Category: Warning

Is Your PC Mining Bitcoins for Someone

Criminals keep finding new ways to take advantage of us. Bitcoins and other cyber currencies are constantly in the news and this has led to endless scam offers of untold wealth from Bitcoins and other cyber currencies. But there’s also a new way for criminals to take advantage of you.

The Creation of New Bitcoins

This is through a process called ‘mining’ and it applies to all cyber currencies.

Mining uses huge amounts of computer processing power to keep the blockchains consistent, complete and unalterable. The “blockchain” is how the records of the Bitcoins are stored. Mining becomes progressively more difficult as more Bitcoins are created over time – requiring more and more processing power.

Bitcoin has been in circulation for some years and effective mining requires super computers.

However, hackers get around this by commandeering processing power from large numbers of other people’s computers – possibly your computer.

The hackers infect your computer with malware that lets them download data to be processed and upload the results back to themselves. If you find your computer is always slow and seems to be busy doing something you haven’t asked it to do – this can mean your computer has been infected and is busy working for someone else.

The same hacking tool that allowed the Wannacry ransomware to wreak destruction in 2017 has also been used by hackers to take over people’s computers and use them for mining.

Another similar one is called Smominru and makes infected computers mine for the cyber currency Monero. It is thought that up to half a million computers have been taken over for this purpose.

Make sure your computer is protected against these attacks through the use of anti-virus and anti-malware, take regular backups in case of data corruption or ransomware attacks.

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Strange Happenings at romancescams.org

Romancescams.org was set-up some time ago to warn people about the many varieties of romance based scams that go on.

There is a lot of information to help people to avoid being scammed, but recently the site seems to have been taken over by a business that advertises dating sites.

These are legitimate sites, so no real problem but it is odd that such a business would acquire a scam warning site.

The scam warnings are still on the site but there are also lists of reviews of dating sites and recommendations on dating sites to use.

Perhaps it was a temporary issue but the Report a Scam button didn’t work for me.

Do you know anything of what’s going on with this site? Let me know.

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Bitcoin Machines in Shops

We’re all used to ATMs in supermarkets and shops. Some charge for getting your money and some do not.

But recently, Bitcoin ATMS have started to appear in betting shops, general shops and elsewhere.

These don’t give you money – instead, they let you buy Bitcoins.

Bitcoin is a cyber currency that has been in the news a lot recently due to its rising price, thefts of Bitcoins and its use by online criminals.

These new machines are used by people wanting to invest in Bitcoin cyber currency but also there  is anecdotal evidence that they are used by criminals.  Some shopkeepers estimate that 50% – 80% of use is by drug dealers and other criminals wanting to change large amounts of cash into something they can access elsewhere, plus the cash is effectively laundered i.e it appears legitimate.

Once purchased, Bitcoins can be changed back into any currency in many places around the world.

The shopkeepers where the Bitcoin machines are situated sometimes get a  flat fee of £100 – £400 per month and sometimes they can get up to to 30% commission.

This shows that the charges the buyer has to pay to the machines must be very high to allow for such commission to be paid to the shopkeeper.

The machines generally have a limit of about £500 per transaction, but no limit on the number of transactions per person.

For criminals, these machines are ideal repositories for their ill-gotten gains.

The price of Bitcoins rose rapidly throughout much of 2017 but it is very volatile and could easily crash at any time and become almost worthless.

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The Battle Against Illegal Medicine Websites

There are countless Internet sites selling drugs and medicines, without prescription, that should only be available with a Doctor’s guidance and prescription.

The reasons people buy medicines from Internet sites can be just about saving money but can also be about anonymity, fear of approaching a doctor, ignorance of the dangers involved and so on.

There is a government campaign called #fakemeds with a website at https://fakemeds.campaign.gov.uk/

You can use this website to check if a website you are thinking of buying from is registered to sell medicines and you can report suspected fake medicines and suppliers.

The potentially dangerous products seized by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had not tested for safety and have been found in some cases stored in dirty, rat-infested warehouses and garden sheds. In 2016, MHRA seized more than 4.6 million fake medical products and closed thousands of websites selling medicines illegally.

The three key messages are

  1. More than half of all medicines bought online are fake
  2. Side effects can include heart attacks, strokes and death.
  3. Buying from dodgy websites also increases the risk of being ripped off through credit card fraud or having your identity stolen.

The #fakemeds campaign is run by MHRA and a recent study in co-operation with Slimming World shows:-

  • One in three slimmers have tried slimming pills purchased online.
  • Three quarters of slimmers (77%) were enticed by promises of rapid weight loss, more than half were attracted to being able to order discreetly (57%) and more than four in ten (44%) ordered online because they didn’t want to speak to a GP or pharmacist.
  • Nearly two-in-three (63%) suffered unpleasant side effects after taking slimming pills bought online. These side effects included diarrhoea, bleeding, blurred vision and heart problems. Worryingly, four out of five (81%) didn’t report these side effects to anyone.
  • Four out of 10 respondents said they had used the slimming pills knowing there were health risks, with more than six out of ten (62%) doing so because they were ‘desperate to lose weight’.

Be careful buying medicine online and if you should get a prescription for the product then do speak to your doctor and do not risk your health on cheap dodgy products.

More than 5,000 websites illegally selling prescription drugs were shut down in 2016.

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How Does Social Engineering Work for Scammers?

In this context, social engineering means to manipulate someone into doing what you want e.g. to type in login and password on a fake website so the scammer gets that information.

So, ‘social engineering’ is the methods used to trick people into doing what the scammers want.

It could be a phishing email asking you to urgently login in to your internet banking account or to call a support number as your computer has been infected with malware or a request from a company executive to urgently transfer money.

Generally, we prefer to trust people so if someone calls saying they are from your bank and they know your name and account – it’s easy to believe rather than to question everything. Maybe you answer their security questions and that gives them the details they need to access your account. It can be as simple and quick as that.

An Example Credit Card Payment Scam

A company selling telecom services receives an email from a possible new customer:

Hello,

This is Bill, I have just moved into the area and I need a new phone line.

Do you accept payment by credit card?

What information do you need in order to quote for the work?

Thanks

Bill

After a reply from the Telecoms Company confirming they do accept credit cards, , Bill’s next email sets up the conditions of the scam.

He’s in hospital waiting on an operation.  Lots of description to make it clear he cannot take phone calls or speak to anyone and very much needs help. He describes what he wants fitted in each room and then describes the removal company that is helping him to move while he’s in hospital and they can let the telecoms company in to do a survey if needed.

The purpose of this is to set-up the Telecoms company to accept an over payment by credit card from Bill then pay the removals company, as they cannot accept credit card payment and Bill can’t pay them any other way while in hospital.

This story is complicated and relies on the kindness of the Telecoms company to take the money and pass it on but also on their desire for business.

The telecoms company agrees, takes the credit card payment and then pays the removals company as per the instructions.  For example taking £1,000 for their work up front and £2,000 to pay to the removals company.

It all sounds quite safe, but then comes the sting.

The card was stolen but not cancelled straightaway and when the credit card company do cancel it then will claim the £3,000 back from the Telecoms Company who will end up out of pocket for the work they’ve done but also for the £2,000 paid to the removals company which was a fake operation.

That’s the credit card over payment scam

There are countless similar stories designed to get the punter to accept an over payment and it never ends well for the punter.

The stories are sometimes rough and have spelling and grammatical mistakes – to elicit sympathy for the scammer and at other times the stories have been polished by repeated use.

NEVER accept an over payment.

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