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Lynne Waihee: Champion of Children’s Literacy |
| Former first lady of Hawaii Lynne Waihee heads the Read to Me International Foundation, which helps kids succeed in life — by the book. |
Balancing Career and Caregiving |
| A Makiki resident describes how he pulls off the ultimate juggling act. |
DEPARTMENT:
Phishing:
Don’t Get Hooked
You open an e-mail and find this message: “We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. To ensure that your account is not compromised, please click the link below and verify your information.”
It looks like a legitimate e-mail. There’s a company logo and other “official-looking” content in the message, and it may even contain a call to action like a dire message of impending consequences if you don’t “update,” “confirm” or “validate” your account information.
If you haven’t yet received such an e-mail, you probably will; it’s a huge scam called “phishing.” Basically, swindlers create these enticing messages on the Internet and spam a gazillion innocent computer users, hoping that at least a small percentage of them will unwittingly divulge personal information such as passwords and credit card or bank account numbers.
Don’t fall into their trap. Check out the OnGuard Online Web site www.onguardonline.gov, which provides tips from the federal government and technology industry that will help you recognize and fight Internet fraud.
They include the following:
• Don't reply to email or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information, and don't click on links in the message. Don't cut and paste a link from the message into your Web browser; phishers can make links look like they go one place, but, in fact, send you to a different site.
• If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization using a phone number you know to be genuine or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company's correct Web address yourself.
• Use anti-virus software and a firewall, and keep them up-to-date.
• Don't e-mail personal or financial information.
• Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to check for unauthorized charges.
• Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from e-mails you receive, regardless of who sent them.
• Forward spam that is phishing for information to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank or organization impersonated in the phishing email. You also may report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. The Anti-Phishing Working Group — a consortium of Internet service providers, security vendors, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies — uses these reports to fight phishing.
• If you've been scammed, visit the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
Internet
Explorer is the most widely used browser and therefore the one most
likely to be targeted by people with criminal intent. Lesser-known
browsers are probably safer — at least for now. They can be
downloaded for free; try Opera (www.opera.com),
Safari (www.safari.com)
or Mozilla (www.mozilla.com).
James Kerr is President/CEO of SuperGeeks, a computer service and repair company (www.supergeeks.net). Contact him at 942-0773 or email help@supergeeks.net.