How To Survive the “Dot Con” Era

In my line of work I run across several Internet cons. It seems that my inbox is filled to overflowing with spam and unwanted offers. In this article we will identify some common scams and teach you how to recognize and avoid them.

One of the more common threats is the infamous Nigerian letter. Typically the e-mail will appear to come from someone a foreign country, and usually they are a foreign dignitary or relative of same. They claim to have a large sum of money that needs to be transferred to the United States, and are enlisting your help to do so.

Here are some tips to help you protect yourself:

If the opportunity appears too good to be true, it probably is.
Do not reply to emails asking for personal banking information.
Be wary of individuals representing themselves as foreign government officials.

Internet phishing or spoofing is also a common problem. Crafty con artists have discovered that if they create an email that appears to be official and from a financial institution or other trusted website, they can fool us in to turning over our private information which they and then use to deplete our bank accounts or make fraudulent purchases. Don’t fall for this, instead:

Be suspicious of any email requesting personal information.
Do not fill out forms in e-mail messages.
Do not click links in suspicious e-mail messages rather, log onto the official web site.
If possible, contact the actual business that sent you the email to verify that it is genuine.

Another potentially costly trick doesn’t involve e-mail or computers at all. Unscrupulous businesses may mail official looking invoices purporting to be renewals of your domain name or other services such as a directory listing. I manage several domain names and I know exactly when it’s time to renew them. Unfortunately, some website owners who don’t manage websites on that scale may not recognize a bogus letter.

The pricing of these bogus invoices are in line with what used to be a typical domain registry fee, so a bookkeeper who isn’t paying attention could easily pay it, thinking that they’re doing the boss a favor.
In 2003 the Federal trade commission went to court against companies known for sending direct mail to domain name owners. They were ordered to insert language such as “this is not a bill” and “this is a solicitation” to comply with advertising law, but that doesn’t stop them from sending me these fake invoices.

Spam, or unsolicited e-mail, is not really a con, but it is a nuisance. We will deal with spam in future articles, but for now remember this:

Do not open spam. Delete it, unread.
Never respond or unsubscribe to spam, as this confirms to the sender that it is a live e-mail address.

Remember, your best defense is common sense - and just a little paranoia.

About the Author:
Ken Ivey is a veteran technology addict, consultant, author, web designer, and President of MidTN Technology, a marketing and web design firm. His website is www.The-Tech-Reporter.com