Latest Internet Scams, Traps, and Phishing Attempts

I never cease to be amazed by the new scams that are released. I don't know who these bad guys hire, but it almost seems as if they hire their own PR firms to help them figure out what Internet tricks to try next. Most of these eventually show up as alerts from major security vendors, but by that time, the scammers have already moved on to the next idea.

Here are a few examples and excerpts of what I'm talking about:

1) Cyber crooks set email traps with bogus Obama sex video

Cyber crooks are trying to cash in on fascination with the US presidential race by sending trick email promising a sex video starring candidate Barack Obama, according to Sophos computer security firm.

2) Latest Internet Scam: Homes for Rent

Last month Val Dennis was searching the Internet for a new place to live when she stumbled on the perfect deal: a nice house, in the right neighborhood at a great price.

3) Sarah Palin quotes (Note: these are fake quotes on religion, oil exploration and Alaskans serving overseas).

 No doubt more of the same is on the way as we head into October and the debates. I fully expect plenty of both outlandish and plausable emails to be heading our way which are, in reality, new attempts to get malware loaded onto our PCs. Just as we had Olympic spam and phishing attempts, get ready for election spam as never before during the next six weeks. 

Even if the email is legit, the message may not be. We need to keep reminding our users of this fact.