Cyber crime & Phishing WARNING $$$

[acg]

A program last night on CBC network is further warning folks on the recent E-Bay and PayPal vulnerabilities.

It got me thinking about the use of this forum and the $$$ opportunities for cyber criminal syndicates to access this site as a registered participant and open up vulnerabilities to get further info from FIRE's. There are very sophisticated criminals out there seeking info and personal information to then send phoney e-mail warnings from official looking internet banking site "copies" warning individuals that their personal security info has been breached and to simply "click" here to continue to get further urgent messages. Without thinking, folks are clicking and then bam, they get into all your personal on-line banking info!!! Scary stuff!!!

I am rather new to this site, and have been impressed by the quality and the content of the discussions, but exactly who is Dory, Martha, Laurence and all the "forum moderators"? For all we know, Martha could really be "Vladimir" who is part of a very educated and sophisticated crime ring in the Ukraine who sells and obtains lists of thousands of newly obtained credit card numbers for $2 each to someone in Al Qeida!!!

I am sure everyone will want to chime in...

But hey, we do not really know who we are speaking to!!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just so you know, here's the real picture of Martha:

 

[HFWR]

 

[Martha]

Again I am looking for that "flip off" emoticon. BMJ?

 

[acg]

Call me paranoid!    Here's some more emoticons, Martha, oops, I mean Vladimir, or BMJ, or whoever!

Have a great day!

But seriously...

 

[justin]

I guess you can look at the quality and character of an individual's posts to see what kind of person they are. I think the Ukranian mafia has easier marks domestically and abroad than members of this ER forum. The wealthy on here didn't obtain their wealth from ignoring due diligence and common sense.

But it is important to remember that your posts are publicly available and are indexed to some degree from time to time by google.

 

[Nords]

But hey, we do not really know who we are speaking to!!!

We don't know much about you, either! You can learn more about me from reading my profile than I can learn about you from reading your profile, so what exactly is your basis for complaining?

We moderators are highly paid consultants who made our fortunes moderating this board volunteers who serve at the pleasure of the site's owner, Dory36. Some of us correspond via e-mail and have actually met each other face-to-face. Others of us have posted photos or given enough personal details over our combined total posts that we may never want to meet face-to-face.

Some of us want to keep our privacy. Others of us don't like the fact that this site scores so highly on Google. And as the months go by you'll learn more about us. For example, after years of painstaking semantic analysis we've determined that Unclemick is a 14-year-old girl from Missoula who pretends to be a former NASA engineer with Norwegian relatives.

 

[REWahoo]

acg, this thread may give you some level of comfort in knowing with whom you are dealing...or not.

http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=3579.0

 

[unclemick]

Heh heh heh

Post Katrina - now in Missouri - I'm working on a new and more colorful personna.

 

[Martha]

I do worry about online security in general, that is why I started the thread on security issues with online brokerage account. http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=4740.0

But from what I hear, the biggest problem of identity theft is not online theft, but the waiter that sells your credit card number or the guy that goes through your garbage. So don't let people walk away with your credit card and shred your mail. Look at your bank statement. Don't write down your passwords and put them in your wallet.

I know little about computers, but these are things I have heard you should do to protect yourself online:

--don't respond to email request for personal data
--don't store passwords on your computer
--don't bank or trade online at a public library or cybercafe
--have up to date firewall and virus checker
--use a program or programs to search for spyware, like spybot and adaware
--turn off your computer when you are done if you have a broadband connection
--look for that little "lock" symbol if you are transacting business online

These make sense? Anything else?

Vladimir Martha

 

[REWahoo]

acg, it's obvious Vladimir Martha is working hard to gain your confidence. She must be trustworthy because she forwarded the following email to me this morning:

Fwd to: REWahoo!
From: Vladimir Martha

From: Dr.Kennet Jeomac Young,
Manager, Credit and Foreign Bills,
Zenith International Bank Limited,
Lagos-Nigeria.

My name is Dr. Kennet Jeomac Young, the manager
Credit and Foreign Bills of Zenith International Bank
Limited of Nigeria.

I am writing in respect of foreign customer of my bank with
account number 14-255-2004/zib/t who died in a plane crash
(Ethiopian Airline 961) with other passengers abroad.

Since the death of this customer, I personally have watched
with keen interest to see the next of kin but all has
proved abortive as no one has come to claim his funds of
US$15.5m (Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand United
States Dollars) which has been with my bank for a very
long time.

