Fraud Alerts!

January 2009

Virus threat, confirmed on snopes

This one is a real threat.

Bad new computer bug -- 
There is a new computer bug going around that claims to be Barack  
Obama's acceptance speech.  It was started by a bunch of criminals  
in the  Ukraine    All it will do is send them all your pertinent  
information.   If you receive an E-mail claiming to be Barack  
Obama's acceptance speech DO NOT OPEN IT.  DELETE IT  
IMMEDIATELY!   Spread this around to everyone you know.   

It is true and has been validated on the Snopes Web Site.
Snopes confirms it's real. See  

 http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/obamaspeech.asp 

Jury Duty Scam!

This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below).
Please pass this on to everyone in your email address book. It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic
duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for you r Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information
and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.

The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado. This (swindle) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving
information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

October 12,2008

Community Anti-Terrorism Training Institute
 
CAT Eyes

“Help Protecting America with Pride not Prejudice”

COMMUNITY ANTI-TERRORISM TRAINING                                           

DETECTING TERRORISM Part 22

Operational Cell: The Operational cells are the terrorist that actually perform some of the operations. They are into para-military type of tactics.  You see your neighbor heading out early Saturday morning.  He is wearing camouflaged pants, military jump boots and is loading some military gear into his car.  Is this an indicator of someone into terrorism? Potentially yes, however he could also be a member of the National Guard.  Here are some better indicators of terrorism.

Kidnapping / Assassination
Skyjacking/Marjacking
Weapons of Mass Destruction  
                                                       

SURVIVAL        Shelter in Place Checklist – Part 1 A
The following suggestions were taken from the Red Cross (www.redcross.org) Web Site an excellent place for all types of information.

• Close and lock all windows and exterior doors
• If there is danger of explosion, close windows shades, blinds, or curtains
• Turn off all fans, heating and air conditioning systems.  If in a larger building, have janitorial staff or someone familiar with building’s mechanical system turn off all fans from the buildings heating and air conditioning system.  Close the fire damper.
• Get your disaster supplies kit and make sure the radio is working.

LATEST THREATS:     OCT 5, 2007 – DHS – The United States government threat level for all domestic and international flights remains at Code Orange or High for all domestic and international flights.

While there continues to be no credible information at this time warning of an imminent threat to our homeland, the department's strategic threat perspective is that we are in a period of increased risk. The National Intelligence Estimate cited heightened activity overseas and we're mindful of the recent arrests in Europe. There has also been an upward trend in propaganda tapes and messages coming from al Qaeda and affiliated networks over the past year.

HISTORY                      OCT 9, 1989 - Ten bombs go off in two Colombian cities, injuring 32. The bombs coincide with the visit of a senior US Army officer on talks about drug control.

OCT 9, 1995 - An Amtrak Sunset Limited train is derailed by anti-government saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona. One person is killed and 78 are injured.

OCT 11, 1985 - Arab anti-discrimination group leader Alex Odeh is killed when a bomb explodes in his Santa Ana, California office.

HISTORY Continued

OCT 12, 1958 - October 12: Bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple Atlanta, Georgia suspicion done by white racists.

OCT 12, 2000 - A suicide bomb attack on the U.S. destroyer USS Cole in Yemen killed 17 sailors.

OCT 12, 2003 - A bomb destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people, many of them foreign tourists. Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda were blamed.

OCT 14, 1998 - Eric Robert Rudolph, one of FBI's 10 most-wanted fugitives, was charged with the bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

OCT 14, 2001 - Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office was quarantined after an anthrax-tainted letter was opened.

QUOTE:                        "Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor."
James Allen

June 27, 2008

Woman Gets Two Years for Aiding Nigerian Internet Check Scam (PC World)

• Posted on Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:30PM EDT
• Add articles about technology to your My Yahoo! 

- A Washington woman was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in prison and five years of supervised release for her role in an Internet counterfeit check scheme.

Edna Fiedler pleaded guilty in March to attempting to defraud U.S. citizens in a scheme known as a Nigerian check scam.

Fiedler helped her accomplices in Nigeria send fake checks to people who had agreed to cash the checks on behalf of the sender, keeping some of the proceeds and sending the rest back.

The Nigerians found people willing to cash the fake checks via e-mail. They would send their names as well as fake documents that looked like Wal-Mart money orders, Bank of America checks, U.S. Postal Service checks and American Express traveler's checks to Fiedler. They told her how to fill out the checks and where to send them.

The recipients most likely thought they were helping out someone who needed a person in the U.S. to cash a check for them, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. They were able to get the money by cashing the checks, and sent most of it to either Fiedler or her Nigerian accomplices. However, once the checks were discovered to be fake, the people who cashed them were responsible for the full amount.

All told, Fiedler sent out US$609,000 worth of phony checks and money orders. When U.S. Secret Service agents investigating the case searched Fiedler's house, they found additional fake checks worth more than $1.1 million that she was preparing to send out.

At a recent conference in Seattle, a representative from the U.S. Postal Service and Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna described ways they're working to shut down these kinds of scams, particularly because they often involve people who don't realize that they're taking part in illegal activities.

The U.S. Postal Service recently sent 15 postal investigators to Lagos, Nigeria, and during a three-month period there, they helped intercept counterfeit checks, lottery tickets and eBay overpayment schemes with a face value of $2.1 billion, Chris Siouris, a cyber investigator at the U.S. Postal Inspector, said at the recent conference. Siouris, McKenna and others are pushing for ways to better educate Internet users so that people don't unwittingly help out in these kinds of e-mail scams.