Protecting yourself from online scams
Friday,  April  9  2004

Scam artists are using email and websites more and more to defraud people.

These scams are carefully worded to make the reader believe that their friends, company, or organization (such as Rutgers) are aware of the email solicitation.

Some examples:

• Offers of items for unbelievable prices, with purchases that either aren't delivered or are inferior/different from what's advertised.
  
• Solicitations for donations or help, sometimes supposedly on behalf of a legitimate charity, too numerous to list.
  
• Email purporting to be from your credit card company, bank, or ISP, seeking personal information from you because of 'some error' or need for an update. The message may direct you to a webpage for the purposes of providing this information. In either case, the passwords and personal data obtained are then used by or sold to identity thieves.
  
• Offers for cool new software or games, that actually contain viruses/trojans  that are then installed on your computer and can be used to annoy (to create pop-up windows) or defraud (steal passwords, credit card numbers, and personal information.)
  
• Assisting someone who needs help moving some cash to another bank (like the notorious 'Nigerian' or '4-1-9 scams.)
  
• 'Easy money-making' ideas, usually involving pyramid and 'ponzi' schemes, or  illegal multi-level marketing ploys.

Rutgers students, faculty, and staff are urged to be cautious.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself:

• Always use caution when considering an offer in an unsolicited email. If you didn't ask someone to contact you, treat the offer like you would any other unrequested sales call.
  
• Banks, credit cards, and other businesses you deal with usually do not need to contact you by email for personal information--they already have it! If they do have a legitimate reason to contact you, it'll usually be by postal mail or telephone. If you're not sure whether something is legitimate, contact the company in question first.
  
• Most legitimate commercial businesses or suppliers of brand-name commodities do not send out mass email advertisements or sales offers that have unreasonably short decision making time-frames, nor do they do so unless you've requested the info from them first, generally speaking. (For example, you may have signed up for an email newsletter and not noticed the checkbox that says, "I wish to recieve email about products and services.")

For more information:

• Internet ScamBusters - "The #1 Publication on Internet Fraud".
  
• "Beat The Crooks" a guide to "avoiding scams, securing your data and shielding it from prying eyes" from MSN Money in the U.K.; the U.S. version is "Guard your financial privacy".
  
• "10 ways to stop identity theft cold"
  
• TechTV tips for protecting yourself online.
  
• US Secret Service info on 'Nigerian/4-1-9' scams.
  
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Protecting Yourself Online (Amazon.com) - "Do you like buying things on the Internet with your credit card? Have you given out personal information to register for "contests" and "events?"
  
• "Recognizing and Protecting Yourself from Email Scams" by Karen Kavanagh, Executive Vice President for Administrative Affairs.