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Although most people would not be able to see the significance of the Wembley Java Bean internet caf?, to the surveillance officers that spent months staking it out it was the final key in breaking through a large network cyber criminals.

Inside a pizza bar worker used the computers to run a cyber supermarket selling account details and stolen credit cards to other thieves. The amount of information that he was able to sell was estimated to have cost the banking industry around tens of millions.

The pizza workers name was revealed today as Renukanth Subramaniam aged 33. He was said to be the orchestrator of a multimillion scheme and the founder of DarkMarket website, which was a hub for fraudsters to sell and buy personal data from each other.

The exclusive secret website was open to fraudsters by invitation only, but eventually the US Secret Service and the FBI were able to break into it, where they found that about 2,000 cyber criminals regularly traded stolen card details and viruses.

The website is now referred to as the top English language cybercrime site across the globe and even offered tutorials for would be criminals that taught them how to skim ATMS, phish for personal details, and hack into computer systems.

The reach of the cybercriminal website was so immense that it had members in Canada, the UK, Russia, US, Germany, France, and Turkey, which makes it hard to put an exact figure on how much it cost the banking industry worldwide.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

Many start-up (or up-start) web businesses from the nineties are a now a permanent fixture such as eBay, however the problem with these websites is that while they have connected plenty of buyers and sellers they have also helped out some crooks along the way.

President of AFI International Group Inc, Peter Martin, stated that crooks reselling stolen goods on auction websites are a huge problem because any company that has a product that can be re-sold can be struck by online fraud.

However, auction websites are not the only places that crooks head to as they are also increasingly using social media websites to sell their stolen wares according to Martin. He stated that with the growth of websites such as Facebook now social networks are giving sellers a large group of customers that they can reach and find.

Principal Cynthia Navarro from Finnegan?s Way said that eBay was designed to make it easy for buyers and sellers to find each other, not to stop fraud. Initially there were a ton of complaints, but according to Navarro over the years eBay has done a lot to counter the amount of fraudulent transactions that happen on the website.

As online web business has developed eBay has stepped forward to take the lead in combating online crime by implementing certain mechanisms that make it easier to prosecute and investigate criminal activity.

For example, the popular auction site has a program called VeRO which reports intellectual property right infringement directly to the proper authorities.

Ebay has also launched an outreach program called PROACT that is set up to help security and loss prevention managers create undercover accounts so that they can investigate possible leads that may lead them to thieves selling stolen items online.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

Havering Council said that a conspiracy in which millions of pounds worth of counterfeit golf clubs were sold over eBay during a five year span is the largest kind of counterfeiting operation that the council has investigated.

Officers of the investigative team determined that more than 96,000 clubs and other items of merchandise were sold throughout the period from March 2003 and June 2008.

The Snaresbrook Crown Court found four people guilty of working together to distribute the fake merchandise. The guilty were Sharron Williams from West Wickham, Kent, Roy and Kay Cottee both of Rainham Essex, and Helen Wilson from Hertford.

Additionally, three other defendants have already pleaded guilty. They are Gary Bellchambers from Rainham who is the ringleader of the fraud group, Keith Thomas of Rainham, and Chris Moughton of Blackpool.

In addition to his guilt, Bellchambers also admitted that the group used the trademarks without permission in the same manner they created supposed Sony memory sticks and Qantas complimentary lounge cards.

The defendants purchased the fake items from Shenzhen, China and had them shipped to their homes.

The group made trips to Thailand except for Wilson who used his own home, and sold fake goods over eBay to customers in many locations include Brazil, Australia, Germany, the US, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Trading standards officers caught wind of the operation when consumer Christine Manz complained about not receiving a refund for the two clubs. Although the conspirators usually quickly issued refunds to avoid drawing attention to their scam, Bellchambers was in Thailand at the time and ignored the letters.

