The government says an investigation shows that Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue "trick" consumers into entering their e-mail address just before they complete purchases at sites such as Orbitz, Priceline.com, Buy.com, 1-800 Flowers, Continental Airlines, Fandango, and Classmates.com.
A Web ad, which many consumers say appears to be from the retailer, offers them cash back or coupon if they key in their e-mail address.

Many of those who complained say they don't fear the ad because they aren't being asked to turn over credit-card information, according to the Senate report. But buried in the ad's fine print is notification that by entering their e-mail address, the shopper is agreeing to join a loyalty program and allowing the store to authorize marketers to charge their card each month, between $9 and $12.

"What's happening is many online merchants have decided to betray their customers' trust."
--Sen. John Rockefeller "When people shop online, they have the right to expect that the stores they entrust with their credit card and other personal information will not share it," said Sen. John Rockefeller, (D-W.V.), the committee's chairman.
"What's happening is many online merchants have decided to betray their customers' trust...fine print is the (biggest) scam of all time."

1USA.Com tells you How to prevent fraudulent charges to your charge card:
1.  NEVER use a Debit Card when buying things online.  Always use a Credit card, which goes through the system controlled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

2.  Keep an eye on which companies are posting small amounts onto your charge card - usually $25 or less.

3.  Call the Bank 800-number on the back of your charge card and ask that a certain posting be removed.

4.  If you have to call the bank three or more months in a row, don't be afraid to call the bank and have them cancel your credit card number.  Sometimes you will need to say that you lost your card.

5.  Remember to notify 1USA.Com with your new card number if you need to do #4 above!!

More details about the large scale scam is here.

Microsoft has filed five civil lawsuits against alleged malvertisers,
entities that use maliciously crafted advertisements to spread malware.
The lawsuits allege that the defendants sent malware that appeared to
be legitimate advertisements over Microsoft's AdCenter network.  The
malware, known as scareware, tells users their computers are infected
with malware and directs them to sites where they can purchase products
that will purportedly remove the malicious software.  The lawsuits have
been filed against John Does; Microsoft hopes to use subpoenas to
uncover the identities of those responsible for the malware.
More Details if you're interested.

http://blog.trendmicro.com/ has a few example scams.

Less than seven percent of emails that reached companies in the first quarter of 2009 were legitimate correspondence. Some 90.92% of messages were spam, while 1.66% were infected with some type of malware. This data has been compiled after the analysis of 69 million email messages in Q1 2009 by TrustLayer Mail, the clean mail managed service from Panda Security

The amount of spam detected between January and March 2009 has increased slightly with respect to the same period in 2008, when spam accounted for 89.88% of the email received by companies.

This is one of the reasons why 1USA Customers are better protected than at other ISPs.
1USA customers do not receive spams or scams in their In-Box ... unless they want to.
BarryZ

The amount of junk mail related to false job offers has increased, probably due to the current economic crisis.  Many arrive from AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo.

Don't mess with professionals.  They will clean out your bank accounts or steal your identity.  You should not be receiving any Spams or Scams in your In-Box.
BarryZ
 

A Massachusetts teenager has been sentenced to 11 months in jail for using a botnet to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and for "swatting," or making phony emergency calls that lead to SWAT teams being sent out needlessly.  According to prosecutors, the teen also broke into corporate computer systems and stole information.  He pleaded guilty to computer fraud, interstate threats and wire fraud late last year.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_04_20_Teen_hacker_sentenced_to_11_months/srvc=home&position=recent
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/21/swatting_hacker_jailed/
[Editor's Note (Liston): This makes ordering a couple unwanted pizzas for the next-door-neighbor's house seem pretty tame, by comparison.  Not that, in my youth, I would have *ever* done such a thing, mind you...

(Schultz): Given the severity of the crimes committed, a jail sentence of 11 months may not sound like much. However, the fact that someone under the age of 18 has received time in jail rather than mere probation for the commission of cybercrimes is extremely significant.

(Northcutt says): When he gets out in 11 months, then what? He becomes a respected security researcher? I sense we are going to hear about him again.]

