Possible Pandemic brings out Phishers

A pandemic triggered by the swine flu is causing panic for some. Others see this as an economic boost as they try to sell fake pharmaceuticals. There are a number of these phishing and spam emails being sent. Two of the more popular have a subject line of "First US swine flu victims!" and "Madonna caught swine flu!" according to Dave Marcus, director of security research at McAfee Inc.

Marcus said that about two percent of the spam today is on the flu. Some of these are out to sell phony or adulterated medications and some sites simply want to get the credit card number of anyone who falls for the pitch.

These are probably the same people who quickly register names of storms in hopes of taking advantage of the goodwill many people have when trying to help others. So it is no surprise to see this activity. But employees and customers alike need to realize that their own doctor and health system is where they need to go for information and assistance. Buying drugs based on an email is not the wisest choice someone could make. Not only may you not be protected after taking any medications bought from an unreliable source, but it just might make them sick.

Internet Crime Up in 2008

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The IC3 recently reported that internet crime reports were up 33 percent in 2008. They reported 275,000 complaints in 2008 as compared to 207,000 in 2007. The dollars lost in these crimes in 2008 was $265 million. That amount is up only 11 percent over the prior year. Median losses were highest check fraud ($3,000), confidence fraud ($2,000), Nigerian letter fraud ($1,650).

The most common complaint received deals with nondelivery of merchandise (33%). Auction fraud (26%) and debit card fraud (9%) are ranked as second and third.

Men tend to lose more on internet scams than women. Men lose $1.69 for each dollar a woman loses. Men also place 55% of the complaints.

FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry said, "This report illustrates that sophisticated computer fraud schemes continue to flourish as financial data migrates to the Internet. It also underscores the need for continued vigilance on the part of law enforcement, businesses, and the home computer user to be aware of these schemes and employ sound security procedures."