Some New E-Mail Scams
We're all familiar with e-mail spam offering prescription drugs, cut-rate software and herbal potions.
But spammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in delivering their ploys. Appearing new this summer was e-mail with the
subject lines "Get help today with Drug Rehab Info" or "Overcome Alcoholism Today" illustrated with photographs of people who
seem depressed
"It's one of their more sinister attacks," said Dermot Harnett, the editor of a new report from Symantec. "If you open it, it will
bring you to a sign-up page asking for your name, address and e-mail information. It's the first step in trying to get credit card
information."
As always we remind you to remain skeptical and make sure all your friends and especially those most vulnerable, know
that if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.
Hit Man E-Mail Scam Returns
The IC3 (the FBI and DOJ's online internet crime reporting site) continues to receive thousands of reports concerning the hit
man e-mail scheme. E-mail content has evolved since late 2006; however, the messages remain similar in nature, claiming the sender
has been hired to kill the recipient.
Two new versions of the scheme began appearing in July 2008. One instructed the recipient to contact a telephone number contained
in the e-mail and the other claimed the recipient or a "loved one" was going to be kidnapped unless a ransom was paid. Recipients
of the kidnapping threat were told to respond via e-mail within 48 hours. The sender was to provide the location of the wire
transfer five minutes before the deadline and threatened bodily harm if the ransom was not received within 30 minutes of the time
frame given. The recipients' personally identifiable information (PII) was included in the e-mail to promote the appearance that
the sender actually knew the recipient and their location.
In some instances, the use of names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of government officials, business executives and/or
victims' personally identifiable information are used in an attempt to make the fraud appear more authentic.
Individuals who receive e-mails containing threats of violence and their PII are encouraged to contact law enforcement as
well as file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
Experts Warn of Hurricane-related Website Scams
with all of the recent hurricane activity, internet users are being reminded that not every storm-related website is a benign
one.
For the past several days, handlers at the SANS Internet Storm Center have listed scores of recently launched websites that refer
in some way to Gustav, Hannah or Ike.
"Many of the domain names being registered are legitimate and are redirecting to sites that support law-abiding charities," Marcus
Sachs, the Storm Center's director, wrote Monday in a blog post. "Unfortunately though, many more are either parked in a
'for sale' status, or are associated with IP addresses known to host malicious software, spyware, or other hazardous
content."
Buying up domain names that refer to popular news events is not uncommon, as individuals hope to either sell the domains or earn
money through click-through advertising revenue.
However, sometimes their motives turn malicious, as was evidenced for the first time on a widespread basis following Hurricane
Katrina. In that case, a number of bogus websites popped up that claimed to be legitimate charities, such as the American Red
Cross.
Individuals are advised to be wary of emails that appear as requests to donate money to a legitimate donation. Users should
consult the Better Business Bureau's list of charities to affirm an organization's legitimacy.
E-Mail Survey Scam
This is another case of a new scam that is happening elsewhere but could very well be seen here soon.
An e-mail survey sent to Grants Pass, Oregon, area residents that offered $90 to answer questions for a bank turned out to be a
scam run electronically from Valencia, Spain. The e-mail used a phony Home Valley Bank logo and asked for personal information
the real bank says it would never request by phone or e-mail. And the scam hijacked a phone number for a health care organization
in Wisconsin as its fake contact number, forcing the organization to waste time answering a number of angry phone calls before
the scam was discovered.
Home Valley Bank has blocked any transactions involved with the scam.
Scam Targets Time Warner Cable Customers
Hundreds of people have already been affected by a new phishing scam that tries to get personal information over the
internet and is targeting cable-TV customers. It comes in the form of an email that appears to be from Time Warner Cable. Time
Warner has received more than 200 or emails related to the phishing scam. A spokesperson for Time Warner told News 4 the company
would never send out an email asking for personal information or bank/credit card account information.
Phishing Scam Targeting Bank of America Customers
The Altamonte Springs, Florida, Police Department announced that the Bank of America Fraud Response team is currently investigating
an e-mail “phishing” scam that attempts to obtain unauthorized access to banking software including Bank of America Direct. Recent
fraudulent e-mails appearing to be from Bank of America have been identified as phishing e-mails.
The e-mail may ask customers to verify confidential account information by clicking on a Customer Verification Form with a
fraudulent link provided in the e-mail. The message may refer to a required or mandatory confirmation necessary for a routine
software upgrade.
E-Mail Scam Targeting Law Firms Ensnares a Lawyer in Atlanta
I just include this to emphasize that fact that anyone can become a target in this battle, and just because you went to a lot
of college, doesn't mean you can't be fooled.
A lawyer in Atlanta who often handles legal transactions with Asian clients and often via email, was understandably fooled by an
email from Taiwan asking him to help collect a debt in the United States.
The "debtor company" sent him a cashier's check for nearly $200,000 and he depositied it in his trust account before wiring the
money to a South Korean bank. The check, of course, was counterfeit.
