Tech Talk with Bob: Another Phish Tale!
Phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is one of the many ways cyber criminals can attack you. It is the most popular strategy used by criminals to trick you into voluntarily handing them your personal data, your sensitive information, and sometimes your cash. In this type of attack, the criminal will attempt to extort cash from unwitting people by sending an email threatening to publicly humiliate the email recipient. Here’s an excerpt of one that ended up in my inbox just the other day. “Hello! I am a hacker who has access to your operating system. I also have full access to your account. I’ve been watching you for a few months now. The fact is that you were infected with malware through an adult site that you visited. If you are not familiar with this, I will explain. Trojan Virus gives me full access and control over a computer or other device. This means that I can see everything
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on your screen, turn on the camera and microphone, but you do not know about it.” The email continues. “I also have access to all your contacts and all your correspondence. Why your antivirus did not detect malware? Answer: My malware uses the driver, I update its signatures every 4 hours so that your antivirus is silent.” The email then threatens to release alleged videos of the recipient to all of the recipient’s contacts. “With one click of the mouse, I can send this video to all your emails and contacts on social networks. I can also post access to all your e-mail correspondence and messengers that you use.” Then they go in for the kill. “If you want to prevent this, transfer the amount of $500 to my bitcoin address. After receiving the payment, I will delete the video and you will never hear from me again. I give you 50 hours (more than 2 days) to pay. I have a notice reading
this letter, and the timer will work when you see this letter. If I find that you have shared this message with someone else, the video will be immediately distributed. Best regards!” This social engineering technique has swindled cash from some recipients who received this email or one similar to it. Multiple versions of this email are circulating the internet. So, what do you do if one of these emails ends up in your inbox? Immediately delete it.
There really is no way to avoid these emails. Even if you use spam filters some will find their way through. Your best defense is internet safety awareness. As for this phish tale, you’ll be the smart one who got away because you didn’t take the bait. Never enter confidential information into any web site until you know the web site and your computer system is safe. Cyber criminals will exploit the easy victims and unprotected systems. Protecting yourself online is your responsibility, but you don’t have to do it all by yourself. We’re here to help. If you are not sure your system is safe, please have it looked over by a Professionally Certified IT Specialist. Call us now at 727-534-4000. We’ve been helping folks restore their peace of mind, and sanity, with their technology for decades. Keeping You Safer In Your Digital World!
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