Tricks and Scams

Saturday, September 18th, 2010 (2 comments)

There are lots of tricks that bad guys use. I won't get into the reasons why people go to these lengths to trick innocent people (though money and rationalization are the short answers). More importantly, you need to be aware of the common scams so you don't fall for them like that lady in Oregon who lost $400,000 in a Nigerian scam!

Click the highlighted titles below to research each of these major scam varieties.

• Password Mugging

  A disturbing new practice among websites and services is where they ask you for your user name and password to other sites. I call this "Password Mugging"

• Phishing

  By far the most dangerous thing you'll find in e-mails is a lie. Sending a bogus e-mail to someone is generally called phishing, but can also be referred to as a Nigerian scam (depending on the goal of the e-mail). Learn to recognize and deal with phishing before it's too late.

• Nigerian Scam

  Many people have lost thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars to the classic Nigerian Scam. Don't fall for it!

• Fake Alerts

  Maybe you've done everything right and you're computer is sufficiently fortress-like, but then you or someone in your family falls for a simple scam that tricks them into directly installing the bad guy's virus! Learn how to spot and ignore fakes!