Facebook Fraud: Beware Malicious Friends

New Facebook Fraud: Watch Your 'Friends'
By Kathy Kristof | Sep 7, 2011
CBS Money Watch

Con artists are lurking in the shadows of your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and eHarmony accounts, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, the oldest international investor protection association.

Crooks have always gravitated to so-called “affinity” frauds, which target the members of a set group such as members of a particular church, alumni association or country club. That’s because victims let down their guard when they’re introduced through a friend, even if that introduction is second-hand. (Think: “I was referred to you by Father Jim.” Or “Susan suggested that I give you a call.”)

In fact, scammers purposefully infiltrate tight-knit groups, figuring that common hobbies, lifestyles, professions or faith will help them establish a bond with their victims. Because we assume that our friends won’t betray us, that bond increases the likelihood that even a reasonable, thoughtful individual will become a victim.

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and eHarmony have become a particular targets of affinity fraudsters because it’s so easy to break into these groups, according to the investor protection group. You may be selective about the group you accept as friends and connections online, for example. But you might be tempted to accept connection requests from “friends of friends.” If just a few of your legitimate friends are less selective than you are, you could get connection requests from people who know people that you went to high school or college with, for example.

You might assume this “friend” is an old acquaintance that you’ve simply forgotten. The formula: the faux friend will post often and regularly interact with your group of friends. The name becomes increasingly familiar. Months into your online “relationship” with this person, a big move in the stock market might cause him or her to mention that he/she is an “investment professional.”

“Don’t worry,” he might say. “This market reversal is just temporary.”

In these tumultuous times, even savvy investors are looking for good advice. If the con artist is smooth enough, he won’t even approach you. You’ll approach him. The next thing you know, he’s commiserating with you about how rotten all the traditional investments are. Then, ever so smoothly, he moves to the pitch: “Well there is one thing you can invest in, but it’s not for everybody….”

You may get sucked into the affinity fraud vortex, thinking that you’re getting this opportunity because your long-lost (and suspiciously missing from the year book) high school classmate is willing to let you in because he knows you. In fact, many victims of affinity frauds end up so certain that the con artist is legitimately helping them that they end up promoting the bogus “opportunity” to their own close friends and families.

“A con artist can take advantage of how easily people share background and personal information online by using this information to make a highly targeted pitch to friends within that social group,” said David Massey, North Carolina’s Deputy Securities Administrator and President of NASAA. “Just because someone has friended you online doesn’t mean that person is your friend when it comes to investing.”

What signs might tip you off that the investment is fraudulent?

• Lack of public information. If you’re offered an investment that’s not listed on a major stock exchange (anything that can’t be looked up on Yahoo Finance), insist on seeing the prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If there isn’t one, walk away.
• Promises of high returns with little or no risk
• Sense of urgency. (”I can only leave this deal open for you until the end of the week”; “this opportunity won’t last”; “there are a limited number of shares”)
• Request for payment through e-currency web sites.
• Testimonials from “satisfied” investors
• Hard-to-verify information — i.e. “this investment is registered but it’s registered with securities regulators in Bermuda, rather than the U.S.”

For further signs of financial fraud and information on where to report it, check out NASAA’s alert here.

Kathy Kristof is the author of Investing 101

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/devil-details/facebook-fraud-beware-malicious-friends/5124/#ixzz1XiKcaxW0

911-2001 We will Never forget!

Is It Really Necessary To Logout of Web Sites?

By Lincoln Spector, PCWorld    Sep 1, 2011 7:50 AM

Keith Stanley wants to know if he should really logout of Web sites that require a login when he's done with them.

That depends on the site, and on the computer you're using.

There's not much danger if we're talking about your own computer. The chances of someone accessing your account via an active logon are pretty thin. And in cases where it might happen, it's probably because either your PC is already infected, or an untrustworthy person has physical access to it. Either way, you're already in trouble.

But I'm a cautious person, and I recommend others be cautious, as well. That's why I recommend logging out of financial and retail sites, where someone else's illegal access can have serious consequences. I don't bother loggin out of other sites.

You really don't want to stay logged onto a financial site indefinitely. If a criminal can get access to your bank account or credit card number, your life is going to become very unpleasant. Luckily, most financial sites will log you out automatically after a certain number of minutes of no activity.

Retail sites don't do that--probably because they have a financial incentive to make your purchases as easy as possible. Amazon.com doesn't even offer a clear logout option on their site. The trick is to click the Not your name link that you'll find in parentheses near the top of the page.

If you're using a public computer--say, in a library--or even an office computer that co-workers can access, the answer is simpler: Always log off of everything.

Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector writes about technology and cinema. Email your tech questions to him at answer@pcworld.com, or post them to a community of helpful folks on the PCW Answer Line forum. Follow Lincoln on Twitter.

Only about half of smartphone owners use phone's GPS for directions

By Amy Gahran, Special to CNN September 7, 2011 1:23 p.m. EDT | Filed under: Mobile

Editor's note: Amy Gahran writes about mobile tech for CNN.com. She is a San Francisco Bay area writer and media consultant whose blog, Contentious.com, explores how people communicate in the online age.

(CNN) -- Virtually all smartphones now include a built-in GPS receiver to enable location tracking, but only 55% of U.S. smartphone owners have used their phone's GPS to help get local directions or recommendations.

That's according to new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Only about 35% of U.S. mobile phones are smartphones, and the survey found that overall, just 28% of U.S. adults actively take advantage of location-enabled services on their phones.

Pew examined three basic types of location-augmented activities: general location based services, such as getting maps, directions, or recommendations based on your current location; geosocial services, such as Foursquare or Gowalla, where you "check in" to a location; and social media that allow you to automatically add your location when you post a status update, such as Twitter or Facebook.

According to Pew, "Taken together, 28% of U.S. adults do at least one of these activities either online or using their mobile phones -- and many users do several of them."

Earlier Pew Research found that U.S. Hispanics are especially likely to do advanced activities with their smartphones. This new study shows that for locative services, Hispanics are both ahead of and behind this curve.

Pew found that 25% of U.S. Hispanics use geosocial services such as Foursquare -- a strong lead compared to 17% of blacks and 7% of whites. But for getting local directions and recommendations, whites were in the lead (59%), compared to 53% of blacks and 44% of Hispanics.

Social media that rely on "check-ins" such as Foursquare and Gowalla still are not hugely popular. According to Pew, only 12% of smartphone owners have used such services.

Such slow market gains may be why Facebook recentlydiscontinued Facebook Places, a check-in service launched just last year. (Facebook users can now opt to tag status updates with their location, a feature Twitter also offers.)

Pew also found that 14% of people who use social media have set up their account to automatically include their location in their posts. Considerably more men (19%) do this than women (10%). And surprisingly, a slightly higher percentage of social media users aged 50 to 65 (16%) do this than those aged 18 to 29 (13%).

Who is most likely to automatically geotag their social media updates? Hispanics (31%), people with an annual household income of less than $30,000 (25%), and people whose education went no further than high school (23%).

I was intrigued that only 55% of U.S. smartphone owners have used their phone's GPS to help get directions (through apps like Google Maps or Bing) or recommendations (through services like Yelp).

So what about that other 45%?

Pew did not speculate, but it's odd that nearly half of people who shell out the considerable extra up-front and monthly cash that owning a smartphone requires would never use such basic locative features at all.

One partial explanation might be that most smartphones have pretty bad battery life -- so a common way for smartphone users to stretch out their power usage is to leave GPS turned off when it's not specifically needed.

For example, I typically leave my Droid Incredible's GPS off unless I'm using maps or turn-by-turn navigation. Even though I often use Yelp to get local recommendations, I find that cell phone tower triangulation (which does not require GPS) is generally sufficient to find what I'm seeking nearby.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Amy Gahran.

Don't Overload Your PC with Security Software

By Rick Broida, PCWorld    Sep 6, 2011 11:03 AM

Reader Steve uses a program called Vipre Premium to keep his PC secure. The suite offers anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-spyware, a firewall, e-mail protection--basically, the works.

But Steve also runs Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. And Microsoft Security Essentials (though with real-time protection turned off). Steve’s question: should he turn on MSE’s real-time protection and “run it concurrently with Vipre?”

Short answer: no. Definitely not. In fact, I’d say Steve is running too much security software as it is. And that's a common mistake.

For starters, the Vipre suite is more than sufficient. I can see keeping Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on hand just in case some infection sneaks through, but if you’re using the Pro version--which, unlike its freebie sibling, offers real-time scanning--then it’s competing with Vipre. In fact, when you overlap security products like that, they can seriously impact system performance and even falsely recognize each other as being a threat.

My advice: keep your security tools to a bare minimum. In fact, if you’re running Windows 7 (which Steve is), you’re already adequately equipped to handle the majority of security threats. Windows 7 offers a solid firewall, and its built-in Windows Defender should block most spyware and pop-ups.

