scams

Phishing, e-mail money laundering scams on the rise

As the economy worsens and more people get laid off, online fraud and financial scams are rising, security experts say.

Many of the scams lure people in with promises of quick and easy money. For instance, there has been a marked increase in money mule recruitment scams for people to transfer funds online between countries, and other illegal work-related spam in recent months, security firm Panda said on Thursday. Such offers promise $225 or more a day for what they call "rebate processing" work at home.

"The schemes are aimed at people who are desperate in rough … Read more

British site focusing on online scams targeted in DDoS attack

A British Web site that warns consumers about online financial scams was taken down by a distributed denial-of-service attack on Monday.

Bobbear was being overwhelmed by a "huge" botnet with "over half a million recorded zombie hits from midnight to 8 a.m. today (GMT)," Bob Harrison, administrator of Bobbear, told security firm Sophos.

The site remained down as late as midday Pacific time.

Bobbear has been targeted before. In October 2007, hackers attempted to damage the company's reputation by sending e-mails that solicited donations to the company via an online payment service.

"An … Read more

CNET News Daily Podcast: iPhone gets promoted to the boardroom

Apple reporter Tom Krazit drops by the studio to talk about how Apple's iPhone, largely ignored by IT departments in its first generation, is now making its way into more and more companies' tech arsenal.

Also in this podcast: Sun Microsystems announces it's laying off up to 6,000 employees; Barack Obama says he'll post his weekly public addresses to YouTube; eBay shuts down inauguration ticket scams; and Netflix's CEO dreams of radical change in the realm of home TVs.

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Today's stories:

Businesses warming up to the iPhone

Sun chops heads: Can it get any respect?… Read more

Nigerian scammers hit Facebook

Karina Wells, a Google employee in Australia, received a Facebook message from a friend on Friday saying he was stranded in Lagos, Nigeria and needed $500 for a plane ticket home. What made her suspicious was her Australian friend's use of American terms like "cell phone" instead of "mobile."

So, Wells pretended that she was going to send the money via Western Union and instead turned the case over to authorities, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Other Facebook users might not be so wise. Such Nigerian scams are common over e-mail but not on … Read more

Ireland investigating fake credit card reader scam

If you've used a credit card reader in Ireland recently you may want to call your credit card company and monitor your account.

Scammers posing as bank workers replaced credit card readers in retail stores in northeast Ireland with fake readers that captured the data on as many as 10,000 credit and debit cards, according to an IDG News Service report.

The Bank of Ireland shut down some cards and limited overseas withdrawals, while Ireland's National Police Service launched an investigation.

Criminals can make clone cards with the data they get off the magnetic stripe from the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 740: iTunes bombing

How to get to the top of the iTunes podcast list--we think. We'll let you know Monday. Also, breaking news! Amazon goes down midshow! Was it something we said? In other news, we attempt to solve issues of global hypercapitalism, the growth imperative, and their inevitable consumer-unfriendly consequences. Plus, we find out why you have to go through voicemail hell when you call customer support, and the answer makes us lose our ever-loving minds. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 740

ISP secretly added spy code To Web sessions, crashing browsers http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/06/isp-spying-made.html … Read more

'Phomance' doesn't warm developer's heart

Phomance might sound like some hip new description of a romantic phone conversation, but Symantec's senior information developer says there's nothing sexy about it.

Phomance, writes Ben Nahorney, is actually the foreboding cross-section between phishing and online dating--and he should know, as he recently received a suspicious e-mail from a hot Russian nurse who seemed unusually interested in corresponding despite the paltry details in his online dating profile.

Why, out of the multitude of members on the site, had this woman decided to contact me? Did I seem open-minded, having stated that my ideal partner would have "… Read more

CNET Live - Episode 54

Brian Brushwood from Revision 3's Scam School shows us some life hackery magic tricks to get free drinks at the bar.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

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Make iPhone a disposable cell phone

Two ways to remote control iTunes. One from TUAW and one from Lifehacker.

I'm hitting myself in the head for not remembering PC Mover for transferring your applications, settings and files from one … Read more

Where it's the fiiiiinnnnaaalll countdown

EPISODE 79

Brian Brushwood stops by to ruin our lunches. He did some crazy crazy tricks like sticking a 4-and-a-half-inch nail in his nose, sticking a smaller nail in his eye, and basically taking over the show and making it awesome. The boys of the 404 might talk about iPod Touches, but who are we kidding? Magic! Listen in, or even better, watch the video later today on this post or on CNET TV's YouTube channel. We promise you WILL NOT want to miss this episode.

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Where we're still recovering from our special time with Julia Allison and Meghan Asha

EPISODE 75

Today's show is just like taking candy from a baby...a chocolate one. Got an STD? Well Cracked has found a dating site just for you. Plus, Earthworm Jim might be making a comeback! All this and special guest Brian Brushwood from Revision3's Scam School on today's 404!

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