Can you identify cyber scams and viruses?
Internet fraud is the use of Internet services or software with Internet access to defraud victims or to otherwise take advantage of them. Internet crime schemes steal millions of dollars each year from victims and continue to plague the Internet through various methods. Several high-profile methods include the following:
- E-Mail Account Compromise (EAC): This scam targets the general public and professionals associated with, but not limited to, financial and lending institutions, real estate companies, and law firms. Perpetrators of EAC use compromised e-mails to request payments to fraudulent locations.
2. Malware/Scareware: Malicious software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems. Sometimes scare tactics are used by the perpetrators to solicit funds from victims.
3. Phishing/Spoofing: Both terms deal with forged or faked electronic documents. Spoofing generally refers to the dissemination of e-mail which is forged to appear as though it was sent by someone other than the actual source. Phishing, also referred to as vishing, smishing, or pharming, is often used in conjunction with a spoofed e-mail. It is the act of sending an e-mail falsely claiming to be an established legitimate business in an attempt to deceive the unsuspecting recipient into divulging personal, sensitive information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account information after directing the user to visit a specified website. The website, however, is not genuine and was set up only as an attempt to steal the user's information.
4. Ransomware: A form of malware targeting both human and technical weaknesses in organizations and individual networks in an effort to deny the availability of critical data and/or systems. Ransomware is frequently delivered through spear phishing emails to end users, resulting in the rapid encryption of sensitive files on a corporate network. When the victim organization determines they are no longer able to access their data, the cyber perpetrator demands the payment of a ransom, typically in virtual currency such as Bitcoin, at which time the actor will purportedly provide an avenue to the victim to regain access to their data.
What are the most common fraud emails?
1. Nigerian 419 scams (aka Advanced Fee Fraud) date back to the days when fax machines and snail mail were the primary business communication tools. Today, email is the preferred method of these scammers and there are more Nigerian 419 Advanced Fee Fraud scams - and victims - than ever before.
2. FBI Attention: Beneficiary, Move this email to your inbox before responding by clicking Not Spam, we sincerely apologize for sending you this sensitive information via e-mail instead of certified mail, post-mail, phone or face-to-face conversation. It’s due to the urgency and importance of the security information of our citizens. I am Agent Mark Giuliano from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Field Intelligence Groups (FIGs). We intercepted two consignment boxes at JFK Airport, New York. The boxes were scanned and they contained large sums of money ($4.1 million). Also some backup documents that bear your name as the Beneficiary / Receiver. Investigation was carried out on the diplomat that accompanied the boxes into the United States and he stated that he was to deliver the funds at your residence as an overdue payment owed to you by foreign country.
3. Lottery winner scams attempt to trick recipients into believing they have won large sums of cash, and then bilks them out of their own dough in a similar fashion to the Nigerian 419 scam.
To prevent yourself from being a victim of internet fraud or viruses.
Contact us at Christian Computer Concepts