Fraudulent website indicators:

no phone # for sales or support
website domain name is different from the domain name on company email and contact info
poor grammar and/or spelling on website
the website seems to be an exact replica of what you have used in the past, but the domain name is slightly different

Your computer’s hygiene:

current AntiVirus running
autoupdate on operating system
one account per user
different passwords for different sites
on a trusted network (one you run w/remote admin turned off)

Payment:

credit cards are better than debit cards
review your statements at least monthly
turn on alerts on your credit cards if available

Scams and fake sites will be blossoming this holiday season, so be on your toes ..

[shopping cart image: clker.com]

2012 Internet Crime Report

Some snippets from the Internet Crime Complaint Center 2012 Report released last week —

Almost 290,000 complaints received
Total Loss over $500 million
8.3% increase in total reported loss since 2011
Average dollar loss for those reporting loss over $4,500
43% of complainants in 40 – 59 age group
Top states by complaint count:

from Internet Complaint Center 2012 Report

from Internet Complaint Center 2012 Report

Top 5 countries filing complaints by count:

US
Canada
UK
Australia
India

FBI Impersonation E-mail Scams — over 14,000 complaints totaling over $4.6 million in losses (40% more men reported complaints than women)
Intimidation/Extortion Scams — over 8,000 complaints totaling almost $11 million in losses (60% more women reported complaints than men)
Hit man scams continue (where emailer portrays him/herself as a hit man demanding money not to execute contract) — over 1,300 complaints. Uptick in social media use in executing this scam

More on Internet Crime Complaint Center here.