Fires and floods and earthquakes, oh my...

Great reminder from US Cert on protecting yourself from the opportunists that prey on the feelings and emotions of all when a natural disaster strikes. At times when your heart strings are being pulled on it is almost as if the brain get's switched off and this provides an opening for the scammers to strike and they will.

If you want to help out in a situation like this then go through the official channels and not allow yourself to be solicited via a message delivered in an e-mail even if it comes from one of your trusted friends or family.

- Shaun

> From the US Cert (Computer Emergency Readiness Team) Natural Disasters and Phishing Scams

Original release date: May 19, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Last revised: May 19, 2008 at 4:30 pm

In the past, US-CERT has received reports of an increased number of phishing scams that take advantage of natural disasters. Due to recent natural disasters, US-CERT would like to remind users to remain cautious when receiving unsolicited email that could be a potential phishing scam.

Phishing scams may appear as requests for donations from a charitable organizations asking users to click on a link that will take them to a fraudulent website that appears to be a legitimate charity. The users are then asked to provide personal information that can further expose them to future compromises.

Users are encouraged to take the following measures to protect themselves from this type of phishing scam:

• Do not follow unsolicited web links received in email messages.
  

• Review the Federal Trade Commission's Charity Checklist.
  

• Verify the legitimacy of the email by contacting the organization directly through a trusted contact number. Trusted contact information can be found on the Better Business Bureau National Charity Report Index.
  

For additional information regarding phishing, US-CERT recommends reading the following documents:

• Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (PDF)
  

• Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
  

Relevant Url(s):

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-014.html

http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/emailscams_0905.pdf

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/telemarketing/tel01.shtm

http://charityreports.bbb.org/public/All.aspx?bureauID=9999

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This entry is available at:

http://www.us-cert.gov/current/index.html#natural_disasters_and_phishing_scams