Consumer Watchdogs Join Forces to Hunt Down Cyberscams

Consumer protection agencies from around the world have joined forces in an international assault on scams in cyberspace. Australian consumers can report scams by calling the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502, filling out a complaints form at the ACCC's slam-a-cyberscam webpage or registering an overseas scam at www.econsumer.gov.

To read more, click here.

Do you think it this sort of attempt will work? What issues/problems could arise?

US Supreme Court hears MGM Studios v. Grokster

On Tuesday the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in MGM Studios v Grokster, a case that has previously been mentioned on this blog.

Read about the case at CNN Money or at Findlaw. Fore more background information about the case including a list of some of the strange alliances that have developed between organizations wanting to either save or kill Groskster, click here.

If you are interested, the briefs (detailed written submissions) filed before the Supreme Court are available here.

What do you think of the argument that these sorts of lawsuits might have discouraged past inventions like copy machines, videocassette recorders and iPod portable music players - all of which can be used to make illegal duplications of copyrighted documents, movies and songs?

Web censorship case

Lawyers for Yahoo Inc. have asked a federal appeals court for legal protection for U.S.-based Internet portals whose content is protected by the First Amendment in the United States, but is illegal in foreign countries.

Read more here.

Should Yahoo be protected by the First Amendment?

Want to know more about legal blogs?

If you are interested in reading more legal blogs, visit The Blog Book: A Guide to Legal Blogging. As well as providing links to many legal blogs, the Blog Book also blogs on issues involving legal blogs.

The Australian IT Today

There are a few interesting articles in the IT section of today's Australian:

• "Phishing thieves try a spot of pharming" (on phishing, which was the focus of the last seminar);
• "Spam, virus threats on the rise" (based on Symantec's biannual Internet Security Threat Report);
• "Online trading boom" (e-commerce);
• "Forum poster sued for libel" (an article on a UK case which dispels the myth that forum posters can remain anonymous).

Comment on any of the articles that interest you ...

Privacy and online shopping

"A company that provides payment services to online merchants has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations it sold information about more than 1 million Internet shoppers without authorization."

Read more here.

The Australian IT Today

There are a few interesting articles in the IT section of today's Australian:

• "Searcher twists name rules" (on domain names);
• "Sour notes for online music players" (on downloading music);
• "Feds' ID rules cut costs of e-trading" (on e-trading);
• "Libel threat to web news sites" (on internet jurisdiction).

Comment on any of the articles that interest you ...

Money for jam: a new kind of scam

Money for jam: a new kind of scam
By Sam Varghese
September 10, 2003

In what appears to be a scam of a different kind, an email is doing the rounds offering people 10 percent of the money deposited in their bank accounts by outsiders.

The email starts off:

"Looking for a perspective (sic) and well-paid job in Australia?
1. If you are looking for a perspective and well-paid work in Australia (of more than 1000 $ aud in a week guaranteed).
2. If you are a Australian resident (Obligatory condition).
3. If you are over 18 (Obligatory condition)."
A link with the text "Check up our site for the further information" follows, advising the readers to "Click here (once)".

Clicking on this link take one to a webpage located at advinc-ma.netfirms.com which provides the following advice:

"My name is Andrew Colobanoff. I am an advertising manager of the A.I.C company. Our website address www.aicau.net

(Reader Derek Jenkins added a word of warning about the aicau site: "It contains malicious VB scripting that creates a trojan (Win32/Aicau.Downloader) EXE called c:\2.exe. It was only discovered on September 9 and I suspect that most users' antivirus packages would not offer protection from it at this stage," he wrote.)

"The company deals with many overseas partners, but for the time being we have offices only in Russia and in the USA.

"At the moment we receive a lot of orders from Australia and New Zealand. So we are looking for agents in Australia for distant work.

"Our clients stipulate that they pay for our services only in Australian banks such as ANZ, National, and Westpac.