Meanwhile, Internet Explorer 9 provides robust protection against phishing, malware, and other browser-related threats. (In fact, some tests have shown it to be the safest browser, period.) Cap that off with Microsoft Security Essentials and browser plug-in Web of Trust, and you’ve got yourself a nearly bulletproof PC. (I speak from experience: that’s my exact configuration, and I haven’t had an infection of any kind, well, ever.)

Bottom line: don’t overdo the security software. Too much is not a good thing.

Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at hasslefree@pcworld.com, or try the treasure trove of helpful folks in the PC World Community Forums.

The top 8 iPhone alternatives

With Samsung's long-heralded Galaxy S II smartphone coming to three of the four major carriers, the iPhone faces some stiff competition. However, Samsung's giant handset isn't the only device that's ready to give Apple a run for its money. Each of these eight alternatives offers something that Apple's ever-popular handset lacks.

 

Motorola Atrix 4G (AT&T)With a speedy dual-core Tegra 2 processor and generous 4-inch qHD screen, the Atrix 4G is one of the most powerful phones on the market. A unique lap dock turns the Atrix into a notebook with an 11.6-inch screen and full Firefox browser. Try doing that with your iPhone.

 

Samsung Infuse 4G (AT&T)A 4.5-inch Super AMOLED display gives the Infuse 4G one of the largest canvases on the market, great for typing and watching movies. The iPhone 4's 3.5-inch screen is tiny by comparison. A fast 1.2-GHz processor, an 8-MP HD camera and HDMI-out make this a true multimedia powerhouse.

 

Motorola Photon 4G (Sprint)Pair an attractive 4.3-inch qHD screen with a dual-core 1-GHz Tegra 2 CPU and 4G speeds and you have a powerful iPhone 4 foe. Better still, the Photon 4G plugs into an optional dock for enjoying the full web (yes, including Hulu) on the big screen.

 

HTC EVO 3D (Sprint)The iPhone 4 doesn't offer a stereoscopic 3D screen or a camera that lets you record 3D photos and videos, but the HTC EVO 3D does. Throw in a a dual core 1.2-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU and HTC's elegant Sense interface and you have more beauty and brains than Apple's handset.

 

myTouch 4G Slide (T-Mobile)Not a fan of correcting touchscreen typos? Pick up the myTouch 4G slide, which has one of the best physical keyboards on a smartphone. Plus, this device has one of the sharpest and fastest cameras we've ever used. No more shutter lag.

 

HTC Sensation 4G (T-Mobile)
The gorgeous HTC sense UI, a 1.2-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 4.3-inch qHD screen, and T-Mobile's fast 4G HSPA+ network combine to make this Android handset a winner. Best of all, the HTC Sensation lasts over 7 hours on a charge, which is well above average.

 

HTC Thunderbolt (Verizon)While the 3G iPhone 4 can't even get 2 Mbps download speeds on Verizon or AT&T, the Thunderbolt rides on Big Red's industry-leading 4G LTE network, allowing it to get download speeds as high as 17 Mbps, averaging 8.3 Mbps across our testing. You can even turn the Thunderbolt into a hotspot to share the speed with your notebook.

 

Samsung Droid Charge (Verizon)A colorful, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen allows you to view the screen on the Droid Charge even in direct sunlight. Average download speeds of 7.8 Mbps on Verizon's 4G LTE network give device four times the bandwidth of an iPhone 4.

What Is That? Let Your Smartphone Have a Look

By STEVEN LECKART 

August 31, 2011

The New York Times

I never carry a point-and-shoot camera. Chances are you don’t either. In the last few years, cellphone optics have improved substantially. That means more megapixels, better image sensors and stronger flashes and zooms on the one device most of us carry all the time.

Now comes the next phase: using your smartphone and its camera to identify what is in front of your eyes.

Although image-recognition software is still in its infancy, a number of mobile apps are already translating signs, naming landmarks and providing a running commentary on your world.

Google Goggles, which appeared on Android phones in late 2009 and on the iPhone last year, is best at deciphering landmarks, text, book and DVD covers, artwork, logos, bar codes and wine labels. You start the app — it’s part of Google’s search app for the iPhone — and peer at the object through the camera lens. It takes a stab at identifying it.

I’ve found the app especially useful for comparison shopping. If you’re browsing through a bookstore, for instance, one quick snapshot of a book’s cover allows you to check the price on Amazon. It’s much faster than typing the title into a search bar. Same goes for photographing paintings or craft beer bottles.

Perhaps its most promising use, for tourists especially, is language translation. Goggles can scan English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and, a recent addition, Russian text.

