Scam Alert: Expect an upsurge in identity theft as the economy weakens

A new report out this week highlights the danger of identity theft - for all of us. The number of identity theft cases increased 22 percent in 2008, affecting nearly 10 million Americans.

Javelin Strategy and Research has been conducting the identity-theft study for the past five years. The most recent statistics show people are doing a better job detecting and responding to fraud more quickly.

Identity theft cost the victim about $496 per incident - down from $718, a 31 percent drop, from a year earlier. Don't brush that number off. According to the study, the identity thief is making off with nearly $5,000 per case. So, follow my train of thought: There's quite a difference between the direct cash out of the victim's pocket and what the thief is stealing. The banks, credit card companies and businesses are making up the difference and must pass that cost on to all of us. The money comes from somewhere, which makes each and every one of us a victim of identity theft, because we're all sharing in the cost.

I could pass on number after number, but I prefer to focus on what we can learn. If you take nothing away from reading the following words, I most want you to grasp the importance of taking opportunity away from the identity thief.

LESSON ONE: IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO GET WORSE

The economy is a big reason for the increase in identity-theft cases. Since we're not going to snap out of the current economic challenges overnight, expect to see more attempts to steal your personal information.

LESSON TWO: VIGILANCE MEANS LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER

The fraudsters are moving faster. The bad guys and girls are more sophisticated and are putting technology to work. Review your bank and credit card statements looking for the slightest irregularities. Be sure to check your credit reports annually. Shred paper that has identifying information.

LESSON THREE: GENDER MATTERS

This year's Javelin Strategy and Research identity fraud report found that women were 26 percent more likely to be victims of identity fraud than men. Why? Fraud attacks involving women occur more often via in-person channels, such as stores and restaurants, where there is less consumer control. There is a greater percentage of women making in-person purchases, and women were almost three times more likely than men to report their information stolen during an in-person purchase.

LESSON FOUR: LOCK IT UP AND KEEP CLOSE WATCH

Lost or stolen wallets, checkbooks and credit cards are still the most likely sources of identity theft. Online access accounted for only 11 percent of the total fraud.

Don't be scared of identity theft. But don't think it can never happen to you. Be vigilant and protect your identity.

Fake Microsoft Scam Fake Fraud Email - Lottery / Sweepstakes

One massive run on fake / scam email. One of the longest running scams / hoaxes on the internet a "email sweepstakes"

Bad formed email, typos like (6) Your Preffered (preferred) and just the lunacy of believing that MS is sending people money is reason enough to run.

My favorite is although this is a Microsoft Contest, the email comes from MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK). [browniejames@yahoo.com] a Yahoo email address. Right!

Avoid at all cost.


Microsoft Corporations: Customer Service Wrights Lane, Kensington London W85SP, England UNITED KINGDOM FILE REF: HL/5564/06/07/MICS BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /EU OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft, in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products, (F.P.S.) held this may 2008,in London UK. Where in your email address emerged as one of the online Winning emails in the 2nd category and therefore attracted a cash award of £650.000.00 (six Hundred and Fifty Thousand pounds sterling) Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below: These are your identification numbers:MCS-26799/097 CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES 1st. 2 £ 850,000.00 pounds each 2nd. 8 £ 650.000.00 pounds each 3rd. 13 £ 250,000.00 pounds each 4th. 27 £ 170,000.00 pounds each We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment of the above prize to you. It is important to note that your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it. (1) Award numbers: NL 56/7766 (2) Email ticket numbers: EAASL-130877 (3) Batch numbers: MC11/834/8PDH /EU (4) The file reference numbers: HL/5574/41/07/MICS {5} Serial Numbers: McST/006/NL46560 For verification purpose be sure to include note that you ar to include all the data below when contacting the payment transfer manager, (1) Your contact address. (2) Your Tel/Fax numbers. (3) Your Nationality/Country. {4} Your Full Names. (5) Occupation. (6) Your Preffered Method Of Receiving Your Price(From Below) Mode Of Price Remittance. (1)Cash Pick-Up (You coming Down to Uk Personally to Pick Your Price). (2)Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque Name and other Winning Documents safely to you. To file for your claim, Please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agent validate your winning. CONTACT: FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGER MR BROWNIE JAMES. MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK). MOBILE +44 704 576 5467 E-mail:browniejames@yahoo.com The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by our CEO/Chairman, Bill Gates and a consortium of software promotion companies. The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International Companies. The Microsoft internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy worldwide. Once again on behalf of all our staff, CONGRATULATIONS! Sincerely, MRS. JUNE WALTER. M.S.PRO. ZONAL COORDINATOR.

