Staying Safe from Cyber-Crime in the Wake of Irene

I hope this post finds you in good health. There is nothing quite like the outpouring of donations and relief efforts in the aftermath of disaster. It shows a side of humanity that is often taken for granted. Unfortunately, it is also a time where predators and criminals move in to take advantage of the misfortunes of others.

During this time as we all come together to help those affected by Hurricane Irene, please keep a vigilant eye for scams requesting donations of money for victims of the storm. The Department of Homeland Security has issued warnings as of last week to warn the public of email and phishing scams, as well as the potential social engineering attacks usually carried out over the phone.

For more info, please visit this link (don’t worry, its safe!):

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219530/DHS_warns_that_Irene_could_prompt_phishing_scams

To quote the article by Jaikumar Vijayan, “Barely hours after the Japan tragedies, phishers and other online scammers began using emails, fake websites and malicious downloads to try to steal money from unsuspecting victims or plant malware on user systems.”

Here are some tips to help against cyber-criminals:

1. Stay away from unsolicited emails asking for monetary donations. Don’t click on any links from unknown senders, and definitely don’t double-click any attachments.
2. Look for well known goodwill organizations, like local churches or community organizations (like www.DowntownHightstown.org), instead of online entities that may not provide the services they claim.
3. Be wary of phone calls requesting monetary donations in the form of credit card transactions. Social Engineering can take on many forms and almost always seems legitimate.

Its really too bad that there are people out there that would go so low as to use this time of crisis to prey on those who want nothing more than to help their fellow neighbors and friends.

If enough of us are aware and vigilant, then hopefully those cyber-criminal activities can be thwarted, and the victims of Hurricane Irene can get the donations and relief efforts they so desperately need!