In practice, I’ll admit I’ve had only modest success translating phrases from restaurant menus or street signs. Part of the challenge is capturing an image that’s clear enough for the software to recognize. Unless the text appears on a white background, the software’s success is diminished. But when it does work — wow. Optical character recognition is only going to get better and broader.

Asian languages pose different challenges, says Hartwig Adam, a Goggles engineer. Their alphabets consist of thousands of characters, which tend to be strung together with fewer obvious boundaries. Be wary when buying apps that say they translate Japanese or Chinese. The ones I’ve tried are not fully baked. For now, the handwritten specials posted on the walls of no-frills Chinese restaurants will remain a mystery to me.

Even Google admits Goggles is “not so good” at identifying plants. For that you want Leafsnap, a free iPhone app that supplements a traditional field guide. You photograph a leaf on a white background within the app, which then scans the silhouette. The app then cross-references it with its built-in database. For each potential match, you’re shown high-resolution images of the plant’s leaves, flowers, fruit and bark. Your location is also recorded on a map so you can build a database of your urban forest.

Developed by researchers at Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution, Leafsnap has been downloaded 400,000 times since May. It’s easy to see why. I had a blast trying it out in San Francisco — even though the plants in the app’s database are mostly specific to the New York and Washington areas. In the next 18 months, it will expand to 750 species from 250 species found in the continental United States (excluding South Florida), says Peter Belhumeur, a Leafsnap co-founder and computer science professor at Columbia. Eventually, the app will also use your location to refine its search and improve accuracy, he said.

Goggles has other limitations. It’s not good with faces — deliberately, for privacy reasons. And when I photographed an apple using Goggles on both iPhone and Android handsets, no close matches were found. Minutes later, I tried Meal Snap, a $2.99 iPhone app meant as a tool for dieters. Not only did it correctly identify the fruit, but Meal Snap also provided an accurate caloric range (60 to 90 calories).

Even more impressive was what happened when I used the app to deconstruct a bowl of homemade chopped salad. The app correctly identified diced beets and sliced cherry tomatoes alongside broccoli in the tossed mess. That said, the app failed to spot my spinach, deli turkey, cauliflower and bits of pepperoncini. However, the calorie estimate was only off by about 100 calories; and it was actually inflated, which is O.K. if your goal is weight loss.

Another photo-recognition tool with health implications is Skin of Mine, a $2.99 iPhone app that analyzes moles and freckles.

Start the app, and an outline of a human body appears. Once you touch a spot on the body, the camera opens. After taking a snapshot, you trace a mole using a tiny on-screen pencil. From there, the mole’s symmetry, border and color are analyzed and assigned numerical values. By cross-checking the numbers with a database of a few hundred images culled from dermatologists, the app estimates whether your mole might be consistent with melanoma.

“The idea isn’t to replace your dermatologist, but keep an eye on things between doctor visits,” says Ellen Kislal, president of Medical Image Mining Laboratories, which developed Skin of Mine. For users in Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York, the app also provides the option of connecting online with a doctor. For $40 to $65, the doctor will examine your photo and make a diagnosis. Eventually, the app will expand to include assessments of other skin conditions like acne, vitiligo and wrinkles, Dr. Kislal said.

When it comes to comparison shopping for books, CDs or DVDs, an alternative to Goggles is SnapTell, which is available for Android andApple phones. Like Goggles, the free app features a bar code scanner. Still, I find photographing items much more satisfying. Once you snap a picture, the app determines online prices at sites like Amazon, Alibris and Textbooks.com (SnapTell was acquired by Amazon in 2009). Better still, the app uses your location to call up prices at brick-and-mortar retailers. Another location-based app is Snooth Wine Pro, which is intended for wine lovers. Take a close-up of a bottle’s label, and the $4.99 iPhone app not only displays the price, but also maps nearby bodegas, liquor stores and wine cellars. I photographed six bottles of wine, including a cheap red, a more expensive pinot and sake. The app recognized five of the six. Other bells and whistles for hardcore oenophiles include user-submitted reviews, a wish list and private tasting notes. Even if you are not a connoisseur, don’t settle for the free version of the app; it doesn’t include photo recognition.

Beyond browsing books or window-shopping wines, you can also buy fine art using photo ID. ArtMatch, a free iPhone app developed by Art.com, the online poster and print company, has a database of more than a million works. It’s ideal for museums, restaurants or doctor’s offices, basically anywhere where you’re likely to see well-known originals or prints. I found artMatch effective at spotting a Van Gogh self-portrait, but not art from contemporaries like Geoff McFetridge or Rachell Sumpter.

It is difficult to predict how these apps will evolve, but one thing is certain: they are already changing the way we see our world.