Outside of the counterfeit ring, the investigation also found that some of the golf balls sold to customers exploded upon contact with a golf club and that one club had a tropical spider?s nest inside.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

Google is starting to get fed up with the amount of scammers who use their company name in order to pull off scams. The analysts behind Google said that since the recession they have seen an increase in the amount of complaints they receive after scammers work their magic on unsuspecting browsers.

In fact, the Google analysts went as far as to say that if you consider how many people do not report scam attempts, there could easily be a few more thousand victims who have lost millions of pounds in the scam offers.

Now the company is striking back by filing a lawsuit that will allow them to directly attack scammers who operate by using the Google name without permission.

In particular the company intends to attack a company that places Google?s name on their ad which promises browsers they can make millions of dollars while working at home.

The ad has caused distress from people such as Marvin Shultz who gave it a try since he had heard about Google from his daughter. Instead of being billed $0.99, his card was billed almost $50 which could have been enough to pay off the electric bill. As a result of losing the money his power was cut off for being delinquent.

Google claims that the responsible party is Pacific Web Works along with 50 other defendants that are alleged to a part of the scam that has spread across the internet.

Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Crime Division Shawn Henry said that when looking at anything online keep in mind the well known adage that if a deal or promise sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

As many people are getting into the holiday spirit with plans to head online next Monday, which is thought to be the most lucrative day of spending online in the UK, eWeek editor Peter Judge is warning shoppers that this is also the largest day for finding fraud online next to great deals.

Judge stated it is estimated that online websites will take in about $417m over the course of Monday because it is such a great way to get deals without travelling outside of the home.

However, he added that there are fraudsters waiting in the corridors of the internet world looking to pray on those without proper internet experience or knowledge.

The largest threat is to consumers who are inexperienced or new to shopping online. Experts believe that consumers will use websites that are unsafe and offer their personal details to use cheats which can release their personal information to thieves.

At the moment, the UK has a third more fraud victims than compared to the figure in 2009 according to a CIFAS fraud survey.

The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) stated that as a rule most Britons do not properly know how to safeguard themselves and their personal information while online.

President of BCS, Elizabeth Sparrow, said the company launched a campaign in November to educated citizens about how to get the most out of online services in a safe way.

Vice President of Uniseys, Neil Fisher, stated that the best way to be safe is not to be too trusting. If it is does not look safe the best thing to do is navigate to another site.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

The 40% of the population is still uses Internet Explorer Versions 6 or 7 may want to consider upgrading their browsers this week after news that there was a dangerous exploit code unleashed over the weekend that caused damage.
Symantec tested the code that appeared and determined that it is not 100% reliable although they believe in the future the code will be will become functional after it is fixed. Translated, it means that the code could be used to infect websites in the future and those who use either browsers with JavaScript enabled at the same time may have already compromised their systems.
The code is found to have run on computers that use Windows XP SP3 on both of the older editions of the Internet Explorer browser although there have not yet been any official reports that point to the code as effectively infecting computers.
Security experts estimate that over the weekend those who have found the code are likely to be working hard to get out attacks before security companies are able to fix the signatures and code vulnerabilities. Microsoft is also expected to come out with a security patch if computers begin to get infected on widespread terms.
Until the patch appears Symantec has advised consumers who browse using Internet Explorer to only visit websites they trust and to disable JavaScript on their computers. Other options include using the Firefox browser or upgrading to Internet Explorer 8

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

Two people have been arrested after it was found that they may be the culprits behind the ZueS (Zbot) Trojan that is able to get past security checkpoints to access online bank details, credit card numbers, and passwords.

The two people are charged with allegedly using the virus to infect approximately 10,000 computers and steal over a million pounds from personal details from unsuspecting computer users.

The virus is also able to copy social networking site passwords while attacking computer so that it can forward the data onto servers that were controlled by the hackers.

Zbot has emerged in several different formats including a Facebook page that told users they needed a software download that allowed the virus to attack computers. The information gathered is worth millions since it can be used by the hackers or sold to organized criminals at a high price.