U.K ONLINE LOTTERY Internet Scam / email Scam

There are dozens of lottery scams, I have written about many of them below, so not much more I can say except avoid!

The return path for this scam is: Return-path:

-----------

U.K ONLINE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
The Marina Offices,
St Peters Yacht Basin,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 1HX England

(Customer Services)
FINAL NOTIFICATION

ATTENTION: WINNER

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of #500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand (British
Pounds) held on the 1St of June,2008 in London UK. The selection process was carried out through random selection in Our computerized email selection system (ess) from a database of over 21,000 e-mail addresses drawn from which you were selected.

Contact our fiduciary agent for claims with:

Name:Mr.Scott Campbell
Email:processing_unit_02@live.com
Tell: +44 702 401 4563
+44 703 194 8289

TICKET NO: 8603775966738
REF NO: UK 200-26937
BATCH NO: 2007MJL-01

Fill the below:
1. Name: 2.Address . 3. Marital Status: 4. Occupation: 5. Age:
6. Sex: 7. Nationality: 8. Country of Residence: 9. Telephone Number:


Congratulation!!
Sincerely,Publish Post
Mrs.Anna Marthin
U.K ONLINE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL

AUSTRALIA LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL - SCAM

What a month for lottery scams, they never end, just dozens and dozens a month, different countries, different stories, but esentially all the same. Give us a ton of your info, send us money for the processing fee or taxes (or cash a bad check and wire the the funds) and then we will send you nothing, keep your money and maybe steal your ID. STAY AWAY FROM LOTTERY SCAMS.

--------------------

AUSTRALIA LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL.
FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRICE AWARD DEPARTMENT.

REF Nº:575061725
BATCH Nº:8056490902/188
WINNING NOS:KB8701/LPRC
25/6/2008

RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION/ FINAL NOTICE
CONGRATULATIONS!


National Australian Lottery Incorprated wishes to inform you the results of the E-mail address ballot lottery international program by Australia held on 31th MAY 2008. Your email account have been picked as a winner of ($200,000) TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS ONLY.

All email addresses were selected through a computer ballot system in which your email address was selected as one of the lucky winners. Your lucky number is:- .and bonus ball number .
Be adviced to keep your winning information confidential {VERY SECRET} until your claims has been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by fraudulent and scammers.
All winning must be claimed not later than 29/JULY/2008. After this date all unclaimed funds will be returned to australia as unclaimed. Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number in all correspondence.
You are therefore advised to contact your claim OFFICER in our regional branch in LONDON


THOMAS ALFRED
claims_agent_thomas@yahoo.com
+447031891405
for the processing of your winning immediately.
Congratulations from the staff and thank you for being part of email account users program.

Further more your details(e-mail address) falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam,Holland,as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of (US$200,000) will be released to you from the regional branch office in LONDON.
We hope with part of your prize,you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.Our agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.

HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE:
Simply contact your claims agent,THOMAS ALFRED
email....(claims_agent_thomas@yahoo.com)
to file for your claim .



Please quote your reference,batch and winning number which can be found on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name,
address and telephone number to help locate your file easily.For security reasons,
we advice all winners to keep this information confidential(VERY SECRET) from the public until your claim is processed and your prize money remitted/released to you.This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this programme by some unscrupulous elements,equally to guard against nonparticipant or unofficial personnel taking undue advantage of this programme.

Note that,all winnings MUST be claimed by a STIPULATED TIME(ON OR BEFORE 29th OF JULY 2008);otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually be reabsorbed into our next lucky dip sweepstakes.
Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!

---
Return-path: <lotto.sponsors008@unimail.mn>

DE CASINO OESINE - International Lottery Scam

Another typical lottery scam. Of course all major lottery companies do their business online and use @gmail.com addresses to assure authenticity. What a clear and bad scam. Avoid all online lottery scams at all costs.

