Top Five Online ScamsWritten by Gary Gresham
The top five online scams on Internet hit nearly ten million people last year according to an FBI report in December 2004. That figure doubled from 2003 to 2004 and people are continuing to fall for these email and identity theft scams. These con artists and hackers are just waiting to commit online fraud and steal your identity. Look carefully at these top five online scams and be aware of what is going on so you won't become a victim. Scam # 1 Online Auction Scam You buy something on an online auction, send them money and get nothing in return. Or product you get is a fake or a cheap knockoff instead of genuine brand name item. This is a risk you take when buying from an online auction. Scam # 2 Phishing Scam The phishing definition is when a fraudster spams Internet with email claiming to be from a reputable bank. The email outfitted with authentic bank logos asks you to log in and verify your account information. The theif captures your account information from web adress they take you to and drains your account. These can also become identity theft scams too because they can sell your information to other criminals. Scam # 3 Nigerian Letter Scam These email scams usually start out with all capital letters and begins with: DEAR SIR/MADAM. The email goes on to say they are some minister of something for an African country. He wants you to help him get millions of dollars out of country. You just need to pay for legal fees and some other advanced fees before transaction can be finalized. You would think people would be too smart to fall for this. But you would be wrong. Scam # 4 Reshipping Scam You are emailed by an offshore corporation that needs a U.S. address and bank account which you supply. You receive goods and reship them to another country. You receive wire transfers into your bank account and you transfer money into their offshore account. In return you get to keep a percentage of everything. But with this scam you are taking a big risk because you could get arrested for participating in moving stolen property and transferring stolen funds. Scam # 5 Congratulations You've Won Scam This email tells you have won a nice prize like a plasma TV, a new computer or even lottery. All you have to do to claim your prize is go to this web address and pay for shipping and handling with your credit card. In case of winning lottery they need advanced fees to cover legal costs. Not only do you never get prize but you start getting mysterious charges on your credit card.
| | Types of computer infectionsWritten by Ryan Fyfe
Computer Infections can be broken up into 4 main categories which are explained in detail below:Viruses Computer Viruses are small pieces of software that attach themselves to real programs. An example would be a virus that attaches itself onto windows explorer. Each time you run program windows explorer virus will also be executed and perform function that it was meant to perform. This can be several things such as damaging files on your computer, or erasing them all together. This is also time in which virus will try to spread itself onto other programs and even other computers! Worms - A worm just like a virus is a small piece of software. However worms rather then relying on an external program to function, will run themselves over computer networks and security holes to spread. The worm will scan network from it’s host computer until it finds another computer that it can attach itself to. It will then continue this process to replicate. Because this type of infection runs by itself it can have devastating impacts. The Mydoom worm is estimated to have infected over a quarter million computers in a single day when it first launched back in March 1999.
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