"Our offices will be opened in the country only in 2-3 months. Meanwhile, in order to start working with the clients in Australia we need to have accounts in the above-mentioned banks.

"If you live in Australia and you are ready to become our agent you should do the following:

"1. Open an account in one of the above-mentioned banks

"2. Send us the bank account data

"3. After receiving money (you'll get $2000-3000 monthly) you are to take 10% commission and send us the rest by WesternUnion

"With time you'll be able to open more accounts...

"Frequently-asked questions (FAQ's):

"1. Do I have to pay the money order tax?

"No, you don't, all the taxes are included.

"2. How long do you intend to cooperate with me?

"We are going to cooperate with our agents until we open an office in Australia. Provided we are satisfied with your work, we might suggest you signing a full-time job contract.

"3. Are you not afraid of entrusting me your money?

"As far as we know your bank account data, we can easily find you. We need honest and reliable people who have unlimited access to internet. You'll get a chance to earn some money, it can be both a good perquisite, and a favorable collaboration with us. The internet business is developing rapidly and has good prospects. It will bring you considerable profits, besides it can provide you with a place in our company. If you are ready to cooperate, you should open an account in one of the above-mentioned banks and inform us of its data."

Reader Robert Coleman, who received the email and did a bit of sleuthing, said: "The basic modus operandi appears to be, money is not transferred out of the bank, but across to another account within the bank. Who would think to look within the bank for the proceeds of a robbery? It is then taken out of the country via Western Union. Neat and simple. This is based just on the websites I saw and a bit of supposition, but it fits pretty well."

Another reader, Daniel McNamara, wrote in that he had received a different piece of spam that creates the same trojan. McNamara was curious and did a bit of investigation which makes for compelling reading.

An email query to Colobanoff as to where the money was coming from received no reply.


This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/10/1062902087603.html

Message from Citibank

Dear x,

You may have heard the term “phishing” in the news lately.

In case you haven't, it's not just “fishing” misspelled. It actually refers to unsolicited email that looks like it's from a trusted institution — but in reality is an attempt to lure people into providing personal or sensitive account information on phony web sites. The information collected is later used to commit fraud.

Citi Cards holds your security in the highest regard. For that reason, we're working diligently with law enforcement, industry organizations, and governments overseas to shut down these scams permanently.

But there are a few simple things you can do as well to protect yourself:

* Look for your “personal header” on all emails.
For your protection, effective immediately look for your first name, last name and the last 4 digits of your account number in an “email security zone” at the top of email we send you. Be suspicious of emails claiming to be from us that do not include this information.

* Never type account information into a pop-up window.
Don't type account information into a pop-up window, even if it looks legitimate. We never request account information through pop-up windows.

* Don't respond to emails asking you to verify information.
We'll never send you an email asking you to verify information. If we have an issue with your records, we'll contact you another way.

* Be suspicious of grammatical or spelling errors.
These are usually indications of a fraudulent message.

If you happen to receive a suspicious-looking email claiming to be from Citi Cards, please forward it to spoof@citicorp.com. We have agents on staff around the clock monitoring these reports and acting on them immediately.

If you'd like more information on phishing, please visit our “Security and You” module. Or, you can contact one of our Internet Security Specialists at 1-888-285-9696.

Phishing

pFor tomorrows class, we will look at:
http://www.antiphishing.org/phishing_archive/
westpac_03-26-04.htm

Once the bad guys get your account details, how do they get your money?

More on whether bloggers are journalists?

In a case that could ultimately decide whether bloggers can be classified as journalists, a California judge has ruled that three online blog sites must surrender the names of confidential sources who allegedly leaked information about an upcoming product put out by Apple Computer Inc. Read more about the case here.

To read the opinion of the court, click here.

Call for blogger freedom

"Internet bloggers should enjoy traditional press freedoms and not face regulation as political groups, US politicians and journalists have said." Read more here.

If this was so, what would the jurisdictional implications (if any) of this be?