Have We Lost The Ability To Think For Ourselves?

What do scammers always use to their advantage? What enables con-artists to swindle their victims? What is the most important thing scammers always rely on? Only one thing, the victim's inability to think for himself/herself.

The other day I saw an add for an e-book about some magical way to cancel traffic fines or to get them refunded (I'm not going to mention the name of the book, because it is a load of hogwash and I'm not going to give it any form of exposure except for illustrating my point). For starters, some lines on the website were poorly formatted with some strange HTML coding. Certain pieces of the text were aligned to print over other pieces of text, making some parts of the page totally illegible. This was caused by some funny div-statements used by the web designer. (This guy obviously did not know what he was doing). But it is not important to know what the web designer did wrong, it is more important to note that the seller of this e-book could not be trusted. Why? Because if he can't even format his website properly (or at least get someone to do it for him), how can you be certain that the owner won't steal you money and sell you a piece of junk looking like his website? But lets forget about the poorly designed website for a moment and focus on the product he was trying to sell.

This book, will presumably help you to get your traffic fines cancelled or even refunded by exploiting flaws on parking and speeding tickets. The book is therefore aimed at traffic fines in general and not UNFAIR or INVALID traffic fines (as a matter of fact, the author makes no mention of the words UNFAIR or INVALID on his website). The site does not even contain a single encouragement to motorists to keep within the speeding limit, to put money in the parking meter or to drive safely within the bounds of the laws of the road. No, the sole purpose of this book is to get traffic fines cancelled or refunded, whether you committed an actual offence or not. Now think about this for a moment, why should you buy a book to exploit the loopholes of the law in order to save money in traffic fines, if you can save money by just sticking to the law? In other words you don't need to spend a single penny to save money, you just need to use your damn brain. This book is actually encouraging reckless driving and should be banned. If you really exceeded the speed limit for instance, why should you be able to get the traffic fine cancelled. You contravened a law and you should pay the fine (and don't give me that bull that loopholes in the law is there to be exploited). It is a whole different scenario if you were wrongfully accused of a traffic offence, but this is not what the book is about (or at least that is not the impression the site gave me). But the most disturbing fact is that there are people who will actually buy this book. Really, you got to be brain-dead to buy a piece of junk like this! And this is why I ask the humble question, have we lost the ability to think for ourselves?

Have you ever wondered why people accept so many things and question so very little? I believe this is often the result of a fast paced lifestyle, where there is no time to think about something, you need to make a decision immediately without contemplating. But can we blame our bad decisions on the pressures of modern day life? Any normal person possesses the ability to reason, but it seems as if more and more people are losing this ability by the day. Are we really losing the ability to think for ourselves, or are we deliberately suppressing our ability to reason? I always ask myself these questions when I analyse scam e-mails and fraudulent websites and most of the times I simply cannot understand how it is possible for a healthy mind to be swindled by obvious scams like these. And by obvious, I mean scams containing obvious and common signs of fraud and deceit.

I have to admit, not all scams are that obvious and it has to be mentioned that some of them are quite cleverly designed to look like the real thing. But the majority of scams contain telltale signs of deceit (whether it is a scam e-mail, a fraudulent website, an obscure add in a magazine, a call from an unknown individual or a dishonest salesman). The main problem is, many people only accept the solution or promise presented by the scammer and never pay attention to the means by which the scammer attempts to solve the problem or deliver the promise. The driving force behind the success of almost any scam is money and greed. You need a combination of both to make a scam successful and a greedy victim walks a greater risk of stepping into the trap set by the scammer, without realising it. But greed is not the only factor, ignorance is another weakness exploited by scammers, to improve their chances of successfully swindling their victims.

How long will we be able to use ignorance as an excuse? There are so much information about the latest scams, freely available on the web. Financial institutions post warning messages and examples of scam e-mails on their websites and some companies even communicate directly with their clients about the latest tricks and gimmicks used by scammers. With all this information at our doorsteps and sometimes even in our laps, how can we use the lame excuse of "I didn't know"? Computer illiteracy is also a stumbling block for many people, but computers have become part of our everyday lives and fewer people are computer illiterate these days. But there will always be a technological gap among computer users, because not everyone eat, sleep and drink computers. There will always be advanced and novice computer users and the latter are often at risk of falling for scams, where they don't comprehend the mechanics exploited by the scammer. But this can easily be remedied through a little bit of education. Most online banks and shopping sites have detailed guides and tutorials on the risks and signs of phishing, identity theft and other forms of fraud. These guides are often very detailed, but quite simple and easy to understand, with graphical illustrations and examples, specifically targeted at novice users. But advanced computer users should read these guides as well, because the fact that you know everything about computers does not make you immune to all forms of online fraud.

