Exposing CyberCrime



Latest Cybercrime.....
The early January report about a Salt Lake man who sold non-existant tickets on EBay to the Fiesta Bowl. He scammed many people and when they went to pick up their tickets he never showed up. You probably read about it, it made nationwide headline news! Well, the FBI has found him and he is going to jail! Our advice....Be careful who you send thousands of dollars to.

A Warning To You.....
Many people have lodging websites, and guess what? Some have websites but don't have actual lodging, really. There have been reports of people planning a trip, paying the money and traveling to a destination only to find that the lodging property they rented did not exist! They got your money and now you need to find a place to stay. This type of scam is another form of "cyber-crime", but doesn't happen on Internet travel directories such as ours. Why?, they have to be real to be listed on our website. A scammer will not use a service like ours because they don't want to be known by anyone. Besides, when someone asks to be included on our pages, we visit with every lodging owner and personally check out their units!

Attention Visitors: Beware of sharks when surfing the Net.....
You can do almost anything on the Internet these days -- from paying your gas bill to buying a flat-screen TV. But that doesn't mean it's safe.

* Easy to get burned: If you're not careful, it's easy to order something online and pay for the item but never receive it. That's what happened to Lesly Curtis, a mental-health-care worker in New York City.
A year and a half ago, Curtis was looking for an obscure book that she thought might help one of her patients. "It wasn't the kind of thing you could just find in any bookstore," said Curtis. But Curtis thought she might find the book online because she had had success shopping on the Web in the past. Indeed, one of the psychology sites she checked had the book for sale. She ordered it on the spot using her Visa card.
Unfortunately, despite numerous e-mails and calls to customer service, Curtis never received the book. "Everybody blamed the problem on someone else," she explained. "Eventually, I just gave up on the money as lost."
When shopping online goes smoothly, it's quick and convenient -- and you can often get a great bargain. But as Curtis found out, no matter how routine the online shopping experience becomes, sending money over the Web is not without risk.
About a third of consumers who have shopped online report difficulties, according to a 2001 study by the National Consumers League. One of the most common problems: not receiving merchandise a person already paid for. Other complaints include being billed for unordered merchandise or being hit with undisclosed charges.

* Safeguards: Good Housekeeping recommends protecting yourself by following these four rules:

1. Try to stick to reliable merchants. Most complaints come from shoppers who buy from small or obscure Web retailers that don't have the resources to make good on lost or stolen merchandise. Go with well-known companies with solid customer service.

2. Scrutinize unfamiliar sites. If you're buying a hard-to-find object that's available only from a relatively unknown merchant, make sure you're dealing with a secure site. When providing financial information, check that the Web site's URL when entering your credit card information starts with "https" or "shttp" rather than with "http," advises Jean Ann Fox at the Consumer Federation of America. The https informs you that it is a secure page.

3. Pay the right way. Assuming that a Web site is secure, your credit card is the safest way to pay because cardholders cannot be held liable for more than $50 in unauthorized charges.

4. Watch out for scams. Crooks sometimes establish a site with an intentionally misspelled address, hoping to trap consumers who make common typing errors when they enter the site.

E Mails From Your Bank, Credit Card Companies, Etc.
They are not real. A surge in emails from banks and other financial concerns have been appearing daily. They look real at first, but they are not. Just this week alone we have seen them come in from US Bank, Fleet Bank, PayPal and a few others. These "Fraud Artists" create emails and pages that look like the legitimate website of your online banking services and ask you to update or verify your information. DON'T DO IT! It's another scam to get your credit card or account information. Legitimate companies Never Ask For This Information, especially through emails.

Utah Leads the Nation in Scam and Fraud Complaint Rates.
The statistics are startling: About 35,000 bogus checks are presented to state banks and credit unions every month, and about half of those are deposited by Utahns who then fall victim to some sort of scam.

