Big Scammers

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Identifying and Tackling Phishing Websites Attacks


The aim of phishing emails and phishing attacks is to trick or deceive the users into believing that the email they have received is genuine and authentic. They are designed to steal the private and confidential data from people. There have instances, where employees and individuals of leading firms have reported that phishing emails look upbeat and positive at first glance. Additionally, they contain compelling content that influences the user to give up their personal information or click on the provided links that will ultimately lead them to some fictitious phishing websites. Most of the times, these mail ask you for a prompt reply via email or to visit an unknown URL. 

When you carefully analyse the phishing mail offers, you will find clues that lets you know the message and link is not genuine. Usually, the URL links received in the phishing emails will open a website that appears to be genuine, but will contain particular syntax or aesthetic errors that clearly proves it’s one of the phishing websites. Many leading banks, e-commerce websites and other online e-cash sites are the common targets of these phishing attacks. This is why, it is essential to spread awareness of phishing websites on the internet. 

Detecting a Phishing Email

There are several ways in which any employee or layman can identify a phishing email. These emails are known to use emotional triggers and pressurize users into responding. Here are a few indicators using which you can identify a phishing email:

     Grammatical mistakes
     Spelling errors
     Check if the email address is matching with the firm name
   Provided an incorrect email address while using the real name of company
     Using words such as official, to prove the authenticity of email
     Has requested you to provide your personal information

You will find different solutions to protect yourself against the phishing websites scams. They address how people are at risk from all these phishing attacks taking place over internet nowadays. Many solution providers are offering high-end anti malware and anti-phishing software that will help you fight against these attacks. They will update on the negative impacts of these phishing websites attacks. You should install and update these software on your work and home computers so that you can tackle these attacks. Here are some its features:

     Will enable your organization to analyse the potential phishing attacks
     Provides you with flexible reporting
     Offers a detailed road map solution that focuses on the security training and awareness within the organization
  Will provide assistance to identify the weaknesses within technology links, people and method
   Aids in increasing the employee expertise and awareness of safeguarding sensitive personal information
   Helps you to prioritize remediation attempts through maturity analysis and benchmarking

Data and network security are imperative elements that every firm requires to focus on to function smoothly. When you have implemented advanced phishing protection solution in your organization it will help you to attain smoother functionality and efficiency of data transfer. Awareness of phishing websites is much needed today to protect your company from the negative implications.

Why Report a Scammer in BigScammers.Com?


Big Scammers is an online community that aims to help fight cyber fraud and make the Internet a safer place to hang out. They offer tools and repositories where you can anonymously report a scammer. You can do this by posting a scam complaint or filing a Web crime report in the user-generated content repository of this website. This way, you can educate others about the tactics and schemes that were used against you, which can help others to quickly recognize and safely steer clear from similar Web crimes. That's because this is a publicly accessible database of anonymous scam complaints and Web crime reports.

Other Benefits When You Report a Scammer in  BigScammers.Com

You can also access helpful pieces of advice and useful tips from the comments of cyber security experts and online privacy specialists. They regularly help out in the user-generated content repository of this online community. Aside from being able to report a scammer, you can also comment on the postings of other users, in case you have relevant experience in minimizing the bad effects of the online scams that victimize them.

Aside from these benefits, you can get instant email notifications and real time fraud alerts when you sign up at BigScammers.Com. These are sent out directly to your email inbox whenever users report a scammer in this online community, or each time a comment is placed in a published posting. You'll also be able to access the database of helpful resources that Big Scammers provides to the general public. These are created and updated by cyber security experts.

Many agents of the anti-cybercrime offices in the local and national governments of various countries also spend time in this online community. They help out by posting comments with useful tips and helpful pieces of advice, many of which are corrective measures that can help you reduce the ill effects of the latest online scams out there today. This means when you report a scammer through Big Scammers, you could possibly help your local and national government to speed up their investigation about similar Web crimes.

Big Scammers is also regularly visited by agents and representatives of popular software development companies, ecommerce stores, online dating platforms, social media sites and the like. That's because they want to know how to improve their products and platforms in terms of security and privacy for their end users. This means when you report a scammer in this website, then you can help these product developers and platform administrators to fortify the overall security of their software tools and Web networks.

These are some of the advantages and benefits that you can get when you report a scammer in BigScammers.Com. These benefits can happen much faster and deployed far wider when more online scam victims use this online community to report a scammer. This can also reduce the incidents of Internet crimes and online scams.

