Phishing Scams

Have you been getting e-mail from Google reporting you need to download something? Or something from your bank about updating your account? Google doesn’t send those and neither do banks. Ignore them. The messages from the phony Google vary (many domain names), but all tell you that you won’t be able to log in to Google if you don’t comply. Often you can tell right away it is a bogus site, says Dennis at Almost a Newsletter by lightly passing the cursor over the link, but sometimes the crooks are really clever. For more details on the Google, bank, and career sites phishing problem, Dennis suggests Gary Warner’s CyberCrime blog.

I get a lot of e-mail about my debt. Those automatically go in the trash through the filter (I don’t have any debt so I know they are phishing, nor do I have accounts at those banks). Some days I get about 50 messages about "returned, or non-deliverable e-mail." Those are also trashed. Then I’ll get a run of items all in Russian. Trash ‘em. Don’t get caught in the phisher’s net.

After finishing the item at Gary's blog about Google I looked at some other entries and found his a fascinating source. Thank you, Dennis, for the link. Between the porn peddlers and the scammers, the internet has really become a cesspool. I'm beginning to think that those of us who use it for fun or legitimate information are becoming the minority.

I’ve been following Dennis' newsletter for years from back in the 90s when I had a real web site and needed help with code. He’s upbeat, helpful and offers a lot of free tips (but you will want to buy a subscription or his e-books if you do this for a living).