The average loss for Utahns who fall victim to sweepstakes, inheritance, employment, Internet sales or dating or any number of other scams is about $6,000, according to a task force of banks and credit unions. Multiplied by the number of Utahns falling victim, that means millions of dollars a month and even billions in a year are flowing into illegitimate pockets.

"It's a phenomenal problem," said Karen Nelson of Wells Fargo Bank, a member of a task force alarmed by the tide of scams rolling over the state and the number of residents falling victim.

In fact, Utah ranks No. 1 among states in reporting consumer-fraud complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.

Lynda Worden of Ogden met a man on an LDS dating site on the Internet. "Apparently he was supposed to be LDS and all this," she said.

The man said he was in the textile business and asked her to take over his business while he was in Spain on a buying trip. He sent a check for $43,000, and Worden started an account using some of her own money and began sending out checks as the man directed. Soon, however, she found out he was part of a Nigerian fraud operation and it was her money, not his, going to nonexistent clients. For Worden, the bottom line was $6,200 lost. "You sure learn things the hard way with the heart," said Worden.

Fueling this surge is the sophisticated forgery of checks of all kinds.

At a news conference Wednesday by the Financial Fraud Task Force, composed of 17 banks and credit unions, Jo Gove of Mountain American Credit Union displayed hundreds of checks, all bogus. Many are sophisticated knockoffs of cashier's checks, American Express and Visa travelers checks, MoneyGrams and postal orders. Those were just the ones her credit union has received in the past few months. Many are so good they can't be distinguished from the real thing. "There is no such thing as a safe check anymore," she said.

Kelly Winfield of Ogden received a notice in the mail that she had won a lottery. She had played games and entered contests on the Internet, so she thought she finally had gotten lucky. In the notification was a large check that she was told to deposit and then send the lottery money to cover expenses such as attorneys' fees. By the time she learned the check was no good and she hadn't won anything, Winfield was out $3,000. "It's stressful thinking about how I'm going to pay it back and looking for a second job," Winfield said.

The fraud artists take advantage not just of people's gullibility but the weeks or months between the time a check is deposited and when it comes back as a forgery. Typically, a check will be sent to a Utahn who then deposits it in a personal account. The participant is asked to send back some money for fees of some type, a deposit or any number of other reasons. The victim sends back money from their account, only to learn that the original check was no good and he or she is out the money sent back. "Checks can take anywhere from a week to three to six months to clear," said Jeanine Bader of Deseret First Credit Union. "I've even seen up to a year for the items to clear and come back." The scammers have, she said, "gotten smarter than the system, unfortunately."

"Sometimes you think good things happen to good people," said Joyce Zumwalt of Erda. She had been out of a job for about a year when a check for about $2,800 arrived in the mail from AAA, a reward for her 35 years of membership and a refund on insurance premiums. Everything looked right: the logo on the letter, the insignia on the check, the return address and the telephone numbers she called to verify the refund. "I had been in the financial sector for 25 years as an accounts-received manager," Zumwalt said. "I thought I knew what I was doing." Zumwalt deposited the check. She considers herself lucky that she had been unable to get hold of someone for further instructions, which likely would have meant being asked to send some of the money back. The check came back bogus. By that time, she had bounced a number of checks, and had to make up the overdrafts and fees. Now she worries that her credit rating has been trashed. "It turned into a nightmare," she said.

"If you bank, if you have a checking account, if you work on the Internet, if you are a senior citizen, you are a target," said Kevin Olsen, director of the Division of Consumer Protection. He warned that most of the money goes out of the country, often through untraceable wire transfers. "There's not a whole bunch we can do to get the money back," said Olsen. Postal Inspector Bob Maes displayed a basket full of mail that an elderly woman had received in the past year for sweepstakes, investments, lotteries and other pitches. The unnamed woman had lost $100,000 to scams coming in the mail and over the telephone, he said. "We see people of every economic level who are falling victims to this," Maes said.

I D THEFT
Identity theft is often in the news, but there are a lot of misconceptions swirling around about how to best protect yourself.