Where to Report a Scam in the UK


Whether you have been a victim of a scam or not, knowing where to report a scam is something that you need to learn. The UK is one of the many countries that are always targeted by various forms of scam. In fact, millions of dollars worth of losses are incurred by its citizens due to different scam attacks. To help its citizens address this growing problem the UK government has set up accessible fraud reporting platforms and assigned government agencies where you can easily report a fraud that you experience and seek the assistance of the authorities if necessary. 

There are different types of scam. There are some scams that are delivered offline while there are also others that use the online platform. Since the online platform is easily accessible to anyone many scammers use this platform to reach out to their target victims.  This is the reason why a significant increase in scam cases can be observed as the popularity of online transactions began to rise. Because of the growing number of scam incidents the government encourages its citizens to actively take part on its campaign against online scams. To do this, you need to know where to report a scam when you encounter one. See the details below to give you some idea where you can report a scam.

Where to Report a Scam

     Report Email Scams
If you want to report a scam sent to your email you may go to Action Fraud. Action Fraud is the primary online reporting platform designed for receiving reports regarding different types of scams both on and offline. This agency is ran and managed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) along with the City of London Police. Action Fraud does not have the authority to conduct any type of investigation regarding the scam reports that they receive. Nevertheless, all the reports filed on the site are automatically forwarded to the NFIB which is ran and managed by the City of London Police so any report that qualifies for investigation can be immediately addressed by the law enforcers. You have to note that even if you report a malicious scheme to Action Fraud it does not automatically guarantee an investigation. NFIB and the London Police will have to evaluate your report first and decide whether it has sufficient information necessary for launching a full investigation. Otherwise, your report will be analyzed and merged with other reports which will be utilized as a reference by authorities while they conduct other relevant investigations. 

     Report Dating Scams
Another way to report a scam especially those related to dating fraud is through the Action Fraud hotline. The Action Fraud hotline allows you to report a fraud real time or while you are interacting with someone who you suspect is a scammer through this number 0300 123 2040. This number is manned by fraud experts who can advise and assist you while the scam happens. You may contact the number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You may use the details provided above if you want to report a scam in the UK.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Job Seekers - Beware of These Online Scams This Year


Crooks and organized crime groups normally focus on particular target victims for their online scams. This allows them to mold their tactics and schemes to the relevant habits and interests of their intended victims. For example, unsuspecting users who go to the Internet and actively look for ways to invest their money and gain significant returns are targeted by thieves with  their fake investment offers.

On the other hand, users who want to look for available employment opportunities normally go to the Internet and search for jobs. They hang out in professional social networks like LinkedIn, and browse through the newest listings at classified job sites and micro sourcing platforms. Their urgent need for jobs is exploited by a certain group of criminals that design online scams for carrying out identity theft, while there are other crooks who intend to directly steal money from their intended victims.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and ActionFraud (UK's national online crime reporting center) recently reported a continuing rise in online scams that are targeted at job seekers in the USA and the UK this year. If you spend time in LinkedIn and classified job sites to look for employment opportunities, then you should keep these things in mind:


How Do Recent Online Scams Victimize Job Seekers?

1. These online scams make use of compelling job ads. These are posted all around the Internet, specifically in online places where job seekers go to look for possible employment opportunities. Normally, popular household brand names like Microsoft, Google, Apple and Facebook are mentioned in these fake job offers, in order to entice more job seekers to respond to these job ads.

2. Links in these job ads point to professional looking websites, which are usually clones of the online platforms that are owned and operated by reputable companies. Many of these online scams require job seekers to fill out an online form with their personal details and private information, and to also upload their scanned identity documents. Other versions of this scam try to convince job seekers to pay a certain fee for priority processing and job placement.

3. As soon as you fill out these Web forms and upload your scanned identity documents, your personal details and confidential documents are logged and transmitted to the authors of these online scams. They use it for their other illegal activities online and offline. Some sell your stolen information as fake identity packages to other criminals in the Dark Web.

4. As soon as you enter your financial information to pay for the fake priority processing and employment placement fee, your details are also logged and transmitted to the authors of these online scams. This means you won't only lose the money that you paid for the fake service since your financial account has already been compromised and could most likely be used elsewhere or sold to the highest bidder in the Dark Web.

So, how exactly can you tell if a job offer that you see on the Web is just one of these online scams? Well, the simplest and easiest way is to check the reputation and verify the authenticity of the person or group that posted the job ad in LinkedIn or in your preferred classified job sites and micro job sourcing platforms. You can also sign up at BigScammers.Com to receive instant alerts and notices about specific online job scams at the moment. This can help you quickly recognize potential fraudulent job offers on the Internet.