Activity Internet Marketing Information, Security, Scams, Indentity Thief

CONTENTS

WRINTING FOR THE INTERNET

SCAMS LISTED

HIJACKERS

VANCATION

INTERENT AUCTIONS

CREDIT CARD

LIGHTSIDE

MODEM DIALLING

MML'S

SCARY

IDENTITY THIEF



Writing for the Internet is very different, then writing a research or term paper. You cater to a specific market; people who do not have the time to spend reading a 1500 word article and find only one or two helpful tips. Information that will be easy to understand and people will be able to relate with.



Good English, or fancy technical writing that people would have to

consult a dictionary just to grasp your thoughts, are of no help to a person who is marketing on the Internet. You have to create functional articles that will be easy to understand and people will be able to relate with.



People are looking for how to, where to find information that will be helpful in their everyday marketing. They want to find it on one spot if possible and not spend hours looking for it.



Have a list of your contents, keep your writing to short paragraphs intended for easy reading, this will make it helpful for those who don't really have the time and are just scanning for information that is helpful.



Such knowledge should be useful to them and will make them interested in

reading your future articles as well as your other products and services.



The odd good joke in the middle of your article helps to break the steady reading of information, and gives the person a chance to have a good laugh too.



HIGHJACKERS

Have you had your homepage and all your settings changed?

You can waste a lot of time trying to figure out what has gone wrong, even having to make a service call. It can be a headache.

Hijacking may not be as scary as a virus, but it still has its downfalls. If you ever get caught in a hijack, there are some pretty simple ways to fix them.



To fix the search hijack, open Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Options, Programs tab. You will see listing of some of your Internet services. In the bottom left hand corner, there is a button that says "Reset Web Settings." Click that and the registry keys will be renewed. Click OK when you're finished.



Protect yourself from spoof (fake) emails and Web sites. Take the Spoof Tutorial to learn about eBay Toolbar with Account Guard, which warns you when you are on a known spoof site.



For more safe buying tips, please visit the Safety Centre

http:// pages.ebay.ca/securitycentre/buying_safely.html



Help On Vacation Scam

Individuals' e-mail/or social networking accounts being compromised and used to swindle consumers out of thousands of dollars. Portraying to be the victim, the hacker uses the victim's account to send a notice to their contacts. The notice claims the victim is in immediate need of money due to being robbed of their credit cards, passport, money, and cell phone; leaving them stranded in Vancouver or some other location.



Some claim they only have a few days to pay their hotel bill and promise to reimburse upon their return home. A sense of urgency to help their friend/contact may cause the recipient to fail to validate the claim, increasing the likelihood of them falling for this scam.



If you receive a similar notice and are not sure it is a scam, you should always verify the information before sending any money.



If you have been a victim of this type of scam or any other Cyber crime, you can report it to the IC3 website at: www.IC3.gov.



I have to admit I fell for a similar scam, only it happen at my house. I answered the door and found a nice looking well dressed young man, who explained he was embarrassed, but found himself in a tight bind. He had been visiting one of his relatives who lived on the same street as me. He left their house and his car broke down a few blocks away. He walked back to his relative's house but they had gone out. He had to go to the airport to pick up a sister, but was short $35.00 for a used battery.



Could I please lend him the $35.00 for the battery, and after he picked up his sister he would either bring the money back that evening or get his uncle who lives on my block to bring the cash over. You guessed right. He didn't bring the money back, and he didn't have an uncle who lived on my street. His scam was he would find out the name of one of your neighbours, make sure they were not home, and then went door to door with his scam.



Cyber Thieves

Cyber thieves "phish" for personal information such as usernames, passwords, and financial account details by tricking users into thinking their sensitive information is being given to trusted websites when, in fact, the sites are traps.



Nearly 100 people were charged today in the U.S. and Egypt as part of Operation Phish Phry, one the largest cyber fraud phishing cases to date. More than 50 individuals in California, Nevada, and North Carolina, and nearly 50 Egyptian citizens have been charged with crimes including computer fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identify theft. Over 1.5 million dollars was transferred to bogus accounts they controlled.



For Your Protection Remember;

Most banks or other companies will not request your personal information via e-mail. If you get an e-mail asking for such information, call the bank-but don't use the phone number contained in the e-mail.



Use a phishing filter on your computer. Many current web browsers have them built in or offer them as plug-ins.



Never follow a link to a secure site from an e-mail-always enter their URL manually.



Internet Auctions

Beware of the site that offers a huge selection of products at great deals. Consumers say they've received an item that is less valuable than promised, or, worse yet, nothing at all.

When bidding through an Internet auction, particularly for a valuable item, check out the seller and insist on paying with a credit card or using an escrow service.



Credit Card Fraud

The Bait: Surf the Internet and view adult images online for free, just for sharing your credit card number to prove you're over 18. Consumers say that fraudulent promoters have used their credit card numbers to run up charges on their cards.



Share credit card information only when buying from a company you trust. I prefer using Paypal, as I am notified the minute a charge is claimed on my account. With a credit card you may not get the charges against it for up to a month.



