ecause my business takes
me all over the Internet, I The people who pretend to be
have the dubious honor of someone they are not are vicious.
being on three e-mail sucker Yet, in a situation where I don't
lists at one e-mail address and know whether to laugh or cry, I
one more at another address. laugh. And warn other people so
Which is good, because all three they can laugh at them too,
at the one address send me the rather than be sucked into their
same warnings: my eBay account scams.
has been frozen, ditto my PayPal,
and an amazing variety of banks Due to these scammers, I look
need me to update my records. forward to my e-mail. As I delete
item after item, I enjoy the
These people are all pretending fertility of their imaginations.
to be someone we trust: a bank, One guy even has a sense of
PayPal, eBay. And when we are humor. (I think it's a guy.)
suckered into their setup, they Today his name is Chattiest Q.
empty our bank accounts and run Ulcerates. Yesterday he was
up thousands of dollars on our Infiltrated G. Perseverence
credit cards. (giving a nice clue to his
personality), and before that he
Microsoft, Yahoo, and other was Twists V. Hemorrhaging
Internet organizations are (spelled correctly and another
working on systems that will let personality clue). I have no
us know whether the sender is intention of clicking on anything
REALLY who they say they are. he sends, but I smile as I delete
When this comes online, it will him into oblivion.
help get rid of some of the worst
black hats, though other types of These jokers are all serious
scam may not be affected. about one thing: they want to
steal your bank account number, Note the emphasis on safety and
social security number, and/or security. They even have an
credit card information, and if anti-fraud team! In order to
one attempt doesn't work, they'll "secure my account" I'm supposed
try another. to click on a link and supply
information -- information which
• Anti-scam rule 1: Scammers will lead them from my pretend
pretending to be someone they are account with them to my real
not cannot harm you if you delete account, which they will then
their e-mails without clicking on kindly clean out for me.
any of the things they want you
to click on. • Anti-scam rule 2: Your bank
does not need you to "confirm"
Lately I've been getting official your account number, your credit
looking e-mails that appear to be card numbers, or your social
from banks. They have beautiful security number. It already has
logos and extremely official all the information it needs. As
looking forms. One supposedly for some official sounding bank
from Washington Mutual Security you've never heard of -- sheesh!
begins, "WAMU is committed to
maintaining a safe environment • Anti-scam rule 3: Give your
for its community of buyers and credit information online only
sellers. To protect the security when you have gone to a
of your account, WAMU employs legitimate website and are in the
some of the most advanced process of purchasing something
security systems in the world and from it. People who buy things
our anti-fraud teams regularly from my website,
screen the WAMU system for http://foodandfiction.com/Entranc
unusual activity." e.html, a very legitimate site,
as part of the purchasing process
are taken to a safe place online, and how much they paid. And that
so they can give their credit is the way all legitimate online
card information directly to the merchants deal with your credit
credit card company with whom I card information. We say your
have a legal contract. As the information is safe, and it is.
owner of the site, I NEVER SEE
THE CREDIT CARD NUMBERS! All the I'll be back with more
credit card company gives me is fascinating attempts to separate
the name and address of the you and me from our money.
person to whom I should mail the
merchandise, what they ordered,
About the Author:
Find the best recipe, food gift, and healthy dieting sites on Janette Blackwell's Delightful Food Directory, http://delightfulfood.com/main.html -- or enjoy her country cooking at Food and Fiction, http://foodandfiction.com/Entrance.html
Read more articles by:
Janette Blackwell
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
