Be wary of any e-mails from Paypal. This latest scam involves the use of Paypals OWN redirection service.

The URL you receive via e-mail looks some this:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr/cgi-bin/

webscr?cmd=_ssr&return=http%3A%2F%2Fpaypal-us.6s.[removed]/

?cgi-bin.webscrcmd=_login-run.webscrcmd=_account-run.CaseIDNumberPP-046-631-789

Note the embedded URL "paypal-us.6s.pl" is used to have Paypal redirect to the phishing site, making the link a valid, official Paypal link!

Be VERY careful when you receive any suspicious links via e-mail for any Paypal correspondence.

Our latest scam alert comes to us from our reader Debra. What happened to Debra is an important reminder to everyone to never give money to anyone you meet online, and particularly someone you have never met in person:

I met a man on Match.com and loaned him $5,000 to purchase hardwood flooring with a promise to pay me back in 2 days when he received the P.O.for payment.

This was in April 2007 and he took out bankruptcy, but promised to pay me back in an email.  Because of the bankruptcy I can no longer call him or ask about the money he owes me!!!!

Scams such as these are rampant in online communites like Match.com.  If you are presented with a request for money from someone you met online, be very wary of their intentions.  If you do give your money away, be sure you understand that you may lose it, and make sure that you can afford to lose it.  Chances are it is a scam.

Thanks again Debra for the scam alert!

We received the following scam alert from our reader, Kara:

I received a letter and a check in the amount of $3977.65 advising that we were the winner of $57,000.00 USD, and to contact Justin Green at 514-569-5763 to claim the prize. When I tried the number it gave me the message that the mailbox could not hold any other messages. The check looks real. The letter is from Carn Financial in 3655 NW 87 Avenue Maimi, Florida 33178. Check is from Carnival (tel 450 751 0076) and is from Carnival Cruise Lines Inc.

This scam seems like a variation on our previous scam alert.  Both scams use a phone number from the (514) area code.  Both also seem to originate from Florida, so be on the lookout.

With these check scams becoming more and more popular, everyone needs to be sure to second-guess any suspicious postal checks like these. The scam involves you contacting them, and they then ask that you provide them with your bank account information so they can "wire" the rest of the funds. They attempt to make you feel comfortable with it by giving you a check (which is a fake).

If you receive one of these "checks", and want to make sure, simply take it to your bank and have them verify the check. Our guess is 10 times out of 10 it is going to be a fake. So watch out!

We received the following consumer scam alert from reader Justina:

We received a letter and a check in the amount of $4797.47 advising that we were the winner of $57,000.00 USD, and to contact Yolanda Fisher at 514-576-4312 to claim the prize. Yolanda advised to deposit the check and that the remainder will be wired transfer to the account. I have shown the check to the bank and they confirmed it was a scam. The check looks real letter is from Star Financial in 100 SW 75th Street Gainesville, Florida 32607. Check is from Oneonta Daily Star (tel 450 751 0076) and is from JP Morgan Chase Wilmington DE.

Justina did the right thing by asking her bank about the check before doing anything. In this case, the scammer is attempting to lure you into thinking it is okay to give out your bank account information since you already have this check for $4797.47 in your hands.

The truth of the matter is that the check is bad, and if you were to give out your bank account information, the scammer would then use it to wire money directly out of your account into theirs.

Thanks for the warning Justina!

We received the following scam alert from one of our readers:

I received an email saying I had won £500,000.00 five thousand pounds. They
then asked me to send them Money. Express delivery £700.00 Premium Service
£500.00 Regular Service £380.00. This was sent from a City Link Couriers
Service.

When I enquired they could not help about a package for me.

Thanks for the warning Carol! If you have an e-mail you think might be a scam, send them our way! We'll investigate and post a warning to help protect others who may also be receiving the same scam messages.

We received the following scam warning from one of our readers (Joseph). Thanks for sending it in Joseph, and let's hope it helps others avoid this scam.

Joseph has been receiving numerous e-mails from this same person, he forwarded the two examples below. Note the "From" e-mail address has the word "ambasador" spelled incorrectly. That is the first sign of a scam. Never reply to an unsolicited e-mail from someone you do not know asking for private or personal information!

Here are the example scam e-mails:

FROM THE DIPLOMAT WITH YOUR PARCEL CALL ME AT NEW JERSEY UNITED STATES
973-878-0466‏ From: DIPLOMAT ADAMS FRANK (ambasadorfrankadams at yahoo.com) You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe Sent: February 20, 2008 9:25:57 AM To: [snip - removed]

Dear John
I am diplomat Frank Adams, I was directed to deliver this consignment to
you, I am in airport now and I have been called your phone number but it
wasn’t going through. Please do send me your house description and
your new phone number where I can reach you because I have other people's
consignment with me here. Please call me 973-878-0466 now at Newark New
jersey
Regards,

Dr Frank Adams

2nd scam e-mail:

RE: FROM THE DIPLOMAT WITH YOUR PARCEL CALL ME AT NEW JERSEY UNITED STATES
973-878-0466‏ From: DIPLOMAT ADAMS FRANK (ambasadorfrankadams at yahoo.com) Sent: February 20, 2008 3:44:02 PM To: [snip - removed recipient information]
Dear Thanks for your response , i am now at New jersey USA and trying
to book airline with US airways , i arrived last night and will be
departing as soon as i get flight ticket to your destination but i have a
little problem as i used all the money with me last night for hotel as i
was unable to locate you , the air ticket now will cost $430 as US
airways will depart today , please i will advice you to send me the little
fee to buy air ticket i will be glad to hear from you
Regards,

Dr Frank Adams

The first e-mail above attempts to cause confusion by not clearly stating what this person's intent reall is. They want you to reply with your personal contact information so they can then attempt to further the scam.

In the second e-mail they go as far as to ask for money to help them out. Again, not clearly stating any real reason for their contact with you.

The scam attempts to portray a sense of authority by using terms like "diplomat" and "ambassador". We cannot stress this enough, if you receive an e-mail like this, either delete it or report it to your ISP as a Phishing scam. Some ISP e-mail programs have a flag/button right on the page where you can report scams like this.

Thanks again Joseph for the warning!

We received this tip from Debbie, one of our fellow readers, over the weekend. It involves receiving an e-mail notification regarding winning an unknown prize from a service called eCourier. Debbie advised us that she went along with the scam right up until the point where they asked for money. It was at this point she realized something was not right. Good instincts Debbie!

Rule of thumb: Never accept a prize or winnings from an unknown source over e-mail. Never give out your personal information or banking information to an unknown party over e-mail or a website.

Let's take a look at the details of this scam in an effort to help everyone steer clear of this one:

1. You receive an e-mail from a courier service stating they have a prize/winnings for you and need additional information in order to deliver.

2. Once you confirm, they then follow-up with an email showing an scanned image of your actual package. This is a very clever twist on the scam, as it baits folks into thinking this is a real company informing them about a real prize.

eCourier Prize Scam Tactic - Showing a fake parcel addressed to you

3. Finally they send the final e-mail requesting you select a delivery method (at a high price!) or supply them with your banking information to transfer the winnings to you.

Here is the sample e-mail response they sent to Debbie:

Before we can effect on delivery of your winning to your house, Please see option of courier charges below.

An original certificate of weight: -------------0.15kg
Bonded draft of weight : ---------------------0.17kg
Total weight of parcel : -----------------------0.32kg
Color of Parcel : ------------------------------Brown

Most folks understand the importance of creating secure passwords, but many of us still resort to passwords that are easy for us to remember, which in turn usually make them less secure. With identify theft and online criminal activity on the rise, it is important to understand what is a secure password and what is not.

Let's first take a look at non-secure or bad passwords. A bad password is something that is easy for a thief to guess. Your name, your birthday or anniversary, or your kid's names are all examples of bad passwords. Also be aware that thieves will be sure to try the most commonly used passwords known around the web:

1. password
2. 123456
3. qwerty
4. abc123
5. letmein
6. monkey
7. myspace1
8. password1
9. blink182
10. (your first name)

Our guess is some of you reading this right now are using one or more of the passwords above. If so, you may want to consider the following options for securing your passwords:

1. Completely random passwords are your best form of protection. Unfortunately there is not an easy way remember a random set of characters unless you use a software package like Roboform to keep track of all your passwords. The benefit of Roboform is you only have to remember ONE secure password, and Roboform will remember the rest for you.

2. Another option, you can store all your passwords in an encrypted, secure file on your computer. There is a free program that can help you do this called TrueCrypt.

As we mentioned above, you will still need to remember at least ONE secure password to access RoboForm or TrueCrypt. Then you can use random strings for your other passwords.

Hope this helps!

Fake Amazon.com Sign-on Page
Here is the latest Amazon.com phishing scam circulating around the net. Do NOT click o