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October Updates
3rd
Virus Total
Web Of Trust
2nd
HSBC Phishing attempt
1st
Firefox 3.03 released
Spam bulletin
Virus bulletin
The following Safe Shopping advice has been provided
by PayPal and eBay
Shopping Safely Online
Online fraud can take many forms from non-delivery of goods to non-return of damaged goods. In many cases, online fraud can be deterred by following a few simple practices. Just as consumers should take obvious measures to protect themselves in brick-and-mortar stores – not leaving a purse in an unguarded shopping cart, protecting their PIN (personal identification number) at checkout, not carrying large amounts of cash in their wallets – online shoppers should consider sensible precautions, as well.
1. Learn as much as possible about the product and seller:
Shoppers will feel more secure and confident if they are familiar with the merchants from whom they’re buying. The Internet offers the platform for retailers to provide information about their companies and histories while the buyers are empowered to do their research about the products and companies. Shoppers might also learn about a retailer from its reputation, from previous purchases, from referrals through friends or from reviews and comments by other shoppers found online.
2. Understand the retailers’ refund policies:
Look for and ask about what the refund policies are. Questions to ask include: the required timeframe a buyer must contact the retailers and return the items, if a full refund will be offered or a merchandise credit, and if an item that has been opened can be returned. For retailers without refund policies, consumers can use buyer protection programs from either the site or through the payment method. This ensures that if there is a problem with a transaction, the payment will be covered or refunded as a result of the protection guarantee.
3. Choose a secure password to protect account information:
Many people use passwords for online stores that could be guessed, like their birthday, Social Security Number or a family member’s name. Instead, a password should contain a combination of upper and lower case letters and numbers and symbols that no one else will know.
4. Use a secure checkout and payment process:
Many Web sites use a technology called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt the personal and financial information sent over the Internet. To know if the retailer is offering a safe checkout process, look for the logos from companies like VeriSign or TrustE logo. A browser will also display the icon of a locked padlock at the bottom of the screen to indicate encryption. When it comes to choosing which method to use when paying online, consumers should take precautions when entering credit card or checking account information at each online retailer they visit. By entering this on several different merchant Web sites, the likelihood of this information being compromised increases. A safe and easy-to-use payment service allows shoppers to enter account information only once at a highly secure and reputable site that protects this financial information from merchants and other intruders. Future purchases should be made from that one account to avoid the need to enter credit card information separately into the Web sites of individual retailers.
5. If an offer sounds highly suspicious or too good to be true, it probably is:
As with any purchase, shoppers should read the fine print (or, in some instances, click the links describing the purchase agreement). While Internet shops frequently offer lower prices than brick-and-mortar stores, shoppers should be wary of unreasonably low bargain prices or unusually attractive promises.
Cyber-crime worse than burglary
One in three people in Britain has been a victim
of cyber-theft
Did you know that in 2004 57 million Internet users were targeted by spoof emails?
On average about 5 per cent of these targets fell victims
to the fraud.
Spoofs
In an email message, an intruder can easily fabricate where they came from. But this information forging – called spoofing by intruders and security professionals – is not limited to just email. In fact, the basic unit of information transferred on the Internet – called a packet – can also be easily forged or spoofed.
If you are a victim
Call your Credit Card company and tell them that your account may be compromised (do everything that they tell you to do). If you had more than one card registered with the sites involved, you will have to call each and every one of them.
Call your bank tell them that your account details may have been compromised and how this occurred (do everything that they ask you to).
Change passwords on the relevant sites. If you cannot log into your accounts then the fraudsters may have already changed the passwords, go to the next step...
Email the web sites involved for eBay - spoof@ebay.com; and for PayPal, click here for the relevant page. Not only should you tell them that your account may have been compromised, but you should also include the header and email which led to the problem. Important: the spoof email should be forwarded to spoof@ebay.com and not sent, that way they will get the full header and email, and you can still include a message.
Make a report to the Police (yes, even though it is a long winded and frustratingly time consuming process).
Spot fake PayPal emails
Fake emails are getting more sophisticated. Phishing for you card details resulting in your identity theft catches out around 5 percent of readers.
The sender is a shark involved in criminal activity just don't take the bait!
What is Iconix eMail ID?
Iconix eMail ID is a free tool that enables you to identify legitimate PayPal emails, helping to protect you from phishing
Use the free Iconix eMail ID service to check if the emails you receive are for real. Iconix is available on Hotmail, Yahoo!, Microsoft Outlook and other widely used systems.
REPORTING SPOOF/PHISHING EMAILS.
It has been brought to our attention that some of our customers have received a spoof/Phishing email. The Spoof email is a deceptive email claiming to be sent by Rubens Menswear. Called "spoof emails" they are also known as "hoax" or "phisher" emails.
Unfortunately spoof and Phishing emails claiming to be from many popular shopping web sites and banks are sent to unsuspecting people everyday. Please be reassured that your credit card details have NOT been compromised on our secure server, the criminals involved in this scam are trying to trick you in to sending them because they do not have access to them. If you have received any such email, we offer our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. We have informed the Police and all necessary procedures are being implemented to prevent anymore emails being sent.
Do not reply to any email with sensitive information such as credit card details.
As part of our ongoing commitment to offer you the safest possible internet banking service, we are constantly reviewing and enhancing the security we offer our customers. In the coming months we are going to be introducing an additional security feature for online payments.
We will write to you to tell you more about the service before the launch. For now, it's very important that you check the contact numbers we hold for you and ensure that you keep them updated so you can use the service when it is launched.
Only you can confirm your numbers. Please check and update them if necessary by clicking on 'My details' and then 'Personal details'.
http://softbank220044122048.bbtec.net/webapps/
Thank you for banking with HSBC.
________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
Warning not getting stopped by the filter yesterday
A dangerous in the wild example.
Current activity 2nd October
Message title was: Security Upgrade - Contact Numbers
Phishing with possible Identity Theft
