New Jersey Businessman Becomes Victim of Facebook Phishing Fraud

According to some new reports, a fresh phishing e-mail scam is currently circulating online. Such kinds of scams that were once a danger to only commercial or business accounts might soon target bank accounts of even individual consumers, as reported by Kens5 on November 25, 2009.

The finding turns out true as Gary Sherrell, Owner of Dynamic Computing Services, a company for networking and computer consulting, narrates his experience of falling victim to a global online scam.

It happened on October 27, 2009 when Sherrell saw an e-mail which apparently arrived from Facebook. The e-mail contained a link which downloaded a virus on his company's computer. The scheme was actually a global scam which through techniques of phishing filched half of a million dollar out of the company's bank account.

Online crooks (or hackers) set up a fresh username and password that they used to attack Dynamic's system via servers in Jersey City and Reno, both situated in New Jersey, USA.

Gary states that when he logged on his company's online bank account, it was probable that the information passed on to the hacker, as reported by Kens5 on November 25, 2009.

Facebook is undoubtedly a very popular website today and hence it's hardly surprising that attacks against it are regularly targeted. Indeed, it isn't always favorable to have an access to a widely-known web service or site, something that becomes obvious particularly when users are forced to tackle security problems such as phishing attacks.

However, users can safeguard themselves from such threats on Facebook and similar social networks by manually entering the URL straight inside their Web-browser, or by storing their login page in a bookmark. They should refrain from hitting web-links of unsolicited e-mails and enter confidential information only into a secure Internet site.

Additionally, it is recommended that social networking site users do regular reviewing of their statement of bank accounts as well as lodge complaint of any doubtful transaction to the banking authorities. Watch out for unsolicited IM messages or e-mails; log-in only with Administrator privileges; maintain data backup; and finally deploy security software and keep them up-to-date.

Related article: New Zealand Releases Code To Reduce Spam

» SPAMfighter News - 12/4/2009