While some identity thieves focus on getting your credit cards and maxing them out before you even realize they're missing, an increasing number are using one piece of information about you -- often a credit card number -- in order to steal your entire identity.

Though many folks worry about keeping their credit card information secure when shopping online, the top methods that identity thieves use to steal personal data are still low-tech, according to Justin Yurek, president of ID Watchdog, an identity theft-monitoring firm. "Watch your personal documents, be careful to whom you give out your data over the phone, and be careful of mail theft," he says. Indeed, a recent study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that of the 9.9 million identity-theft cases reported in 2008 -- resulting in a loss of $48 billion -- online theft only accounted for 11 percent of incidents. Stolen wallets, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards made up almost half.

No one is immune to identity theft, but armed with a little knowledge about how identity thieves operate -- and a little common sense -- you can stay one step ahead of them.

1. Thieves don't need your credit card number in order to steal it. Conversely, they don't need your credit card in order to steal your identity. Identity thieves are crafty; sometimes all they need is one piece of information about you and they can easily gain access to the rest. As a result, says Heather Wells, recovery manager at ID Experts, an identity protection company, today it's crucial to lock up important documents at home. "Secure birth certificates, Social Security cards, passports, in a safe deposit box or in a safe hidden at home," she says. "And that includes credit cards when not in use."

2. The non-financial personal information you reveal online is often enough for a thief. Beware of seemingly innocent personal facts that a thief could use to steal your identity. For example, never list your full birthdate on Facebook or any other social-networking Web sites. And don't list your home address or telephone number on any Web site you use for personal or business reasons, including job-search sites.

3. Be careful with your snail mail. "Follow your billing cycles closely," says Lucy Duni, vice president of consumer education at TrueCredit.com. "If a credit card or other bill hasn't arrived, it may mean that an identity thief has gotten hold of your account and changed your billing address." Al Marcella, professor at Webster University's School of Business and Technology in St. Louis, and an expert on identity theft, suggests when you order new checks, you pick them up at the bank instead of shipping them to your home. "Stolen checks can be altered and cashed by fraudsters," says Duni. And never place outgoing mail in your post office box or door slot for a carrier to pick up. Anyone can grab it and get your credit card numbers and other financial information. Bring it to the post office yourself.

4. Review all bank and credit card statements each month, preferably once a week. Watch for charges for less than a dollar or two from unfamiliar companies or individuals. Thieves who are planning to purchase a block of stolen credit card numbers often first test to check that the accounts haven't been cancelled by aware customers by sending a small charge through, sometimes for only a few pennies. If the first charge succeeds, they'll buy the stolen data and make a much larger charge or purchase. They're guessing -- often correctly -- that most cardholders won't notice such a tiny charge. In addition, many of the fraud alerts you can set on your accounts aren't triggered by small dollar amounts. Reviewing your credit report on a regular basis is also a good idea, but usually by the time a fraudulent transaction reaches your credit report, it's too late.

5. If an ATM or store terminal looks funny, don't use it. "Make sure there is no device attached to any ATM card slot you use," says Wells. "As a general rule, the mouth of a card receptacle on an ATM machine should be flush with the machine or have only a very slight lip." If it looks or feels different when you swipe your card, or has an extra piece of plastic sticking out from the card slot, it may be a skimmer, an electronic device placed there by thieves that captures your credit card information when you swipe it. If you notice it after you've already inserted your card, you should alert your bank so they can watch for any fraudulent charges to your account.

6. Identity thieves love travelers and tourists. Scott Stevenson, founder and CEO of Eliminate ID Theft, an ID theft protection company, cautions travelers to be alert to strangers hovering around whenever you use a credit card at an ATM or phone, and to avoid public wireless Internet connections unless your laptop or PDA has beefed-up security protection. However, he also suggests watching for little-known methods of lifting your identity. "Cut up your used hotel key cards when you check out," Stevenson advises, since these keys contain important information about you and your finances, including your name, address, phone, and the credit card you used to pay for your room. "When you toss them out or leave them lying in the hotel room, anyone can pick them up and use them to steal your identity," he adds.

