Prometheus 6

Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same

A Good Cause or Two

Click for more info

The Best of P6

The Racism Series The Reparations Series Installing a negro in your head Identity Blogging Where We Stand The LimbaughDiscussion That has Nothing To Do With Limbaugh

Updated when I write something really cool

Local Links

The Attack on Civil Rights Corporate Influence on Government The Development of Race Basic Laws of Human Stupidity Blogger Archives

EMAIL ME AT

Archives

April 18, 2004 - April 24, 2004 April 11, 2004 - April 17, 2004 April 04, 2004 - April 10, 2004 March 28, 2004 - April 03, 2004 March 21, 2004 - March 27, 2004 March 14, 2004 - March 20, 2004 March 07, 2004 - March 13, 2004 February 29, 2004 - March 06, 2004 February 22, 2004 - February 28, 2004 February 15, 2004 - February 21, 2004 February 08, 2004 - February 14, 2004 February 01, 2004 - February 07, 2004 January 25, 2004 - January 31, 2004 January 18, 2004 - January 24, 2004 January 11, 2004 - January 17, 2004 January 11, 2004 - January 17, 2004 January 04, 2004 - January 10, 2004 December 28, 2003 - January 03, 2004 December 21, 2003 - December 27, 2003 December 14, 2003 - December 20, 2003 December 07, 2003 - December 13, 2003 November 30, 2003 - December 06, 2003 November 23, 2003 - November 29, 2003 November 16, 2003 - November 22, 2003 November 09, 2003 - November 15, 2003 November 02, 2003 - November 08, 2003 October 26, 2003 - November 01, 2003 October 19, 2003 - October 25, 2003 October 12, 2003 - October 18, 2003 October 05, 2003 - October 11, 2003 September 28, 2003 - October 04, 2003 September 21, 2003 - September 27, 2003 September 14, 2003 - September 20, 2003 September 07, 2003 - September 13, 2003 August 31, 2003 - September 06, 2003 August 24, 2003 - August 30, 2003 August 17, 2003 - August 23, 2003 August 10, 2003 - August 16, 2003 August 03, 2003 - August 09, 2003 July 27, 2003 - August 02, 2003 July 20, 2003 - July 26, 2003 July 13, 2003 - July 19, 2003 July 06, 2003 - July 12, 2003 June 29, 2003 - July 05, 2003 June 22, 2003 - June 28, 2003 June 15, 2003 - June 21, 2003 June 08, 2003 - June 14, 2003 June 01, 2003 - June 07, 2003 May 25, 2003 - May 31, 2003 May 18, 2003 - May 24, 2003 May 11, 2003 - May 17, 2003 May 04, 2003 - May 10, 2003 April 27, 2003 - May 03, 2003 April 20, 2003 - April 26, 2003 April 13, 2003 - April 19, 2003 April 06, 2003 - April 12, 2003

« Everything else the Bushistas said was full of it, so what did you expect? | Main | Sunday No-So-Funnies »

January 25, 2004

Watch out

E-mail scam taps antiterrorist push, says FDIC
Last modified: January 23, 2004, 3:29 PM PST
By Robert Lemos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the national insurer of U.S. bank accounts, warned Americans on Friday that a convincing e-mail scam is making the rounds.

The fraudulent e-mail claims to be from the FDIC and informs recipients that their bank account has been denied insurance as a result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security into "suspected violations of the Patriot Act." The USA PATRIOT Act, which was passed after the Sept. 11 attacks, gives broad powers to law enforcement to combat terrorism.

"Someone really did their homework," said David Barr, a spokesman for the FDIC, adding that the letter is mostly free of the grammatical and spelling mistakes that usually act as a sign that the message is not genuine. Moreover, citations of the little-understood antiterrorism law, whose acronym stands for "Uniting and Strengthening of America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism," lend the message a dire tone.

"The Patriot Act is an actual act out there. It's done through Homeland Security, and it's used to block the flow of money," making the fraudulent e-mail seem at least plausible, Barr said.

The FDIC sent out the advisory after being inundated with complaints from consumers, who were worried that their bank accounts wouldn't have the $100,000 protection historically guaranteed by the FDIC.

The scheme is only the latest attempt to get personal and financial information through fraud, a criminal activity known as "phishing." Similar messages have targeted customers of Citibank, Wells Fargo, PayPal and other financial companies, but haven't cited the USA PATRIOT Act.

The latest letter states that unless recipients confirm their personal information by going to what looks like an FDIC Web site, then their account will lose its protection. The link to the Web site provided in the e-mail message leads to a server in Karachi, Pakistan, CNET News.com has discovered. Moreover, the link is formatted to take advantage of an Internet Explorer flaw that allows an attacker to hide the true destination of the link; in this case, the address bar in Internet Explorer displays "www.fdic.gov," while the actual Web site is at a different address in Pakistan.

Posted by P6 at January 25, 2004 08:50 AM
Trackback URL: http://www.niggerati.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/114
Comments