With all this information at our disposal, how is it still possible for some scammers to swindle their victims? I believe people are not taking the time to familiarise themselves with the risks of online fraud. If you don't know how to use the address bar of your browser, or why the address bar turns green on certain sites or how use your status bar to preview the address of a link, you are like a suicide bomber. It is like driving a car without the proper training, you are a danger to yourself and everyone around you. Like I mentioned earlier, the information published by banks and online shops, regarding the methods used by scammers to swindle their victims, are not that hard to understand (and for goodness sake if you don't understand these guides ask someone you trust to explain them to you). So if we have all the information about the techniques used by scammers and if they are easy to comprehend, why on earth do people still fall victim to these obvious scams? Simply because they don't read the information available to them. If your bank account was emptied by a bunch of crooks, because you clicked on a link in some e-mail about updating your personal details or something like that, then you are either living on a different planet or you haven't been paying attention to the warnings communicated by your bank. Where have you been in the last decade or so? These scams have been an active threat to the online community for several years now, so how is it possible that you haven't heard of these scams before? Honestly, people need to wake up and smell the coffee! Open your eyelids and pay attention to your surroundings! Start to THINK for yourself and stop depending on other people to do it for you!

Unethical marketers are able to convince some people to buy stuff they don't need, simply because some people are like zombies, allowing outside influences to manipulate their thoughts. Scammers follow the same tactics, they force the victim into believing everything they say in their scam e-mails or on their scam websites. The promise of millions of dollars, a valuable object or the threat of suspension of your bank account, is often so sudden (or promising), that people forget to think about the source of the e-mail or the means by which the scammer are communicating with them. The initial contact made by a scammer is a crucial point in the development of a scam. If you can't identify the scam early on, chances are that you won't realise you are being conned, until the damage is already done. The only way to identify these scams is to use common sense and a bit of scepticism. I'm not saying you need to be over-suspicious towards every e-mail and phone call you receive, but you need to look very critical at every form of communication, where you don't know the person on the other side. In other words, ask yourself the following common sense questions (where the answer to each question is obviously NO): Will the bank ask for my credit card number over the telephone? Will my bank send me an e-mail request to update my personal e-mails? Will an official from another country contact a total stranger, in connection with a multi-million dollar transaction? Will the Executive Director of the FBI use a free e-mail service to contact me about some scammers who MAY have contacted me in the past? Will a company like PayPal or Amazon make spelling and grammatical errors in their e-mails? If this is such a great business opportunity or such a revolutionary product, why haven't I heard about it before? Is it possible to make loads of money by simply distributing a chain letter received through the post? The list goes on and on...

You see, by asking a couple of critical questions you will soon be able to identify whether an e-mail, phone call or a letter in the post is a scam or not. It just needs a little bit of reasoning and common sense, there is no rocket science to it. But if you are too lazy to think for yourself, deliberately ignoring the warning signs of common fraud, then you deserve to be scammed!

About the Author
Coenraad is webmaster and founder of Cyber Top Cops, leaders in Internet security, analysers of security software and raising awareness about internet fraud and malicious software

419 Scammers Using Google Search to Find New Victims

By Coenraad De Beer

I've heard of phishing scammers using Google Maps to reveal the location of a victim, but I haven't heard of scammers using Goole Search to find the e-mail addresses of possible prospects for advance fee fraud. However I was surprised to find such a search last week when I browsed through the visitor statistics of cybertopcops.com.

419 Scammers are starting to use technology more often to swindle innocent victims. We see advanced and professionally designed e-mails and websites, clever social engineering skills and scam e-mails targeted at specific people. That was probably the aim of the scammer who used Google Search to find Yahoo! and AOL e-mail addresses of people in the USA, who are desperately in need of funds. Yes the exact search string used by this scammer was "email address of people in the usa that are in need of fund @yahoo or aol mail". The scammer landed on our Lottery Scams page where we refer to the fact that scammers often use Yahoo! and AOL e-mail accounts to distribute fraudulent e-mails. We recently made some changes to this page and as a result it's no longer appearing in the results for this specific search string.

A couple of things immediately caught my attention when I stumbled across this visit. The visitor was from Nigeria, with the IP address 196.1.179.153, one that is often involved in e-mail scams and spamming. His/her Internet service provider was Nitel, the principal telecommunications company in Nigeria. What struck me the most was the search string used by this visitor. Did the scammer really think he/she would find the e-mail address of a US citizen, looking for funds on the Internet, using a Yahoo! or AOL e-mail address and on top of that, leaving it on the web for anyone to use? It's like going to Amazon, hoping to find specials on 419 Scam Victims, or having a victim delivered to you on a silver tray. But is a search like this, really that far-fetched?

If you browse through the results of this search, you will find quite a couple of e-mail addresses, lying around for advance fee fraud scammers to use as they please. A couple of interesting theories came to mind when I analysed the search string.

• 419 scammers are targeting people living in the United States. Why? Perhaps they have a better success rate with Americans;


• They prefer people using the e-mail services of Yahoo! and AOL. Why? The spam filter of Yahoo! and AOL is not as effective as Gmail's and it is probably easier for scammers to get through to people who use these e-mail services. Also note that the scammer did not look for Hotmail e-mail addresses. According to 419eater.com, some scammers do not like to converse with Hotmail users; and


• They specifically target people in need of financial assistance. Why? People with severe financial problems are often desperate and will do anything to improve their financial position. 419 scammers exploit this desperation, making it easier to convince these victims.

