What Now…..This is getting old fast!!!

Are you a Verizon Wireless customer?  Well if you are, then pay special attention.  There is a new scam in the wild right now that is targeting Verizon Wireless customers directly.  It is estimated that about 16% of all Verizon Wireless customers have come into contact with this scam.  This is how it works.

You will receive an email, which appears to be from Verizon Wireless, which states that you have exceeded the minutes limit on your account and asks you to check your account by downloading a “balance checker” tool.  Keep in mind that this message looks exactly like a legitimate Verizon message.  But it is not from Verizon Wireless. If you should download and run the tool, what you are in fact doing, is installing a Trojan Horse. By installing this Trojan Horse, you open up your computer to a myriad of other malware from the Zbot Botnet.  This Bot is notorious for lifting banking and credit information from User’s accounts.  So as you can see, this is a serious threat.

The first emails were sent around 11:30 AM Pacific Time on Friday, 11/13/09.  Friday the 13th’s are always notorious for the launch of new scams on the internet.  Since then, it has been estimated that about 200,000 messages have been sent per hour.  So this scam is already well established.

So how do I know if the Verizon Wireless message is legit? and what should I do if I do receive this message?  First off, and I have stated this many times before in past posts, do not EVER open a message that states that there is a problem with your account from an email that you receive without having asked for the information prior to receiving the message.  Even then, I would be real cautious.  The best way to keep yourself from falling for these scams, is to never open an email from anyone, even if you have an account with them, that states that there is a problem with your account.  Instead, go to the company’s website, in this case Verizon Wireless’, and log into your account.  From there, you can check to see if there is anything that needs your attention.  As always, make sure that you log in over SSL, meaning that the URL starts with ‘https://” and not “http://”.  I cannot say this strongly enough……never, ever open a link in which the email states that there is a problem with your account.  These are almost always scams as companies do not alert you of problems in this manner.  Always, manually log into your account and check it once you are securely logged into your account.

This new Verizon Wireless scam will render your computer useless, should you fall for it, and believe me, it is easy to do.  These scammers know what they are doing and create fake sites, and messages that look exactly like one that you would receive from Verizon Wireless, complete with logo.  They are easy to fall for.  Knowing the basics is all you need though to ensure your safety. Always delete those emails alerting you to account problems and log into your account from the vendors website and check to see if the message is valid from there.  Never click on any link that was sent to you without you asking for it. It is that simple.

For more information, check out the Trend Micro Security Blog Site.

Watch out for this scam as it is a serious one and is easy to fall for.

Let me know your thoughts……

 

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!!!

Remember the days when speaking about  AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint referred to talking about companies that ran your home phone systems.  All supplied through copper lines.  Well, those days appear to be coming to an end.  Now when we speak of these corporations, we are usually referring to suppliers of our mobile phone services.  In fact the other day while addressing a Goldman Sachs Investor Conference, Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg, stated that Verizon was simply no longer concerned with phones connected with wires.  Instead Verizon has spent billions on developing it’s fiber optic networks, known as FiOS.  In fact Verizon has been selling off it’s small rural area operations.  With FiOS, Verizon has the ability to deliver voice, video, and internet services.  Because of this, many of us have forgone our land lines in lieu of mobile services and VoiP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services like Skype and Vonage.  Both Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T, and Ed Mueller, head of Qwest Communications, have stated that they would like to see the day when their land line services would stop shrinking. But I seriously doubt that those days are ever going to stage a come back. Copper wire is simply doomed to become obsolete and abandoned. So, with our mobile devices becoming more and more powerful and computer like, does this open up the opportunity for these companies to dictate what we are able to view and do on these devices?  Well, it appears that it has already occurred and will become more and more prevelant in the future.  Apple has already denied many applications from running on their iPhones, most notably the Google Voice application that recently has been all over the news.  Google Voice is an application which allows users to tie all of their phones to one phone number, provided by Google.  It also allows users to manage their accounts on the internet.  I have been using it and it works really well.

In steps the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as they are already investigating the reasons as to why Apple denied Google the ability to run their application on the iPhone.  The FCC is becoming more involved in guaranteeing Net Neutrality, which would deny ISP’s from serving preferential bandwidth to customers who have the ability to pay.  It would also deny the ISP’s to limit bandwidth based on what the end user is doing with it.  We have seen this as many ISP’s are placing bandwidth caps on their services, thus limiting what the end user can do on the internet.  Why is this occurring?  Well, with sites like Hulu and Sling appearing on the internet, devices like the Roku box and the Apple TV, and services like Netflix allowing end users to get their television entertainment right off the internet, it creates a real corrundrum for these ISP’s whom also provide cable TV services at a premium.  If customers can get their internet from them, and then get all of their television programming from the internet, it does away with the need for premium priced cable TV services.

Tomorrow, Monday 9/21, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to announce his plan to formalize Net Neutrality rules, at a speech given at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC.  What is expected is a formal set of rules that will stop ISP’s from dictating what end users can and cannot do with their internet service.  This is something that President Obama promised during his election campaign and has endorsed since election.

If this becomes a reality, it is a huge victory for the end user.  We will no longer be limited to getting our television via cable, but will now be able to use the internet exclusively.  I know that my cable supplier will not allow me to get internet service without getting their cable service also.  Hopefully, this will change all that.

What are your thoughts about all of this??

***UPDATE***

On Monday the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski presented his ideas regarding Net Neutrality, an issue that was brought to the forefront during President Obama’s presidential campaign. This is something that President Obama has fought for and endorsed throughout his campaign and still does as president.  Now that the speech has been presented, let’s review what was actually said.

The Chairman went much further than suggesting to create laws the prohibit Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) from filtering and blocking content based on the content, but also to expand this to include all wireless services also (ie. cell phones, smart devices, etc.).

The Chairman stated that the Four Freedoms of the internet introduced by, then Chairman, Michael Powell in 2004, should remain in tact.  These freedoms are as follows:

1) Freedom to Access Content – Users should have the right to access legal content of their choice.

2) Freedom to Use Applications – Users should have the right to access the application of their choice.

3) Freedom to Attach Personal Devices – The User should have the right to attach the personal device of their choice.

4) Freedom to Obtain Service Plan Information – To ensure that broadband consumers can easily obtain the information they need to make rational choices among an ever-expanding array of different pricing and service plans.

To see these plans in more detail, click HERE….

But now Chairman Genachowski added two more Freedoms to the original four that were submitted by Michael Powell in 2004.  And these two are huge…

5) Non- Discrimination – Direct quote from Chairman Genachowski “stating that broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular Internet content or applications. This means they cannot block or degrade lawful traffic over their networks, or pick winners by favoring some content or applications over others in the connection to subscribers’ homes. Nor can they disfavor an Internet service just because it competes with a similar service offered by that broadband provider. The Internet must continue to allow users to decide what content and applications succeed.”

6) Transparency – Chairman Genachowski stated “providers of broadband Internet access must be transparent about their network management practices. Why does the FCC need to adopt this principle? The Internet evolved through open standards. It was conceived as a tool whose user manual would be free and available to all. But new network management practices and technologies challenge this original understanding. Today, broadband providers have the technical ability to change how the Internet works for millions of users — with profound consequences for those users and content, application, and service providers around the world.”

In October the Chairman and the 5 Commissioners are set to sit down and finalize the rules governing these principals.  Once these are approved and ratified, it will change a lot of how we will be able the access the things that we want on the internet.  The ISP’s will no longer be able to hand-cuff the end user and filter the information by putting restrictions on bandwidth.  This will be a huge victory for the end user.

To read the the prepared remarks for the speech given today by Chairman Genachowski…….Click HERE……

What are your thoughts regarding “Net Neutrality”……Click Comments