Monthly Archives: August 2009

PDF Reader 2009 Spyware

Posted by on 31 August, 2009 3 comments

I just received this email – it’s a scam. If you click on the links it takes you to a site letting you download some spyware. Below is the text of the email. If you see this, delete it. Don’t click on the links, don’t download the program they have.

PDF Reader 2009 – New Version for Windows and Mac
The latest PDF Reader: Open, Edit & Create PDF Files
http://www.adobe-pdf-update.info
Included in this package:
Open Office Suite – Get things done more quickly and improve your work efficiency.
-Open, edit and view all PDF files.
-Enhanced performance with faster loading and zooming.
-Collect your data and combine it into a high quality document.
http://www.adobe-pdf-update.info

Download the complete Office solution today and also receive free updates
and 24/7 customer support.
"Since the 90′s, PDF has become the standard file format for document exchange." – Adobe
http://www.adobe-pdf-update.info

Thank you for choosing us, the worldwide leader in PDF Reader Solutions.
Best Regards,
Mary Norman
PDF Reader 2009

Adv Media Ltd  | 890 Avenue| Sydney | 1002 | Australia

Click here :
http://www.listmanagerservices.com/unsubscribe.php?M=
to Unsubscribe out of mailling list.

PC Antispyware 2010

Posted by on 29 August, 2009 No comments

This product is a scam. It’s made to look like a real antivirus or antispyware program but all it does is ask you for money. It’s not a legitimate program, it doesn’t stop spyware, viruses or do anything useful.

It’s called PC Antispyware 2010, a name that sounds a bit serious (and misleading). The screen looks pretty fancy, maybe people trust things that look nice or shiny – don’t be fooled by it.

Antispyware 2010

If you see the screen above then don’t click on the download link, don’t install it. You can see a larger screenshot by clicking here. Only use antivirus products from known and trusted vendors.

130 Million Credit Cards

Posted by on 29 August, 2009 No comments

There’s an interesting news article here about someone who stole 130 million credit card numbers and was later arrested for it. The interesting points are:

  • 130 million is a large number. How many people like in your city? Or country? He operated in the USA, and I don’t have any stats on how many credit cards there are in USA but it’d be somewhere around half of all credit cards. The more you think about this the less secure you’ll feel about your own credit card number.
  • All this data was sold to hackers in various cities countries (California, Illinois, Latvia, the Netherlands and Ukraine). So even though he was arrested the data’s been compromised already.
  • There’s nothing you or I could have done to protect ourselves from people like this. He stole the numbers from businesses (such as restaurants) that store the numbers on their databases, not from people’s home computers.
  • He wasn’t a sophisticated hacker, he just looked for businesses with wireless networks and weak security (read here on how to secure a wireless network the right way) and installed malware to do the work.
    Businesses should be doing more to keep their data safe. A lot of the time they just don’t have the skills or budget to spend on network security (especially non-technology businesses such as restaurants). Yet there’s a moral obligation to do so. What can we do about that?
    You should also be watching your own credit card accounts regularly.  Internet banking makes it easy to check your account details every couple of nights from home. By doing so you’ll notice compromised accounts early and can get the card cancelled. Just make sure your computer is safe when you log onto internet banking sites (read here and here for some good tips).
    The full article on this incident is here. It’s a bit long but an interesting read.

Woman loses $400k to Nigerian Scammer

Posted by on 26 August, 2009 No comments

I’ve written about Nigerian scams before, they’re very common and in most cases the scammers are based in Nigeria. It starts with an email telling you that someone wants to give you a million dollars, you just need to send over a bit of money to get things started.

The promise of money is enough for some people to get hooked into the scam, they believe all the stories and keep sending money to the scammer hoping to get their “reward”.

A woman in Oregon, USA, was scammed of US$400,000 over a 2 year period using this scam. If you have friends or family who aren’t aware of these scams, please let them know how it works. Show them this video and help raise their awareness. There are still many people in the world in a vulnerable position.

Watch the video below, or if it doesn’t load click here to access it.

Spam Sentences

Posted by on 25 August, 2009 No comments

A quick post about spam. Some of the most common sentenced used in spam are:

  • We are letting you try it for FREE, you just pay the shipping costs!
  • FREE Download without limits!
  • Get your Free Trial Now!
  • Take FREE exotic vacations!
  • Get Free trial bottle!

In similar news, Norton has published a list of what they consider the top 100 most dangerous web sites. I won’t copy & paste the names here because my site and newsletter will no doubt be blocked by filters everywhere. You can have a look here to get an idea of what they consider to be highly dangerous web sites.

Four Corners Episode on Security

Posted by on 17 August, 2009 No comments

An Australian investigative program called Four Corners will feature an episode on the scope of online crime in Australia. If you have access to this program it’ll be worth watching. They’ll go over how identity theft works, how online crooks have attacked businesses, and how unsecured wireless networks are hacked.

Monday 17th August, 8:30pm, ABC1. And a repeat on Tuesday 18th August, 11:35pm, ABC1.

ABC will also provide this program online if you have a fast internet connection, on their iView application.

Update: Part of the episode featured federal police raiding a hacker group. The hacker group has attacked a federal police network in retaliation. Interesting.

Tax Door Knocking Scam

Posted by on 16 August, 2009 No comments

This one has been reported in Australia but could just as easily happen anywhere.

Scammers have been knocking on people’s doors and claiming to be officials from the Australian Tax Office. They ask the resident to sign up to a program in return for reduced taxes. This is the bait part of the scam, offering you a way to pay less tax.

The scammers just need your credit card or bank details in return for their generous offer of reduced taxes. This is confidential information that you shouldn’t be giving out to strangers.

The Australian Tax Office has said that they’ll never initiate unsolicited house calls, if they do ever visit your home they’ll make an appointment first. And they will always show some ID on arrival. If this happens to you and you’re unsure what to do, the ATO’s phone number is 1300 686 636, they’ll be able to verify the situation.

This scam was also happening earlier this year using phone calls – the scammer calls random people and gives them the same story about reducing their tax and claiming to be from the Australian Tax Office.

If you have any comments on how this works in other countries please post below in the comments.

iPhone SMS Vulnerability

Posted by on 3 August, 2009 No comments

There was a vulnerability in the iPhone that could allow it to be hacked by sending it an SMS. In theory this would allow hackers to take control of your iPhone quite easily.

Apple has responded with a patch (called 3.0.1) that fixes the vulnerability. It can be downloaded and installed using iTunes.

Apple has more info here.

Credit Card Fraud By Cutting Phone Lines

Posted by on 3 August, 2009 1 comment

This particular type of fraud targets shop owners and police say it has been happening in Sydney.

The criminals go to a retail shop dressed as electrical contractors and cut their phone lines. They then go into the shop as customers and buy products using a stolen credit card.

Because the phone lines have been cut the store’s staff can’t verify the card to process the transaction. So they either have to trust that the card is legitimate and process the order on paper, or turn away customers.

If you work for a retail store you should be aware of this fraud tactic. There may also be things you can do to protect access to your store’s phone lines, and it may be possible to organise credit card processing facilities that use a mobile network as a backup.