Just remember, there is no replacement for a skilled professional. If you are faced with a real threat of loss in data, identity, or money, Seek out the proper authorities and/or professionals in dealing with this matter.
First Fu 4 u:
Don't trust anything on the internet:
This will be a recurring theme in my blog as I cannot stress this enough. It may seem like common sense but more often than not this is the leading cause of computer crashes and fraud victimization. You guys are going to love this one.
So recently I replied to a job post on craigslist that read a little something like this:
StarLinks Children's Foundation would be very interested in offering you a part-time paying job in which you could earn about 1000 - 1500 USD per month. Before I go further, I would like to inform you of both the organization you would be working for and what you would be doing.
Our organization is a foundation which enhances social sensitivity to the problems of children, we help seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. We lay special emphasis on children with heart problems we got professionals working with the children, who potentially form the first link of the intervention chain and also support humanitarian services on surgical issues.
When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, the day-to-day joys of childhood take a back seat to the rigors of treatment and hospitalization. Starlight Children’s Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries by providing entertainment, education and family activities that help them cope with the pain, fear and isolation of prolonged illness.
We understand what families go through when a child is sick, and how important it is to find relief from constant worry and isolation. Our programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families with others facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone.
Presently, we operate basically on generous donations in cash and other items but mostly cash funds, however our donors are mostly by United States citizens, individual and co-operate organizations, they send us these payments from the United States, method of payments which these donors use in sending us donations includes checks and money order.
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Seems nice enough. Not shady at all right?! heh..Since I replied to this add by supplying a copy of my resume they now have my residential address, contact phone and email. They sent me a list of responsibilities as well:
Job Specifics:
1. Collection of Donations / Payments
2. Cashing of Donations / Payments which might include bank certified checks or money orders
3. Deduction of commission 10% per donation/payment received
4. Sending cashed donation/payments to the institute following Our Instruction.
5. Keeping Record of each donation / payment received and sent
I will like to know if you are really interested in working for us and contribute positively to achieving one goal, which is helping these children and their families, and as you do so God would definately reward you.
Wow. Yea, totally not shady (sarcasm for those who dont know me). So I responded back with a few simple questions asking them to contact me and schedule a face to face interview. They responded by saying:
Hello Ryan
You have completed the employment form previously,
and we already gave it to a client so he can make out payment to you
on our behalf which should deliver to your door step today via fedex.
1) You would be collecting the donations via certified checks which would deliver to your door step via fedex.
2) Western Union or Money Gram, following our instructions.
3) Not for now,after you have worked for 3 months you would be invited on an all expensed paid trip to the organization.
I woke up this morning to a knock on my door from fed ex. I picked up the package left on my door step and saw a check for $1,070 dollars. This check was registered to the Bank of Marin under a business that is real and resides in California. This check was made payable to my name. But wait it gets weirder, in one of the emails they sent me a list of contact info:
Starlinks Children's Foundation
Macmillan House,
Paddington Station,
London W2 1HD
Reference No: - LSLCA/2031/ 8161/05
Charity Reg No. 296058
While looking at this email, a "contacts" instant message pops up from the founder of this charity. For those who either do not use gmail or have not used this feature, google created a great tool built-in in google web mail. Its a messaging client that allows you to see who amongst your email contacts is currently signed in to gmail. You can Instant Message contacts while signed in to your email and vice versa.
I start off by telling this person that this position is very suspicious and I would like to meet face to face or by phone. He responds with " This is "Mr,Blah" the founder of Sarlinks charity. His response sounded a little automated so I immediately stated that if you do not respond in 12 sec. with a statement that confirms I'm talking with a human being I'm ending this conversation. For all I know, he could be "back-dooring" into my email account so long as the conversation remained active. Unlikely but possible. I got another seemingly automated response and ended the conversation.
So, I went to a site where you can check for registered charities in the UK. Low and behold there it was lookin real as can be:
They're a charity located in London, England. Most scams concerning money are usually located outside of the US in places like South Africa and Taiwan where internet fraud regulation organizations are fewer or non-existent. The UK has seen its fair share of internet scams as of late so there are a few regulatory bodies like Data Wales and Met. Police UK that do help in the fight against internet scams.
I am still investigating this further and have contacted the internet crime complaint center or IC3 concerning this matter. Most people like you and me unfortunately don't get the immediate attention issues like this require. The IC3 handles thousands of claims every month so response time usually takes anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks. However, starting today I'm contacting the top 10 major e-fraud fighters around the world and inform them of my blog.
I am going to make a call to this charity tommorow and ask to speak with the founder personally.
Which brings me to my first Tech fu tool! Voice over IP services like Skype make great tools for making anonymous phone calls. I perfer to use skype pay account because of their flat rate and low one time monthly fee. You can register up to 3 phone numbers when you sign up for their pay service. Your registered number can originate from a list of 254 countries so long as you provide a valid address from that country. For instance, if your a resident of the US and you live in Seattle, Washington you can register a phone number in Boston Massachusetts. All your calls will be traced to a location in Boston somewhere (random number given for that area code). You can direct all your publicly given information to your skype account and keep your personal cell phone free of telemarketers. Then, in about a year, change your skype number. Sure beats having to deal with the Telephone Company.
The internet is a crazy place. Stay informed and browse safely!
-Ryan Yanagihara
