QUITMAN co DEMOCRAT
MARKS MS
c rculat~on= 1427
WEEKLY
1211112008
BQB:
, I ~
Beware of holiday cyber scamrners
Ridgeland. MS, ~ e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 card) scam. messages are being fraudulent web sitc where
-During this holiday season the
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
has leanled of new, aggrsssive
\lays that cyber scammers uss as
lhc! attempt to steal mane!, and
p s r s o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n . Thesc,
include: the sendinz of e-cards in
elnail mzssages that contain
mal~vare (malicious softn arc):
sstting up spoofing web sitcr that
look like legitimate comrncrci~l
sites: and unleashing email and
phone"attacks"whrreindividuals
r e c s i v e m ? s s a g e s a s k i n g for
person" data.
"Thess cyber scammers \vill d o
\ihatcvrr thzy can to steal monc!
and persunal iiformation.
especially during the holiday
season."saidBillMoak.Prssidsnt/
CEO of r h e BBB s s r v i n g
Slississifpi. "They continue to
de\.ise new and different ways to
commit their crimes.''
E-cards In the e-card (greeting
any
sent via spam and appear to be information they enter then falls
from a family m e m k r or friend. into the hands of the scammers.
Generally. the sfam directs the Thc FBI offers the following
rscipienttoclickonalinkprovidsd rips toavoidfallingvictimtocyber
in the email to vie\\ the e-card, fraud:
!\'hen thc recipient clicks on the 'Do nor respond to unsolicited
link. they are unknojvingly taken ispam) ernail messages.
to a malicious \veb pays. D o not click on links contained
Spoofing Scammcrsireate falss \vithin an unsolicited email.
or shadon copy of a 1 z ~web l sire .Avoid filling out forms in cmail
or email in ordsr ro mislead the messages that ask for personal
recipisnts. All net\vork traffic information.
hetneen the victim'sbrowserand .Log on to official web siles
ths shadow page are ssnt through insteadof"linkingV tothemfrom
the spoofer's rnachinc to enable an unsolicited message,
thecaptureofpasswords,account .Conlacl thc actual business that
numbers, etc. supposedly sent the message to
Phishingl~ishing individuals ~ e r i f yits validity.
have reported recei\.ir.g email or The BBB has k e n serving
tznt m e s s a ~ e s i n d i c a t i aprohirm
n~ \Tississippi c o n s u m e r s a n d
with their account. The): drs businesses since 1964. Contact
dircc~ed\ofollc:vthelinkprovidcd rhe BBB online at
in the messagc to update thsir w \ \ \ v . m s . b b b . o r g <http:/f
account o r correct ths problem, \\\v\v.ms.bbb.org/> or by phone
The link actuallydirscts them to a at 800-957-8280.
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