By Jason Van Rassel, Calgary Herald April 23, 2011
Excited about getting a tax refund? Watch out -there’s a scam for that.
Just as Apple says “there’s an app” for many of life’s tasks, criminals are perpetually tailoring e-mail scams that capitalize on current events and prey on people’s instincts.
Phoney donation drives typically flood the Internet after natural disasters. And during the FIFA World Cup in 2010, scammers latched onto the event’s global appeal to create fake contests and lotteries.
“During the royal wedding, there will probably be one,” said Const. Kathy Macdonald of the Calgary police crime prevention unit.
The ever-evolving multitude of e-mail frauds recently took on a Calgary flavour when spam messages bearing the name and image of police Chief Rick Hanson started making the rounds.
The fake Hanson was used to lend a legitimate appearance to a scam telling recipients they had received a multimilliondollar inheritance and instructing them to send a sum of money to pay for legal costs involved in claiming it.
Police said at least one victim from Calgary lost money, despite seemingly obvious red flags such as the “calgarypolices@yahoo.com” e-mail address.
In 2010, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre recorded $53 million lost due to mass-market frauds such as spam e-mails and telephone scams.
That total represents Canadians targeted by frauds based in this country and abroad, as well as foreign victims of scams operating in Canada.
Telephone-based frauds remain the most prevalent, with more than 23,000 reported cases. Scams using e-mail and text messages accounted for approximately 13,000 reported cases.
While it may be easy to dismiss victims as gullible, Macdonald and other experts said the scams are often good at exploiting people’s emotions.
During tax time last year, fake e-mails purporting to be from the Canada Revenue Agency made the rounds, advising recipients they were eligible for a large refund and instructing them to provide their bank account information.
The e-mail was a classic “phishing” scam, which tricks recipients into divulging personal information that can then be used to steal the victim’s money or identity.
Police departments, banks and government agencies repeatedly warn the public that they don’t send unsolicited e-mails seeking personal information -but to some, the lure of “free money” proves too strong.
“When you want something so much, your mind kind of shuts off,” said Tom Keenan, a University of Calgary professor and technology expert.
Not only that, scams littered with spelling mistakes and pidgin English are increasingly giving way to more realisticlooking fakes.
A recent phishing e-mail used an exact copy of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation letterhead and included an accurate facsimile of the director’s signature, said Keenan.
“They’re upping the ante,” he said.
Even the poorly done scams have a chance of succeeding, added Keenan, considering spammers can target tens of thousands of people with the press of a button.
“You only have to get one out of 10,000,” he said.
Just as Apple says “there’s an app” for many of life’s tasks, criminals are perpetually tailoring e-mail scams that capitalize on current events and prey on people’s instincts.
Phoney donation drives typically flood the Internet after natural disasters. And during the FIFA World Cup in 2010, scammers latched onto the event’s global appeal to create fake contests and lotteries.
“During the royal wedding, there will probably be one,” said Const. Kathy Macdonald of the Calgary police crime prevention unit.
The ever-evolving multitude of e-mail frauds recently took on a Calgary flavour when spam messages bearing the name and image of police Chief Rick Hanson started making the rounds.
The fake Hanson was used to lend a legitimate appearance to a scam telling recipients they had received a multimilliondollar inheritance and instructing them to send a sum of money to pay for legal costs involved in claiming it.
Police said at least one victim from Calgary lost money, despite seemingly obvious red flags such as the “calgarypolices@yahoo.com” e-mail address.
In 2010, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre recorded $53 million lost due to mass-market frauds such as spam e-mails and telephone scams.
That total represents Canadians targeted by frauds based in this country and abroad, as well as foreign victims of scams operating in Canada.
Telephone-based frauds remain the most prevalent, with more than 23,000 reported cases. Scams using e-mail and text messages accounted for approximately 13,000 reported cases.
While it may be easy to dismiss victims as gullible, Macdonald and other experts said the scams are often good at exploiting people’s emotions.
During tax time last year, fake e-mails purporting to be from the Canada Revenue Agency made the rounds, advising recipients they were eligible for a large refund and instructing them to provide their bank account information.
The e-mail was a classic “phishing” scam, which tricks recipients into divulging personal information that can then be used to steal the victim’s money or identity.
Police departments, banks and government agencies repeatedly warn the public that they don’t send unsolicited e-mails seeking personal information -but to some, the lure of “free money” proves too strong.
“When you want something so much, your mind kind of shuts off,” said Tom Keenan, a University of Calgary professor and technology expert.
Not only that, scams littered with spelling mistakes and pidgin English are increasingly giving way to more realisticlooking fakes.
A recent phishing e-mail used an exact copy of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation letterhead and included an accurate facsimile of the director’s signature, said Keenan.
“They’re upping the ante,” he said.
Even the poorly done scams have a chance of succeeding, added Keenan, considering spammers can target tens of thousands of people with the press of a button.
“You only have to get one out of 10,000,” he said.
The Internet’s borderless nature and the anonymity it affords allows scammers to target people in wealthy countries such as Canada while operating with impunity in less-developed countries that don’t have vigorous law enforcement.
Requests from Canadian police would likely “just go in the garbage can there,” Keenan said.
That reality has police placing emphasis on providing people with advice and tips to avoid being scammed.
“Be really selective about who you give your e-mail address to,” Macdonald said.
People should have a primary e-mail address they use to correspond with friends and relatives and use a secondary address for online shopping, contests and surveys, she said.
In addition to never giving out personal information in response to potential phishing scams, Macdonald said people should limit the amount of personal information they’re giving out on a daily basis via their e-mail signature.
Police also recommend users disable the “preview” pane in their e-mail readers to prevent accidentally launching spyware or malicious software that can compromise your computer.
Disabling e-mail previews can also cut down on junk e-mail: spammers often embed code in their e-mails that sends back a signal confirming your address when the message is opened or displayed in the preview pane.
jvanrassel@ calgaryherald.com
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Internet+fraudsters+always+open+change/4664200/story.html#ixzz1KV2qHIIZ
Requests from Canadian police would likely “just go in the garbage can there,” Keenan said.
That reality has police placing emphasis on providing people with advice and tips to avoid being scammed.
“Be really selective about who you give your e-mail address to,” Macdonald said.
People should have a primary e-mail address they use to correspond with friends and relatives and use a secondary address for online shopping, contests and surveys, she said.
In addition to never giving out personal information in response to potential phishing scams, Macdonald said people should limit the amount of personal information they’re giving out on a daily basis via their e-mail signature.
Police also recommend users disable the “preview” pane in their e-mail readers to prevent accidentally launching spyware or malicious software that can compromise your computer.
Disabling e-mail previews can also cut down on junk e-mail: spammers often embed code in their e-mails that sends back a signal confirming your address when the message is opened or displayed in the preview pane.
jvanrassel@ calgaryherald.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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