You may have noticed in recent months that you have some new friends. In fact, a lot of new friends.
Just this morning, in my email inbox, I had messages from Jamie, Wray and several other new "friends." All of them were giving me a hot tip on a stock that was in a "booming sector" and which had "just begun a PR blitz."
That was in addition, of course, to the usual invitations to enlarge certain parts of my body, shrink others, to buy software at dirt-cheap prices, obtain prescription drugs without a prescription, etc.
Other messages warned me that hackers had infiltrated my accounts at Bank of America and Ebay. I don’t have accounts at either business—and I although I would ordinarily appreciate the diligence of those who would warn me of a possible hacker attack, in this case the messages were a poorly disguised effort to persuade me to disclose my Social Security number and other identifying data.
Indeed, I receive about 500 e-mail messages daily, with about 90% of them being unsolicited advertising or "spam" messages. That’s about double the amount I was receiving only a few months ago.
What’s going on? It turns out spam merchants have found new and creative ways of delivering their messages. And because it costs only a fraction of a cent to generate a spam message to an inbox, if only a few people out of millions respond, spammers make money. And yes, while sending spam is illegal in most major countries, it’s easy to disguise the origin of an email message. Indeed, I regularly receive spam purporting to come from my own email address at !
One of the most effective ways spammers have discovered to deliver their message is to include it in an image. That fools anti-spam software that looks for telltale phrases. Image spam has increased 400% since 2005, according to anti-spam company Ironport, and now represents 25%-45% of all junk e-mail.
Another way spammers have foiled countermeasures is by planting "Trojan Horse" software on millions of computers, essentially taking them over and converting them into spam generators, without the knowledge of their owners. Secure Computing, another anti-spam company, says that 250,000 new computers are added to these spam "botnets" daily
What can you do to take back control of your in-box? Here are a few suggestions:
* Use up-to-date anti-virus and firewall software. Your Internet Service Provider probably already has sophisticated anti-spam filters installed, but some spam will inevitably get through to your in-box. And a lot of it will contain viruses or Trojan Horses that could damage your computer, or more ominously, take it over and convert it into a spam generator. Continuously updated anti-spam and firewall software can reduce the risk of viral attack and in the event of an attack prevent loss of data. I use EZ Anti-Virus (http://www.ca.com) and ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonealarm.com) although there are many other suitable offerings.
* Don’t open suspect e-mails. Some viruses and Trojan Horses can launch themselves simply by opening or even previewing the message. To be safe, don’t open suspect messages, and turn off the "preview pane" in your email program
* Avoid "pfishing" scams. In a pfishing scam, you receive a bogus e-mail, allegedly from a bank or online merchant. The message contains a link routing you to an authentic-looking, but phony, Web site where you’re asked to enter sensitive information such as your password, your Social Security number, etc. This gives the fraudster enough information available to steal your identity or drain your account.
To protect yourself, NEVER respond to an unsolicited e-mail by entering personal information into an online form. If you’re not sure, call the company sending you the e-mail. Don’t call any number listed in the e-mail, either—these are often fake listings. Instead, call the number on any statement the company has sent you, or look it up.
* Avoid "pfarming" scams. In a pfarming scam, an online crook plants malicious software in the servers that direct traffic on the Internet. Even if you type in the correct address of a Web site, the software sends you to a bogus one, where thieves can steal your personal information.
Pfarming scams are difficult to detect, but it’s difficult even for the best hackers to duplicate the "look and feel" of a commercial Web site. Also, be alert to misspellings. Another tip-off is if the Web site doesn’t display the "lock" icon at the bottom of your screen and/or its security certificate is out-of-date. If you have any suspicion the Web site isn’t real, again call the company.