You might have a Facebook page... or a Twitter... or a blog somewhere.
Here are some of the dangers and some of the pick-up lines that thieves use... which usually end up with them having access to your bank information.
Story at NetworkWorld

The government says an investigation shows that Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue "trick" consumers into entering their e-mail address just before they complete purchases at sites such as Orbitz, Priceline.com, Buy.com, 1-800 Flowers, Continental Airlines, Fandango, and Classmates.com.
A Web ad, which many consumers say appears to be from the retailer, offers them cash back or coupon if they key in their e-mail address.

Many of those who complained say they don't fear the ad because they aren't being asked to turn over credit-card information, according to the Senate report. But buried in the ad's fine print is notification that by entering their e-mail address, the shopper is agreeing to join a loyalty program and allowing the store to authorize marketers to charge their card each month, between $9 and $12.

"What's happening is many online merchants have decided to betray their customers' trust."
--Sen. John Rockefeller "When people shop online, they have the right to expect that the stores they entrust with their credit card and other personal information will not share it," said Sen. John Rockefeller, (D-W.V.), the committee's chairman.
"What's happening is many online merchants have decided to betray their customers' trust...fine print is the (biggest) scam of all time."

1USA.Com tells you How to prevent fraudulent charges to your charge card:
1.  NEVER use a Debit Card when buying things online.  Always use a Credit card, which goes through the system controlled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

2.  Keep an eye on which companies are posting small amounts onto your charge card - usually $25 or less.

3.  Call the Bank 800-number on the back of your charge card and ask that a certain posting be removed.

4.  If you have to call the bank three or more months in a row, don't be afraid to call the bank and have them cancel your credit card number.  Sometimes you will need to say that you lost your card.

5.  Remember to notify 1USA.Com with your new card number if you need to do #4 above!!

More details about the large scale scam is here.

Microsoft has filed five civil lawsuits against alleged malvertisers,
entities that use maliciously crafted advertisements to spread malware.
The lawsuits allege that the defendants sent malware that appeared to
be legitimate advertisements over Microsoft's AdCenter network.  The
malware, known as scareware, tells users their computers are infected
with malware and directs them to sites where they can purchase products
that will purportedly remove the malicious software.  The lawsuits have
been filed against John Does; Microsoft hopes to use subpoenas to
uncover the identities of those responsible for the malware.
More Details if you're interested.

http://blog.trendmicro.com/ has a few example scams.

Less than seven percent of emails that reached companies in the first quarter of 2009 were legitimate correspondence. Some 90.92% of messages were spam, while 1.66% were infected with some type of malware. This data has been compiled after the analysis of 69 million email messages in Q1 2009 by TrustLayer Mail, the clean mail managed service from Panda Security

The amount of spam detected between January and March 2009 has increased slightly with respect to the same period in 2008, when spam accounted for 89.88% of the email received by companies.

This is one of the reasons why 1USA Customers are better protected than at other ISPs.
1USA customers do not receive spams or scams in their In-Box ... unless they want to.
BarryZ

The amount of junk mail related to false job offers has increased, probably due to the current economic crisis.  Many arrive from AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo.

Don't mess with professionals.  They will clean out your bank accounts or steal your identity.  You should not be receiving any Spams or Scams in your In-Box.
BarryZ
 

A Massachusetts teenager has been sentenced to 11 months in jail for using a botnet to conduct distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and for "swatting," or making phony emergency calls that lead to SWAT teams being sent out needlessly.  According to prosecutors, the teen also broke into corporate computer systems and stole information.  He pleaded guilty to computer fraud, interstate threats and wire fraud late last year.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_04_20_Teen_hacker_sentenced_to_11_months/srvc=home&position=recent
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/21/swatting_hacker_jailed/
[Editor's Note (Liston): This makes ordering a couple unwanted pizzas for the next-door-neighbor's house seem pretty tame, by comparison.  Not that, in my youth, I would have *ever* done such a thing, mind you...

(Schultz): Given the severity of the crimes committed, a jail sentence of 11 months may not sound like much. However, the fact that someone under the age of 18 has received time in jail rather than mere probation for the commission of cybercrimes is extremely significant.

(Northcutt says): When he gets out in 11 months, then what? He becomes a respected security researcher? I sense we are going to hear about him again.]

You might have a Facebook page... or a Twitter... or a blog somewhere.
Here are some of the dangers and some of the pick-up lines that thieves use... which usually end up with them having access to your bank information.
Story at NetworkWorld