Spam and Phishing Numbers Soar Coinciding with Haiti Disaster
Ugh it was bound to happen. With every good deed there’s a miscreant waiting in the wings trying to find an angle to score some misgotten gains. We saw it with 9/11. We saw it with Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami. Now it’s Haiti’s turn. While folks were quick to place the magnifying glass on artist Wyclef Jean and his charity, the real scammers have been running amok. According to PC World, spam and phishing numbers surged coinciding with the January 12 tragedy.
People’s inboxes were swamped with notices offering would-be good Samaritans the opportunity to open their hearts and more importantly, their wallets to assist the Haitian people. And for those of us not savvy enough to spot the fakers, our heart-felt donations are not lining the pockets of someone hundred or even thousands of miles away. It’s one thing to scam folks on a regular day, but when you prey on people that are trying to help out the less fortunate? Well, that’s just low.
The more sophisticated scam artists represented themselves as legitimate organizations. Some even had the cojones to try to pass themselves off as Unicef. And if they weren’t trying to get at your dough, they were trying to infect your precious comp with all manner of digital cooties. While most spam does end up in the spam folder of your inbox, we still have to maintain due diligence on behalf of our comps and smartphones. Often times we lazily assume that our anti-virus software will keep our computer safe from all the big bad wolves out there. With hackers highjacking government and corporate sites just for that Mt. Everest, “I climbed it because it was there” gusto, you can’t expect last year’s anti-virus software to keep up with the pace. I mean how many times have we been shaking in our boots of the the invisible digital bully as Microsoft and other major sites report that hackers have found a weak spot in the system? Or who could forget the Conflicker worm?
The lesson here remains the same. Be mindful of any email you open. Even if it’s from your momma ‘nem, if it looks suspicious, then throw it in the trash. Like Bell Biv Devoe, never trust a big bot and emoticon smile. That app is poison.
Category: News | Tags: 9/11, conflicker worm, cyber security, hackers, Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, Microsoft, tsunami, wyclef jean
About the Author Sherri is a freelance writer that has a love of all things fun and geeky including gadgets, gaming, anime, and comics. When she isn't writing or out on the town living it up, she loves doing 10-12 hour marathon sessions on her Xbox 360 or one of her older consoles. It's not an addiction, it's a way of life!
See all posts by Sherri L. Smith.
