Stealth Email

Cyber criminals are again on their way to find their next victims through phishing scams. This time, they are using the government’s economic stimulus plan to lure their victims. Recently, there are circulating emails promising people economic-stimulus package payments. But of course, this is just a bait. The scammers want to phish for important information from people, probably to commit more crimes. The scammers provide a link to a certain website that requires one’s personal information.

Actions against phishing

Alerted with this new scam, the US-CERT encourages people to report once they have received this phishing email. The US-CERT also provides instructions on how to put a stop to the spreading of this cyber crime. Number one on the list of US-CERT instruction is to avoid following the web links from unsolicited emails. Another is to learn how to identify phishing emails. The US-CERT provides detailed information on how to recognize and avoid phishing scams. The agency also gives guidelines on how to report cyber crimes.

Why people take the phishing bait

Phishing email is said to be one of the rampant and one of the most dangerous scams. Although Internet users are well aware that phishing scams are not at all uncommon online, there are still quite a large number of people who fall for phishing scams. One reason is that it is easy for scammers to harvest the email addresses of their victims. The scammers are also adept in making believably authentic websites. Aside from these, the economic crisis today makes various people vulnerable to the phishing bait that scammers set.

Last month, there was a large-scale phishing attack on banks and credit unions according to the Federal Reserve Bank. Because of this, the US Department of Treasury restricted federal wire transfers. This news, of course, caused various people to panic. However, the news was actually a bogus one. There was no actual phishing attack the happened. Aside from this, the federal wire transfers worked smoothly. The news was actually a hoax, and a believable one.

What are the motives in perpetrating bogus news

There are various of reasons cyber criminals spread email hoaxes. For one, they enjoy the fact that they’ve created some sort of commotion. In the case of the hoax on Federal Reserve Bank, the purpose may be more serious than that. The cyber criminal or cyber organization responsible for this fraudulent mail may want to spread dangerous software. The bogus news update actually contains a link leading to a pornographic site that has a trojan malware.

How can you avoid hoax email

One of the first and most important steps that you should do to avoid hoax is to learn how to identify one. It is important that you keep a critical eye when reading controversial messages. It is also necessary that you avoid clicking the links in a site, especially if you are not certain whether the site is authentic or not. If you want to visit the site to verify information, it is best that you type the URL in the browser instead of clicking links. Through this, you can easily avoid the automatically installing malware.

Email hoaxes that find their way to a person’s email address are too numerous to count. Though Internet users handled lots of email hoaxes in the past, still a new one that reaches the inbox alerts many online users. With todays sophisticated types of malware and virus, it is not surprising that Internet users take some hoaxes seriously.

Glad it was just a hoax

Receiving a message stating that you have been infected by a virus when you opened a specific email, for instance, can cause you to worry. But the moment you found out that the email is a hoax, you may feel a surge of relief. But this hoax should not be taken lightly. Hoaxes can be as dangerous as a virus and malware. For instance, a circulating hoax claims to be infected with a virus and states that the instant that you receive that same message, a virus will infect your program as well, so you have to delete your files. If you take this seriously, just imagine the damage this hoax will inflict on you.

How to spot an email hoax

It is not bad to be skeptical about every email that enters your mail box; however, it is an advantage if you evaluate the email carefully before making any move. When you open an email, watch out if the message commands you to forward it to others; this is the most common feature of many hoaxes. Be skeptical also of emails that strongly assert that they are not  hoaxes; most of the time, they are. Last, before passing judgment, you have to analyze the email critically.

The email is among the best tools in marketing today. For one, sending advertisement through email is cost effective; email marketing actually costs less than the standard means of promoting a product. Aside from this, there is quite a large number of Internet users. Just two years ago, comScore Networks reported that there are almost 700 million Internet users. And you can expect that the number has increased a great deal since comScore Networks made this announcement. So, just imagine the number of people that email marketing can access.

Why there’s a need to grab attention

There are, however, lots of organizations and companies that abuse the concept of email marketing. Instead of asking the Internet users for permission to be the recipients of product advertisements, some companies actually flood email accounts with spams or unsolicited emails. Because of this, there are many people who give a critical eye on emails containing advertisements. Some people delete email marketing messages without even bothering to read them. This is why if you want to advertise a certain product, you have to grab the attention of the Internet users by making your email as appealing as possible.

Making an attention-grabbing email marketing campaign

The first factor that you should consider to make an appealing email marketing campaign is to determine your target audience. You also have to consider the product that you are going to promote. There are tools that can actually help you come up with more creative advertisements. Among these tools are software programs that could help you make appealing email marketing campaigns. An example is a software for creating animated audio emails.

There are instances when you feel that you need to report someone for committing a crime, yet you are afraid to do so. Sending your message anonymously might be the best option available for you. When you send anonymous emails, you will not be putting yourself at risk. Reporting crime is not the only event in which sending anonymous email plays an important role. Sending email anonymously can also aid you in identifying your friends as well as your enemies. Anonymous emails are also great if you want to have fun and send prank email to your peers.

How to send anonymous emails

One of the most popular methods to send an email without giving away your email address is by sending an email through a remailer. A remailer is a machine that forwards your email to your intended recipients, removing first any indication that the message came from you. The remailer uses a special software that would remove your IP or replaces it with a fake one. The remailer that replaces the name of the sender is called a “pseudonymous” remailer. There is also the “cypherpunk” remailer. In this type, the email address is completely removed. This type of remailer is safer because the machine does not keep logs of transactions.

Controversies regarding anonymous email

Some people are against the use of remailers and other tools or methods in anonymously sending messages, because these can actually be exploited by scammers and hackers. This can also be used to spread terrorism online. However, there are still various people who see remailers as useful tools for whistle-blowers and for those who want to expose controversies.