LIGHTSIDE

During World War 2, a soldier arrived at the city but found all hotel rooms taken. He begged the desk clerk for anything. The hotel clerk said he had a double, there was a navy guy in it, but persons in rooms next to him said he snored so loud it was hard to sleep.



The soldier agreed to take it. When the soldier came down for breakfasts the manager asked, "How did you sleep"? "Great" replied the soldier. "no problem with the other guy snoring all night"? Asked the manger.



"No I shut him up in no time" replied the soldier. "How did you manage that?" asked the manager.

"Well he was in bed snoring away when I walked into the room, so I gave him a kiss on the check" explained the soldier. "Then I whispered in his ear 'goodnight beautiful', and he sat up all night watching me."



Multilevel Marketing Plans/ Pyramids

Make money through the products and services you sell as well as those sold by the people you recruit into the program.



Consumers say that they've bought into plans and programs, but their customers are other distributors, not the general public. Some multi-level marketing programs are actually illegal pyramid schemes. When products or services are sold only to distributors like you, there's no way to make money.



SCARY

A new threat to your computer comes in new malware that can infect your computer. It hides until you access specific files or web sites. It can steal passwords, files, and then delete any trace of itself.



Brian Denehy, security assurance engineer at Cyber Trust, states majority of new malware uses some type of stealth in an attempt to remain undetected before, during and after an attack.



Spyware is loosely defined as, "any program, which gathers information (about you) through an Internet connection -- without your knowledge."



Spyware can gather information about your email address, keystrokes, browser cookies, passwords, credit card numbers, and can send advertisements -- even if you're not connected to the Internet!



Ensuring Your Computer is protected from Identity Theft

More and more cases of Identity Theft are occurring electronically through the use of key loggers and spyware programs installed on the users computer. It is essential that you protect your computer from these robot applications using a quality spyware detection and prevention program.



Use a spyware program engineered to detect identity threats. Identity Patrol is produced by Patrol Software Labs (http://www.patrolsoftware.com) and is free to download. You can run a full security diagnostic check to see if there are any identity theft threats on your computer and is something every computer user should do on a regular basis in today's day and age.



What is an Identity Thief?

Essentially, an identity thief attempts to set himself up as you. Using your personal information, a thief may change your mailing address to divert your monthly billing statements to him. Posing as you, he will apply for credit cards, an apartment lease, utility and cable TV services, Internet providers, and more. The crook may take out a car loan or even a home mortgage - all in your name.



How Can You Prevent Identity Theft?

Guard your personal information carefully. Shred identifying documents before trashing them. Remove address labels from magazines and catalogs before recycling them. Tear up promotional credit card offers, and destroy credit cards you do not use regularly, and close out any dormant accounts.



If paying online use a service like PayPal. The minute any charge is recorded on your account you will get a notice from PayPal. Paying with a credit card, bank, it may take up to a month for you to get your statement which gives the con time to clean out your account, use up your credit card limit.



How can you tell if your identity is stolen?

Check your accounts and billing statements every month. Audit these carefully, and report any unknown charges. If you fail to receive a regular bill on time, contact the issuing company immediately. Be alert for any unexpected invoices, charge accounts, or other unanticipated legal or financial issues. The most important thing you can do is to check your credit status regularly.



Another Scam Reported From the FBI

The FBI determined fraudsters compromised victim accounts and contacted financial institutions to change the victim profile information (i.e. email addresses, telephone numbers and bank account numbers).



The fraudsters' use automated dialling programs and multiple accounts to overwhelm victims' cell phones and landlines with thousands of calls. When victims answered the calls they heard dead air (nothing on the other end), an innocuous recorded message, advertisement, or a telephone sex menu. Calls were typically short in duration but so numerous that victims changed their phone numbers to terminate the attack.



These attacks were used as a diversion to prevent financial and brokerage institutions from verifying victim account changes and transactions. Fraudsters were afforded adequate time to transfer funds from victim brokerage and financial online accounts.

Consumers can protect themselves by:



* Use strong passwords for all financial accounts and change them regularly.

·Obtain and review your annual credit report for fraudulent activity.

If you were a target of a attack, immediately contact your financial institutions, notify your telephone provider, and promptly report it to the IC3 website at: www.IC3.gov.



MARKETING TIPS

"Let the buyer beware" is still a fact of life for consumers,

marketers are not given free rein to coerce, cajole buyers into

sales that may not be in the best interests of those buyers. Rules and regulations exist that limit how marketers can market.



Sales are a great way to entice buyers, but make sure your sales

are legitimate sales. Introductory offers is also a very forceful sales word. But to use the word the product is indeed new and offer should not be extended longer then six months.





Article Source: Bruce Chambers sold his printing, publishing, mail order business and retired in 1980. He came on the Internet in 2003. He researched for 1 year, and then started a free monthly Internet marketing report, plus free monthly recipes, bar mixes, tips newsletters. At present he resells from his website. You can subscribe to either or both free newsletters by going to his web site. Please visit: