Cyber Criminals Use fear, Greed and Lust!
29 Jun, 2007, 5:00 pm IST |
Priyanka Pradhan
| 
|
According to a study by Web security firm, McAfee, cyber criminals use fear, greed and lust to methodically steal personal and proprietary financial information. The study details the psychological games and other tactics cyber criminals use in social engineering scams through junk email. The study titled 'Mind Games', reveals that an important key to the crooks' success is familiarity. One example is phishing scams which fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, and financial data, by masquerading as a familiar or nationally recognized bank, Credit Card Company or even an online auction site. Recently, McAfee Avert Labs found that the number of phishing Web sites increased by 784 percent in the first half of 2007. McAfee says popular sites are also increasingly victimized. In December of 2006, cyber criminals targeted MySpace and used a worm to convert legitimate links to those that lured consumers to a phishing site designed specifically to obtain personal information. The primary author, Dr. James Blascovich, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, reports on a category of scam emails that target consumers who are promotion focused (want to 'get ahead') and/or capitalize on consumers' greed. These messages have such subject lines as 'You Won' to entice consumers into thinking they may have won a lottery or sweepstakes, "90 per cent discounts to trick consumers into thinking they are getting great promotional pricing, or "You Are Approved" to target consumers who need a loan or have money woes. David Marcus, security research and communications manager, McAfee Avert Labs said, "Along with the alarming increase in phishing emails, we are also seeing more sophisticated messages that can fool all but the most highly trained surfer. While earlier phishing emails often included typos, awkward language and minor graphical mistakes, newer scams appear to be more legitimate, with slicker graphics and copy that closely mirrors the language used by respected institutions." |
Mixx
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
delicious
reddit
MySpace
StumbleUpon
LinkedIn
Protests erupt across Europe against web piracy treaty
Tens of thousands of protesters took part in rallies across Europe on Saturday against an international anti-piracy agreement they fear will curb their freedom
Google is getting new test labs and 'Experience Center' at Googleplex
U.S government agency replaces BlackBerry with iPhone
SwaggSec hacks Foxconn, uses unpatched IE
Intex launches new 3D dual SIM touch phone, the Avatar
Yahoo! India adds Bengali to its local language base
Sony flashes MDR-EX42 Swarovski Zirconia in-ear headphones
Leaked Images, Availability, Pricing,
Specs, Pre-order
5 free operating systems that aren't Linux
The war of operating systems started decades ago, and the first mainstream
It's a great time to be a family
Microsoft has unveiled its first ever global, multi-product advertising...
By Advertorial
In a sea of operating systems with Windows 7, the upcoming Windows 8 and...
Intex launches new 3D dual SIM touch phone, the Avatar
Prakash Rajj
Tue Feb 14, 09:30:27
Micromax A70 smartphone Review
Dinesh Rao
Tue Feb 14, 08:44:50
German scientists place chip into retina; bring hope to the blind
Rahul Raj
Tue Feb 14, 01:47:20
More from Windows
More from this Author
_011517074205_160x90.jpg "Epson Stylus Photo R3000")
First image of an ICS running Motorola...
Upgraded version of Galaxy Pop sighted,...
Samsung officially unveils Galaxy Tab 2...
Asus Transformer Prime arriving on Feb...
Gabe Newell addresses Steam users...
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City...
About Us | Site Profile | Tech2 Team | IBNLive News | IBNLive Hindi News | Cricket News | Indian Stock Market | Policy | T & C
Copyright © 2011, Tech2.com India - A Network 18 India Venture
