The Food and Drug Administration has found that the Web is being used to sell bogus products claiming to prevent or cure the swine flu.
They advise consumers to use extreme caution when considering purchasing drug products over the Internet.
To learn what the federal agency found and the dangers involved, click here.
Archive for the ‘Internet hoaxes’ Category
Beware bogus swine flu remedies on Web
Friday, October 16th, 2009One-cup coffeemakers subject to recall
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009Senseo 1-cup coffeemakers sold at a variety of major retailers are being recalled due to a problem that can cause them to burst and burn consumers. Details and a photo are here.
State shutters Web-based credit union
Thursday, April 9th, 2009Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation has ordered an entity claiming to be a Pennsylvania-based credit union called “Firststar Credit Union” to stop doing business because it appears to be fraudulent.
OFIR officials believe Firststar, through its website, www.firststarlendingservices.com, is posing as a legitimate credit union and may be attempting to steal consumers’ money and identity. The fraudulent financial institution, which advertised in Michigan newspapers, is encouraging customers to apply for loans by providing upfront payments and personal information.
OFIR contacted Godaddy.com, the Firststar website host, and the website has been shut down.
Consumers can contact OFIR toll-free at 877-999-6442 to find out if a bank or credit union is a legitimate financial institution.
The agency urged consumers to develop a face-to-face or personal relationship with a financial institution before entering into a business contract. Prior to opening an account at an Internet bank or credit union, consumers are encouraged to call OFIR or check out information on legitimate depositories on OFIR’s website, www.michigan.gov/ofir.
To find or verify a federally insured state-chartered credit union in Michigan, visit: http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/fis/ind_srch/CreditUnion/Search.asp.
To find or verify federally insured credit unions across the country, visit the National Credit Union Administration at: http://www.ncua.gov/indexdata.html.
Oprah “millionaire” e-mail is bogus
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009The FBI is warning about a fraudulent e-mail circulating that promises tickets to the Oprah Winfrey show and a chance to will a million bucks.
Details are here.
FBI warns of Internet vehicle sales scams
Thursday, March 5th, 2009The FBI is warning that Internet vehicle sales scams are increasingly invoking the names of U.S. armed services branches to swindle unsuspecting consumers.
More and more Internet vehicle sales are a variety on the excess funds/wire transfer ruse that persuades someone to buy or sell products and wire money to a third party.
Sellers of non-existent vehicles are presenting themselves as members of the service who have to sell a vehicle quickly because they are being sent overseas.
Here’s the FBI press release describing how the swindles work.
Computer worm revisits Facebook users
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Members of Facebook and other social networking systems are seeing a recurrence of a computer worm that started showing up in December. It appears as a message from a friend and has a clickable link.
For advice on how to avoid it, read this.
Blog battles computer bugs
Monday, November 24th, 2008Consumers Union, the non-profit group that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, has launched badwarebusters.org, a new blog that meant to limit computer viruses, spyware and other “badware” that might infect computers or e-mail.
It allows visitors to post comments about problems they’re having or provide feedback to those having problems. Looks like it’s kind of a “Neighborhood Watch” program aimed at short-circuiting cyberspace viruses.
No, you didn’t win the Postcode Lottery
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008A reader sends along this bogus e-mail that’s been making the rounds. He fears with the economy in the dumper, desperate people will be tempted to respond to this message, which appears to be one of those scams designed to capture personal financial info:
National Postcode Lottery
Attn: Winner
We bring to your notice the winning letter from Nationale Postcode Lottery
{United Kingdom Promotion Company} held on the 12th of October, 2008 through
Internet ballot System among 10,000 Microsoft users.
Subsequently, your email address attached to ticket number 24.2.6.37.15.45 won
contract sum of 800,000.00 Pounds ,winning number 100364,ref number 00786.We
request you to pay serious attention to this notification by contacting the
claims department with claim information and procedures of claim.
Mr. Williams Brown
Email: unityfinan@sify.com
Congratulations once again from our members of staff and thank you for being
part of our promotional program.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Stefian Smith
National Postcode Lottery
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No, you probably wouldn’t get e-mail from FBI
Thursday, October 16th, 2008A spam e-mail claiming to be from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole is currently being circulated indicating that the recipient is the beneficiary of a large sum of money, which they will be permitted to access once fees are paid and personal banking information is provided. The appearance of the e-mail leads the reader to believe that it is from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole.
This e-mail is a hoax, the FBI says. Do not respond.
It’s the latest in a series of scam e-mails given the appearance of legitimacy through the use of pictures of FBI officials, seals, letterheads, and/or banners.
These frauds claim to be from domestic as well as international FBI offices. The typical types of schemes utilizing the names of FBI officials and/or the FBI are lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications, but can cover a range of scams from threats and malicious computer program attachments (malware) to online auction scams.
Consumers should be wary of any unsolicited e-mail referencing the FBI, Director Mueller, Deputy Director Pistole, or any other FBI official claiming that the FBI is endorsing any type of Internet activity.
The FBI urges consumers to guard their personal information and account information carefully, and never give any personal, credit, or banking information in response to unsolicited e-mails.
If you received a suspicious e-mail, file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
Court pulls plug on spam ring
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008The Federal Trade Commission says a U.S. court has shut down a vast international spammer ring that has flooded e-mail boxes with ads for prescription drugs from India as well as “male enhancement” products.
More details may be found here.
More fraudulent financial e-mails
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has logged many reports of a fraudulent e-mail circulating that invokes the FDIC name.
The subject line of the e-mail states: “Funds wired into your account are stolen.” The e-mail tells recipients that the proceeds of identity theft crimes have been wire-transferred into their bank account. The e-mail then directs recipients to open and review an attached copy of their bank account statement. The attached file is actually an unknown executable file.
The FDIC says recipients should consider the executable file as a malicious attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to online banking services or to steal a consumer’s identity.
The FDIC does not issue unsolicited e-mails to consumers. It says financial institutions and consumers should NOT open the executable file attached to the fraudulent e-mail.
Campaign videos, headlines could hold viruses
Monday, October 6th, 2008Videos that appear to be from the McCain and Obama campaigns might be seeded with malware programs designed to infect your computer, according to an advisory from Webroot, a computer security firm.
The company also warns against clicking on headlines that direct computer users to bogus blogs that hold computer viruses that are meant to persuade the computer user to buy illegimate security software that puts their personal and financial data even more at risk.
Online security Web site gets upgrade
Friday, October 3rd, 2008The Federal Trade Commission has upgraded and redesigned its cyber security Web site.
It has tips, games and other info related to online security.
Check it out here.
Bogus CNN e-mails now take MSNBC name
Monday, August 18th, 2008Those CNN Breaking News scam e-mails that will embed a Trojan virus on your computer if you open them, now apparently have transformed to MSNBC Breaking News alerts.
The folks at F-Secure have the latest low-down here.
About those CNN e-mail alerts …
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008A lot of people have received e-mails in recent weeks with the subject of “CNN Custom Alerts” or “CNN Breaking News.”
Wonder what it’s all about? It’s all about an embedded computer Trojan virus for those who ended up downloading files to see what the news was all about.
Our friends at F-Secure Labs will give you the lowdown here.