According to police, the virus was a global internet threat.
At the beginning of the month a man and woman both ages 20 were arrested in Manchester although the information about the investigation has just now become public. Both are Britons and lived at the same address.

Head of the Unit Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie said that the man and woman are the first two people to be arrested in Europe in connection with the Zbot virus.

He continued to say that the scam is known internationally as a malicious virus and piece of malware that has been used to attack 10,000 worldwide computers and possibly more.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

PayPal, the popular online payment service warned consumers that this holiday season they should be careful when they pull out their credit cards to make a purchase, even though the deals may look much more tempting than those available on high street.

While the Office for National Statistics research estimates that around 27 million people will hit the Internet this year for their Christmas shopping, PayPal released their own statistic that only one in every seven shoppers will actually check to make sure the site they are making a purchase on is ?safe?.

PayPal is warning shoppers that they need to pay close attention when purchasing presents this year, so that they are not paying for poor quality or non-existent gifts.

Head of risk and security at PayPal, Garreth Griffith, stated that shoppers may be able to find great deals online, but they should not sacrifice their security in the hunt to do so.

Griffith continued to say that there are easy steps one can take to protect themselves online and that these steps should especially be taken if a deal looks too good to be true.

One of these steps is looking around a website for a padlock icon and making sure that a company is really what the website claims it is.

In another PayPal report the company stated that a large amount of online shoppers this year will come from those who live in the countryside and want to find online bargains like those who live in cities.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

Brit?s who offer items for sale on popular internet sites like eBay are the subject of scammers who try to convince sellers to ship their items abroad before sending payment.

Security experts have warned that African countries are one of the leading sources of the scams as fraudsters have become more sophisticated than simply asking for credit or cash details through email phishing schemes.

As more people become wary of handing over their details in the previous email schemes, criminals are now attempting to make money by convincing people with high end products such as digital cameras and laptops for sale to ship their goods early without the intent of ever sending payment.

The scam works by buyers offering a higher price than usual for an item and then emailing the seller stating that cash is in the process of being transferred. At this point, a fake email that appears to be from Paypal or another trusted payment source is sent to state payment is pending.

At this point a delivery address is given somewhere in Africa for the goods and sellers are encouraged to immediately post an item or become susceptible to a barrage of abusive emails asking why the item has not yet been posted.

A Trend Micro analyst, Rik Ferguson stated that the scammer?s main object is to force a seller to post their object quickly after which the scam is complete and the buyer is never heard of again not to mention payment is never made.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan

Peter Shepherd pleaded guilty to eBay scam charges claiming that a drug he took for Parkinson?s disease severally altered his personality and made him unable to discern right from wrong.

Shepherd, age 59, worked for many years as an IT manager with a ?50,000 salary before he retired and started taking the drug Cabergoline seven years ago.

According to Shepherd, once he began taking the drug his personality was altered and he began to exhibit weird behavioural habits such as violence towards his second wife, a cross dressing habit, and accumulating a massive amount of debts.

Over the last few years, Shepherd was living the highlife buying many new vehicles, running up ?150,000 in credit card debt, and taking a Caribbean cruise.

It was due to his spending habits, he claimed in front of Hull Crown Court, that he began an eBay ticket scam selling fake tickets to the Take That and Donny Osmond concert series that after people purchased were never received.

He was able to carry on the scam unscathed for 11 months convincing 172 people to buy ?45,718 worth of tickets that they never saw.
Defending James Sampson stated that while the case is odd, it is not unheard of for those who suffer from Parkinson?s disease.

He went on to say that while the drug helped increase Shepherd?s mobility, it had a serious side effect on his behaviour. Outside of spending Shepherd entertained thoughts of suicide, marital aggression, and violence.

Shepherd entered a plea of guilty to six different counts of fraud for the ticket scam, after which he was issued a conditional discharge due to his altered mental state. His wife was given a year-long supervision order along with 100 hours of unpaid work.

Filed under: Broadband Scam Alerts by Alan