On this note I decided to seek for whose name shall be used
as the next of kin as no one has come up to be the next of
kin. In view of this I got your contact through my
country's foreign trade mission after I was convinced by
providence that your name could be used as the next of
kin.

The request of the foreigner as a next of kin in this
business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a
foreigner and a Nigerian cannot stand as the next of kin to
a foreigner.

I agreed that 30% of this money will be for you as a
foreign partner in respect of providing a new bank account
or we can use your old account information, while the rest
will be for me, thereafter, I will visit your country for
disbursement as I am almost due for retirement.
Therefore, to facilitate the immediate transfer of this
fund to your account as arranged, you must apply first to
the bank as a relation to the deceased indicating your
private telephone number, and fax number for easy
communication and location where the money will be
remitted. Upon the receipt of your reply, I will send you
by fax or e-mail the application and the next step to take.

I will not fail to bring to your notice that this business
is hitch-free and that you should not entertain any fear as
the whole required arrangement has been made for the
transfer.

You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive
this letter.
Trusting to hear from you.

Your respectfully,
Dr. Kennet Jeomac Young.
Please reply here: kenneth_jeomac@yahoo.com

 

[acg]

Thanks to all to help reassure oneself (and gain confidence as a newer i-net user) on wanting to trust and have faith in folks...I enjoyed the responses and picture link.

The media has a way of instilling fear and it is wise to be cautious. I just initially wanted to make folks aware of what may be lurking around the corner...

I have been particularly interested in the Retire in Panama thread and have been considering moving offshore. Have contacted some of the links to gather more information and supplied a personal e-mail address. Then I learn more about Panama also being a haven for people who want to escape and live underground due to past criminal behaviours.

Being a novice with computers and the i-net, I am just getting comfortable (this is also my first on-line forum). The Terhorsts and Alkerdi's have been an inspiration on what to do next in this new adventure of LIFE after FIRE! I have been one to feel the fear and do it anyway

As you can probably tell, I have been a faithful and trusting person throughout the game of life (and have learned from the experiences...I hope! But surprise, ya never know...

Have a great day, all...

 

[uncledrz]

  For example, after years of painstaking semantic analysis we've determined that Unclemick is a 14-year-old girl from Missoula who pretends to be a former NASA engineer with Norwegian relatives. 

I knew it, I knew it.
So my guess is right!

Where do I collect the prize.
Uncledrz

 

[Eagle43]

I do worry about online security in general, that is why I started the thread on security issues with online brokerage account. http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=4740.0

But from what I hear, the biggest problem of identity theft  is not online theft, but the waiter that sells your credit card number or the guy that goes through your garbage.  So don't let people walk away with your credit card and shred your mail.  Look at your bank statement.  Don't write down your passwords and put them in your wallet.

One thing I saw in Paris, that I haven't noticed here, is the waiter brings a device to your table if you use your credit card. He stands there, swipes the cc, and returns same right before your eyes. Saw it in all restaurants there, but never here. Has this portable cc card reader been in the U.S. and I just haven't seen it?

 

[retire@40]

One thing I saw in Paris, that I haven't noticed here, is the waiter brings a device to your table if you use your credit card.  He stands there, swipes the cc, and returns same right before your eyes.  Saw it in all restaurants there, but never here.  Has this portable cc card reader been in the U.S. and I just haven't seen it?

If that portable reader stores credit card numbers, I hope it also has good encryption.

Imagine a scenario where the waiter puts it in his pocket by mistake and loses the thing in the subway on his way home.

Or if it just sends a wireless signal to the base unit, there could be people outside the restaurant in a van getting all the same information on their decoder.

Or if the waiter uses his own substitute "reader" to save all the credit card info so he can sell it to someone who could download it for his own purposes.

Lots of possibilities.

 

[acg]

Yes, it is available here.

I get Schwan's home food delivery service and they utilize these hand held readers.

Never had a problem. (so far).

 

[lazyday]

It got me thinking about the use of this forum and the $$$ opportunities for cyber criminal syndicates to access this site as a registered participant and open up vulnerabilities to get further info from FIRE's.

I suppose one possibility is for someone to post some interesting article using tinyurl, but really point to their own copy of the article, on their own page, with malicious code on the website to try to put a trojan horse on our computers. They might not even need to use tinyurl, if they use a legitimate-sounding website.

Possible, if we aren't up to date with windows update or antivirus?