I understand that it is hard to base solid theories on a single incident, so these are only a couple of possibilities from a personal point of view. 419 scammers send e-mails to many countries, not just America, they send e-mails to Gmail and other e-mail accounts, not just Yahoo! and AOL and they send e-mails in bulk, like a spammer with a shotgun approach, they often have no idea who the recipients would be.

What can we learn through this behaviour? Do not post your personal e-mail address in any public area on the web. Do not reveal your financial status on the web. Scammers will use this to their advantage. If they have your e-mail address in their possession and at the same time know about your financial problems, then they can send you a highly targeted and convincing e-mail, putting them in the right place at the right time. I still think it was wishful thinking by the scammer to do such a narrow search, hoping to find a victim that fits this profile. However, this scammer inadvertently revealed one of their harvesting methods, so lets take the necessary precautions and make it harder for scammers to find new victims.

About the Author
Coenraad is webmaster and founder of Cyber Top Cops, leaders in Internet security, prevention of online fraud, raising awareness about online scams and assisting users in the removal of malicious software.

Scammers With A Death Wish

By Coenraad De Beer

Scammers come up with the craziest ideas these days. It is hard to believe that people still fall for the ridiculous e-mail scams in circulation all over the web. It is even harder to comprehend how scammers think they are going to swindle people into believing their devious lies and unbelievable stories. Unfortunately, online scams are a harsh reality. On the one side you have innocent, uninformed victims walking into the traps of merciless con artists and on the other side you have scammers following a "shoot in the dark with a shotgun" approach to claim as many victims as possible.

Online fraud is a serious matter, but you can't help laughing at the creative, yet ridiculous ideas of online scammers. Last month I received a link exchange request from someone running a password recovery website providing a password recovery service for people who lost their e-mail account password. The only problem is that they hack e-mail accounts without confirming the real owner of the e-mail account. The other absurdity is that you can normally contact your service provider when you loose your password and don't need a password recovery service if you are the real owner of the e-mail account. Sometimes I wonder whether cyber criminals have any brain cells between their ears or whether they are simply looking for attention. It is even more absurd, even hilarious, when they are trying to scam anti-fraud activists and cyber law enforcement agencies. I know that many of these scam e-mails are sent in bulk by spam bots and the spammers never really know who receive their junk e-mails, but some scammers make it just too easy for cyber law enforcement agencies to track them down.

It is not odd for one person to receive several phishing scams on a single day, each one pretending to come from a different bank or financial institution. The best of all is the fact that these phishing scams are carbon copies of each other, the only difference in each e-mail is the logo and trading name of the financial institution. Scammers discredit their fellow scammers by sending similar e-mails on the same day to the same recipient. If I receive a phishing scam from a bank, of which I'm not even a client, I will most definitely not respond to a similar e-mail, received on the same day, using exactly the same message, even if I am a client of this institution. If everyone starts to read their e-mails more carefully and in detail, you will soon see the ordinary e-mail user being able to identify a scam just by looking at the pattern, words, techniques, formatting and writing style used by many scammers.

One of the latest schemes used by 419 scammers is the Law Enforcement Agency scam. 419 scammers seem to be less successful with their usual e-mail scams, most probably because of what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Lottery scams, company representative scams, scams involving war victims, cancer victims, plane crash victims, you name it, have flooded our mailboxes so much that we can smell these scams a mile a way just by reading the subject line. Unfortunately you still get people who are unaware of these threats and 419 scammers usually claim victims among these people. The Law Enforcement Agency scam involves 419 scammers trying to swindle previous victims of these scams. The "agency" allegedly apprehended a group of fraudsters and recovered millions of "pounds sterling" stolen from innocent victims. (I wonder why they haven't recovered any dollars). These funds will then be disbursed to victims filing a claim with this "agency". Victims need to supply loads of personal details as well as the amount of money stolen from them. The scammers claim that the victim will not spend any money until the cheque (notice a cheque and not a secure electronic transfer) is issued to him/her. Just ask yourself, why the need to pay money to reclaim something that was lawfully yours? Do the scammers honestly believe that people will fall for a lousy scam like this? People desperate enough to get their stolen money back will most certainly walk into this trap and spend more money only to loose more money and scammers are bargaining on this. Luckily you get people who learn from their mistakes and will never make the same mistake twice, so the scammers can forget to scam vigilant people who already experienced the trauma of loosing a lot of money to empty promises from a total stranger.

Scammers from Nigeria have tried to become partners of cyber security agencies in an attempt to infiltrate and destroy anti-fraud organisations from the inside. Online scammers have become nut cases, fanatics, digital suicide bombers and kamikazes, trying every trick in the book (and some stupid tricks of their own) to reach their idiotic goals. It is just sad that they continue to claim victims with their amateurish schemes. Perhaps these scams are so amateurish that people struggle to see through them. It is a case of horribly underestimating your enemy, the worst part being unable to identify your enemy, even worse, not even realising that your are dealing with an evil opposing force.

About the Author
Coenraad is webmaster and founder of Cyber Top Cops, leaders in Internet security, prevention of online fraud and educating users about online scams and malicious software. Visit our Hoaxes, Spams and Scams Section and educate yourself with real life examples of online fraud.