7. Identity thieves are sneaky; you need to be sneaky, too. There are a few simple things you can do to protect your credit card in case it falls into the wrong hands. "Sign your credit card with a Sharpie so your signature can't be erased and written over," suggests Echo Montgomery Garrett, a writer in Marietta, Ga. Consultant Sarah Browne of Carmel, Calif., had all but one credit card stolen from a hotel room. The card that was spared still had the "Please Activate" sticker on it. Though Browne had activated the card, she forgot to remove the sticker. "The thieves must have known that you have to activate a new card from the phone number listed with the credit card company, so they didn't bother with it," she said, and since then, she leaves the activation stickers on all of her cards. Indeed, when a thief struck a second time at a public function, Browne's stickered cards were again left untouched.

8. Pay attention at the checkout line. If a cashier or salesperson takes your card and either turns away from you or takes too long to conduct what is usually a normal transaction, she may be scanning your card into a handheld skimming terminal to harvest the information. But they don't need a handheld scanner to capture your information. According to Mark Cravens, the Anti-Scam Doctor and author of "The Ten Commandments of Investing," they can take a picture of the front and back of your card with a cell phone or merely swap out cards. "Look at your card when they hand it back and make sure it's yours, and not another gold, silver, or blue card that looks like yours," he says. "You may not notice they swapped your card for days."

9. Go paperless in as many ways as possible. Sandy Shore, training manager with Novadebt, a nonprofit, New Jersey-based credit-counseling agency, suggests clients cut back on the mail they receive from banks and financial institutions by discontinuing paper bills and statements. "Access your financial statements at the issuer's Web site instead," she says. This strategy has the added bonus of an environmental benefit. Similarly, Vaclav Vincalek, president of Pacific Coast Information Systems, an IT security firm, recommends that whatever paper receipts and financial statements you do receive go through the shredder instead of into the wastebasket. "Never throw away a credit card slip," he says. "Instead, shred anything that has any number, name, address on it."

GrandParent Scam
It's an old scam targeting the elderly, but people keep falling for it. On Thursday, the Salt Lake City Police Department issued a warning about the scam.

Police say the callers are so convincing because they tug at the heartstrings of grandparents. Last month, two elderly women in Salt Lake fell for the scam and lost between $2,900 and $5,000.

What is the "grandparent" scam? It started with a phone call. Cons posing as relatives try to convince elderly victims to wire cash to help pay for emergency car repairs, medical bills - or even post bail. The cons tend to target elderly people who might have trouble recognizing voices over the phone. Because the cons usually claim to be embarrassed and ask to keep the incident a secret, victims neglect to verify the story before sending money.

"Somebody called her and said to her, 'Guess what grandson this is?' And so she said a few names, and he settled on one and used that for the rest of the phone call," the woman explained. Acting as her grandson, the man told the woman's grandmother he was in Canada, had a few drinks and got into an accident and needed money. She wired him $4,500. The called her again the next day, thanked her for the money, and said he was in jail for the accident. He said he needed another $4,000 to settle the case. She gave him the money.

"Any time they're asking for personal information and money and stuff like that, you really start thinking about, 'Ok, is this a scam?'" Police say it's difficult to track down the scammers because they're calling from outside the country.

How to Protect Yourself?

• Don't fill in the blanks. If the caller says, "It's your granddaughter," respond with "Which one?" Most likely, the perpetrator will then hang up.

• Verify the caller. Always confirm your grandchild's identity by saying you will return the call at his or her home or on his cellphone (but don't ask the caller for it). If you don't have your grandchildren's phone numbers, contact a trusted family member for them.

• Be mum on account numbers. Never provide your bank or credit card account numbers to any caller- regardless of the reason.

• Be suspicious of requests for money wires.

• Call the police or state attorney general's office.