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For Sacramento grandmother Pat Blucher was a financial plea she could not resist. A few weeks ago, her distraught grandson called from Canada, said she had been arrested on drug charges and necessary bail money. Immediately.
Not only was her grandson, but any option a financial trap. It is an old scam, but with a newer twist: Facebook. User details apparently pulled from Facebook pages, scam artist seasoned conversation with enough facts — man's family and baby's names, a girlfriend in the wedding — to persuade Blucher to wire $ 4600 to Canada.
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"They are so clever. They had all the information to trick me, "said Blucher, a retired elementary school teacher who has convinced her Facebook page gave the caller access to too many personal details about her family.
The event is yet another example of a classic cybercrime — use the Internet to foist on the unsuspecting victims of financial fraud.
From the "I Love You" worm computer 2000 to last year's "stranded travellers" fraud, online fraud has existed since the dawn of the Internet. But they have been increasingly sophisticated — and profitable — for cybercrooks.
Last year, logged Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is associated with the FBI, 2 No consumer complaint, a number that has doubled in about three years. 2000 Through 2009 was total financial losses Internet crimes from around $ 1.7 billion, according to the IC3 with the median dollar loss of more than $ 500 per complaint.
A new study, "A good decade for Cybercrime," by software company McAfee Labs, released in January detail how cyber crime has changed from simply harmful to financially devastating.
In 2000, Internet fraud were relatively benign: hackers looking for bragging rights by cracking codes and worming their way into the Government and business computer networks in order to cause harm. But as 2003, the motive had turned to money.
' Since it is almost exclusively about finances, "such as bank account information theft or conning people into wiring funds, said Dave Marcus, Security Research Director to McAfee Labs.
And millions of users hanging online via social networking accounts is more and more vulnerable, he said. "Because of the sheer amount of people on Twitter and Facebook this is a very fertile segment."
Among the newer fraud: bogus requests for password resets or logins. Fraudsters also comb the social networks Web sites looking for popular topics or seasonal topics to set their traps.
"You can see Twitter bombarded with IRS stuff when it is tax season or false romance scams around Valentine's day," said Marcus.
Last July, midway through the season summer travel, Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, warned of "stranded travellers" scam where bogus emails or Facebook messages go out, allegedly from friends that say they have been robbed and need cash in a hurry to pay a hotel bill or return to the United States.
Vulnerability to cyber crime originates partly from our eagerness to share as much of the US and increasingly make more of our financial transactions — from banking to shopping — online, says Marcus and other security experts.
"Cyber criminals will use any publicly available information, including from social network sites, to press the victims ... to steal your money or financial injury to the company," said FBI special agent Tom Osborne.
His advice for Facebook and Twitter users: "avoid accepting unknown friend requests and only post information you want your mother or father to read. Also avoid open e-mails from unknown individuals and never Click on the photos or links in these e-mails.
Privacy protection California Office also urges vigilance online.
Among Marcus ' recommendations: know your mobile devices. Keep your personal preferences are high on the social networking sites. If you are using a mobile phone, turn off GPS when it is not in use "so that you are not broadcasting in which the device — and you — is located." If doing online banking from a mobile phone, you must verify your access password-protected.
And if you get winded, reporting the crime.
Blucher, who contacted local Better Business Bureau, California attorney General's office and local police after her Canadian scam, said to have warned her of swindlers snaren, the prevalence of online crime.
"If anything good can come of this, it is that more people can be aware ... so they don't get scammed and lose their hard-earned money as I did."
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