It's ubiquitous --
"Dialing-For-Dollars" version 3.0: a gateway to irresistible deals;
an antidote to loneliness; a pathway to riches (either earned or not); a
vehicle for helping those victimized by man-made or natural disasters; a
clarion of sensational news; a conduit for memories; the bearer of less than
glad tidings from our bank, our boss or our friends at the IRS; and, the cyber
pony-express for a cry for help from a friend or relative lost and "penniless"
in a foreign land.
Once the
little brother of the telephone, email is now an inescapable part of the communication fabric of our lives -- an important building block of
our cyber DNA. And it is being attacked, and ultimately hijacked, repeatedly by
those who want to be us so they can more effectively loot us, our families and
friends.
Unlike Jesus and his Apostles, Ivan
and his hordes of "phishermen" see us as fish and our personal data
as their loaves.
The FBI reported an
8.3 percent rise in cybercrime last year. That's 290,000 incidents worth $525
million in financial losses to victims. The average take was $4,573.
For your amazement and unbridled
reading pleasure, I've compiled an extensive -- though not complete -- list of
dangerous emails containing the major phishing scams circulating right now…..
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