The Attorney waited three days after the check was deposited before wiring the money, as his bank had told him that was enough
time to ensure the check had cleared. However, the scammers had changed the nine-digit routing number at the bottom of the check
so that it was wired to a different bank then the one named, resulting in a delay in processing. The Lawyer's bank is now sueing
him for the money claiming that it extended him provisional credit when it wired the money to South Korea.
The scammer identified itself as Tah Tong Textile Co., a real company that trades on the Taiwanese stock exchange. However, the
attorney now says he's pretty sure there is no connection between that company and the scammers who contacted him.
There are reports of at least seven more attorneys who have fallen prey to similar email scams across the country.
Apple Confirms iPhone Security Bug, Promises Patch
Apple Inc. today said it will patch a bug in the iPhone's password-protected locking feature next month in a software update for
the iconic smart phone.
In the meantime, Apple suggested users apply the work-around recommended by several users on the Apple support forum. "[Set] the
iPhone so that double-clicking the home button will take the user directly to the home screen, which if password protection is
turned on, will be the unlock the screen,"
The flaw lets anyone sidestep iPhone passcode locking by simply tapping "Emergency Call" on the password-entry screen, then
double-tapping the Home button.
By default, a double-tap of the Home button brings up the iPhone's Favorites, a list of frequently called contacts, and those
contacts' information, including phone numbers and addresses. If any of the contacts have e-mail or Web addresses associated with
them, the trick allows access to the iPhone's e-mail application and Safari browser, respectively.
The bug also affects the iPod Touch.
Fake Twitter Profile Punts Orkut Attack
Miscreants are using a fake Twitter profile in a bid to spread malware that harvests login credentials for Orkut.
Updates to the fake Twitter profile are supposedly being followed by 17 punters, but they're all fake, according to Chris Boyd,
director of malware research at IM security firm Facetime.
The profile is designed to trick would-be marks into viewing a photo album on Orkut, which supposedly requires a Flash update to
view. This bogus Flash update is contaminated by malware, specifically the OrkutTron Trojan.
OrkutTron performs a variety of malicious actions including an attempt to snaffle login credentials for Orkut, the Google-run
social networking site that's particularly big in Brazil. Fitting in with this theme, the fake Twitter profile is written in
Portuguese.
Attacks targeting Orkut are relatively commonplace, but as Boyd notes, the use of Twitter represents an innovation in such hacking
attacks.
VMware Delivers Fixes for Multiple Flaws
VMware, provider of virtualization solutions, has released updates for 16 vulnerabilities across its product line.
The flaws affect VMware Workstation, Player, ACE, Server and ESX.
Three of the bugs are related to errors in ActiveX controls, Internet Server Application Programming Interface (ISAPI) and
OpenProcess.
The French Security Incident Response Team rated the vulnerabilities "moderate risk." US-CERT encourages users to update
to the latest versions.
Phone Phishers Using Illegal File Sharing Legal Threats
Fraudsters have begun cold-calling householders to accuse them of copyright infringement online and threaten them with court
action, an ISP has reported.
Small ADSL provider UKFSN received a support call yesterday from an elderly customer who was concerned after being contacted by a
scammer on Tuesday.
Accused of illegally sharing music, UKFSN's subscriber was savvy enough to refuse to give any details, and turned the tables on
the caller, demanding to know where they were calling from. When they refused to provide credentials he hung up.
Many observers predicted that fraudsters would seize on lawyers' highly-publicised efforts to extract cash from internet users.
And lo, it has come to pass. Email phishers can't be far behind.
Google Issues First Patches for Chrome
Just days after it rolled out Chrome, Google Inc. issued an update after Vietnamese security researchers reported a critical
vulnerability in the beta browser.
Google patched the vulnerability Sunday and released an updated beta, Version 0.2.149.29, the same day. "We've released an update
to Google Chrome that fixes many of the issues reported here," said someone identified only as "Simon" in a Chrome support forum
yesterday.
Other Chrome vulnerabilities, however, remain unpatched. The blended threat that relies on the months-old "carpet bomb" bug first
reported in Apple Inc.'s Safari -- which, like Chrome, uses the WebKit browser engine -- has not been fixed, for instance.
Already-installed copies of Chrome will update automatically to 0.2.149.29; Google's browser uses a behind-the-scenes update
process that doesn't inform the user that an update is about to be installed. "Google Chrome automatically updates to a newer
version when one is released," the company said in a support document. "The update process happens silently, whether or not you're
using the browser at the time. If Google Chrome is open at the time of the update, you must close the browser and restart for the
new version to launch."
Users can manually update Chrome by selecting the Tools icon at the far right, then choosing "About Google Chrome." An Update
button will appear if a newer version is available.
Microsoft Patch Tuesday - Four Major Updates
Microsoft has confirmed that its Patch Tuesday release on 9 September will include fixes for four 'critical' remote code execution
vulnerabilities.
Affected software includes Microsoft Office, Windows, Internet Explorer, .NET Framework, SQL Server and Visual Studio. Most of
updates do not require a full restart of the PC.
Microsoft will host a webcast to address customer questions on these bulletins on 10 September.
