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June 24, 2005
Dear CNET members,
Today phishing scams come by the bucketload. I see phishing scam e-mail in my in-box every other day. While I'm very aware of these types of scams, my heart goes out to the unsuspecting victims and consequences they suffer. So as a community, I urge you all to do a good deed and spread the word to others. The more awareness people have about these malicious scams, the better off we all will be. As a warm-up to this topic this week, please take this MailFrontier Phishing IQ test, which I just happened to run across while surfing the Web. And after you've taken the quiz, tell us in our discussion how you did.
Now let's deal with Andrew's question about these phishing scams. This week, rather than having one winner, I have three. The great explanations provided by Miguel, Joseph, and Pete are incredibly helpful in explaining the ins and outs of phishing scams. And as always, check out the honorable mentions and other great advice from our members. So read up and be prepared. Hopefully with this awareness, our members will be less likely to fall victim to any phishing scams. Please join us in this week's discussion if you have more to add. Take care, and thank you!
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Member Question of the Week
Over the last three days, I've received several e-mail messages, supposedly from PayPal and eBay. All of them say that there was some sort of "unusual" activity in my respective accounts and that to reactivate them, I need to enter my name, address, debit/credit card number, ATM PIN number, and so on. What's really weird is this just started on Sunday and hasn't stopped. The last time I remember seeing anything like this was back in AOL's 3.0 days, when I'd get phishing IMs. What can people do to avoid receiving these spoofed e-mail messages or at least cut back on their numbers? Also, how can people learn to recognize fake e-mail, and is there any way to trace it back to the sender?
Submitted by:
Andrew H.
Answer by Miguel:
Andrew, it is not unusual for phishing e-mail to arrive in bunches and to keep doing so for a few days or significantly longer. Spam and phishing e-mail (the term "phishing" refers to a type of spam that attempts to fool recipients into supplying confidential information) are sent in HUGE...
Submitted by:
Miguel K. of Columbus, Ohio
Answer by Joseph:
Andrew, I have also received spoof e-mail messages. PayPal and eBay are a couple that come to mind. These scammers are very smart and use fraudulent Web sites to appear legitimate. They will attempt to have you respond with such personal information as a credit card number, a social...
Submitted by:
Joseph V. of Highland, New York
Answer by Pete:
What is "phishing" anyhow? Phishing is as fishy as it sounds. Crooks attempt to lure you to their phony Web site, which is usually made to look almost exactly like that of your bank or other financial institution, eBay or PayPal, or any other site where you might have...
Submitted by:
Pete Z.
For
Miguel, Joseph and Pete's
efforts, we're sending them their choice of any
Help.com Learning CD.
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Best regards and enjoy!
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Check out next week's question:
I've noticed that when I save pages to my IE Favorites, certain sites have unique icons next to them. This is helpful for identifying sites, since I have a lot of bookmarks. But now they are disappearing and being replaced by the standard IE icon. What is happening? Is there any way to keep the unique icons that were originally attached? Is it possible to customize the icon for each bookmark in my Favorites list?
--Submitted by:
Marc B. of Covington, Indiana
If you have the answer,
e-mail us at messageboards@cnet.com.
If we choose your response, you'll get a
free Help.com CD.
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Click here to see Miguel's full answer