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Your email address have won you ($800.000) Dollars in DE CASINO OESINE INT S.L EURO MILLION PROMOTION To claim your winning fund, contact your assigned claim agent: Mr.Mikel Lukas on the contact details below:
E:mail: mr.mikellukas@gmail.com
Tel: +34-626-606-929
Fax: +34-911-414-227
Please note these information: (1) Ticket Nr: 6460DGH-----(2)Sr Nr: 0909AOB09
Regards.
Ms.Walter Jones
Ms.Walter Jones

Return-path:

CANADIAN LOTTERY - Scam - Lottolore.com

Although Lottolore is a real site, this email is not. Even directly from the Lottolore website it states clearly that they never email anyone about winnings, there are no emails, no contests, no international lottery. Totally a scam to get information, steal ID's and steal your money.

plus what does INCOPERATION mean? In cooperation? inc., Operation? Dont' know, not even a good try!

-------------
CANADIAN LOTTERY INCOPERATION.
GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED!!!
(LOTTO LORE)http://www.lottolore.com/
CANANDIAN INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY
IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF;
(Registration Z720633X)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This form is valid for only those who have won the CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY. Fill in the required fields in the space provided below. No field should be left blank, because your particulars are needed for record purposes.

NOTE : IT IS REQUIRED YOU CLICK THE REPLY BUTTON BEFORE FILLING OUT THIS FORM, AS ALL INPUTED DATA MAY BE LOST UPON OUR RECEPTION. IN THE EVENT THAT YOUR BROWSER SETTING DOES NOT SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM e.g html program, YOU ARE TO SEND THE REQUIRED DATA IN PLAIN TEXT FORMAT.tttt


Please fill in the appropriate information in the space below:
WINNER'S APPLICATION FORM FOR PAYMENT.
WINNER'S PERSONAL DATA
First Name.: [ ]*
Middle Name.: [ ]
Last Name.: [ ]*

Gender.: [ \/]

Month Of Birth.: [ \/] Day: [ \/] Year: [ ]

Marital Status.: [ \/]
Nationality.: [ ]*
Religion.: [ ]
Occupation.: [ ]

Address 1.: [ ]*
Address 2.: [ ]
City.: [ ]*
State/Province.: [ ]*
Zip Code.: [ ] *

Mobile phone No.: [ ]*
House Phone No.: [ ]*
Fax No.: [ ]
Email Address.: [ ]* eg. username@domainname.com


CAREFULLY ADHERE TO THE REQUIRED INFORMATION BELOW TO YOUR CLAIMS AGENT:- PARKASH ROAN
Contact e-mail: parkashroan@ymail.com
Contact Phone: +60142643827
23 bukit Jalan,kuala lumpur,

ANNOUNCER,

VERONICA LEE.
DIRECTOR,
CANADIAN LOTTERY INC 2008,
LOTTOLORE.

Scam Email / Fake: Notice From Department of the Treasury

Scam Email / Fake: Notice From Department of the Treasury, received today 5/16. Senior are especially vulnerable to IRS scams.

There are so many things wrong with this email to make it obvious that it is a scam, the first one is that the IRS does not email you regarding a refund or claims, you will be contacted by a letter.

Also a 501(c) (3) is not a "refundable issue" but a charity non-profit category for a business / company. You don't get a refund under any section of501(c) (3)

Other obvious facts..

1. Bad Spelling (he maner of section; and the realtionship) to name only two.
2. The fact the email was sent from "thecollegehotel.com" in Amsterdam Holland
3. That the link (removed) takes you to a website called "indopreneur" with a copy of the IRS site. This site is very dangerous as it asks for your SS# as well as Credit Card Number and CVV and your PIN Code. Can red flags be any redder?
4. There is a 4 and a 5 and 6 but why bother, this is enough, totally clear… what a fake!

--- scam email below--- links removed ----

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity
we have determined that you are eligible to receive
a tax refund under section 501(c) (3) of the
Internal Revenue Code. Tax refund value is $189.60.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days
in order to IWP the data received.
If u don't receive your refund within 9 business
days from the original IRS mailing date shown,
you can start a refund trace online.

If you distribute funds to other organization, your records must show wether
they are exempt under section 497 (c) (15). In cases where the recipient org.
is not exempt under section 497 (c) (15), you must have evidence the funds will
be used for section 497 (c) (15) purposes.

If you distribute fund to individuals, you should keep case histories showing
the recipient's name and address; the purpose of the award; the maner of
section; and the realtionship of the recipient to any of your officers, directors,
trustees, members, or major contributors.

To access the form for your tax refund, please (click here removed)

This notification has been sent by the Internal Revenue Service,
a bureau of the Department of the Treasury.

Sincerely Yours,

John Stewart
Director, Exempt. Organization
Rulings and Agreements Letter
Internal Revenue Service

Gartner Group Reports: Phishing Attacks 2007, Over $3 Billion Lost

Phishing attacks in the United States soared in 2007 as $3.2 billion was lost to these attacks, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The survey found that 3.6 million adults lost money in phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in August 2007, as compared with the 2.3 million who did so the year before.

According to a survey of more than 4,500 online U.S. adults in August 2007 (which was representative of the online U.S. adult population) the attacks were more successful in 2007 than they were in the previous two years. Of consumers who received phishing e-mails in 2007, 3.3 percent say they lost money because of the attack, compared with 2.3 percent who lost money in 2006, and 2.9 percent who did so in 2005, according to similar Gartner surveys during those years.

The average dollar loss per incident declined to $886 from $1,244 lost on average in 2006 (with a median loss of $200 in 2007), but because there were more victims, $3.2 billion was lost to phishing in 2007, according to surveyed consumers. There was a bit of relative good news, however; the amounts that consumers were able to recover also increased. Some 1.6 million adults recovered about 64 percent of their losses in 2007, up from the 54 percent that 1.5 million adults recovered in 2006.

PayPal and eBay continue to be the most-spoofed brands, but phishing attacks increasingly employ devious social engineering attacks, impersonating, for example, electronic greeting cards, charities and foreign businesses.

Thieves are increasingly stealing debit card and other bank account credentials to rob accounts — targeting areas where fraud detection is weaker than it is with credit card accounts. According to the survey, of those consumers who lost money to phishing attacks, 47 percent said a debit or check card had been the payment method used when they lost money or had unauthorized charges made on their accounts. This was followed by 32 percent of respondents who listed a credit card as the payment method, and 24 percent who listed a bank account as the method (multiple responses were allowed).

Phishing and malware attacks will continue to increase through 2009 because it's still a lucrative business for the perpetrators, and advertising networks will be used to deliver up to 30 percent of malware that lands on consumer desktops.

Gartner sees no easy way out of this dilemma unless e-mail providers have incentives to invest in solutions to keep phishing e-mails from reaching consumers in the first place, and unless advertising networks and other "infection point" providers (which theoretically can be any legitimate Web site or service) have incentives to keep malware from being planted on their Web sites to reach unsuspecting consumers.

Hartford Man Faces Multiple Identity Theft Charges

WINDSOR LOCKS - A 47-year-old Hartford man has been arrested on several identity theft charges following a month-long investigation into fraudulent credit card charges, police said.

Ronald Bonner was arrested at his home at about 6:30 a.m. today and charged with first-degree identity theft, two counts of second-degree identity theft, five counts of third-degree identity theft, fourth-degree larceny, four counts of credit card theft, two counts of criminal attempt to commit credit card theft, criminal attempt to commit identity theft and illegal use of a credit card, police said.

Police were informed about a month ago that several people's identifications had been stolen and someone was using stolen credit cards to purchase items and have them delivered to a Windsor Locks address, Police Chief John Suchocki said. Police traced the fraudulent charges to Bonner, he said.

Suchocki said an investigation into how much Bonner stole is ongoing and could result in additional charges.

http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hcu-identitytheft-0227,0,7885355.story

By LYNN DOAN | Courant Staff Writer

Arrest Made In Identity Theft Case

A 24-year-old Arizona woman has been arrested and accused of stealing a purse from a parked car at a daycare center, burglarizing the victim's home, and opening accounts in the victim's name.

Alyssa Landman had been on the Phoenix Police Department's Top 10 list for identity theft. She was booked on charges of one count of identify theft, one count of theft and two outstanding felony warrants.After the victim's purse was stolen from her car last October, a string of identify theft-related crimes tormented the woman for over a month in three separate cities.

Information that was obtained from her purse provided the perpetrator with the means to burglarize the victim's home, open bank accounts in the her name and cash savings bonds.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.kpho.com/news/15384479/detail.html