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New Internet scams that can
leave you out of pocket
iPod scam
Does an advertisement sound too good to be true?
That's because it probably is! Still, the pyramid
schemes never fail to attract some foolhardy people.
Pyramid schemes that supposedly bring you cheap
equipment can really leave you out of pocket.This
became known as the iPod scam simply because that's
the piece of equipment most often used as bait. The
player is small, desirable and fairly expensive, so
the opportunity to get one for free or for as little
as $20 is very attractive. You'll find the offer on
an auction site or advertised via spam. What's being
sold is information, not the item itself. There's
nothing to stop anyone from selling a document and
so the advert simply makes the document sound
tempting. The classic example of this kind of scheme
is typified by the newspaper ad that said 'Get rich
quick!! Send $5 for full instructions.' Fuelled by
greed, the victim duly sent off the money, figuring
that it was an amount that he or she could afford to
lose. Back came a document explaining that the way
to get rich quick is to place a newspaper ad that
says 'Get rich quick!! Send $5 for full
instructions.' The iPod scam is a little more
sophisticated, but it still involves recruiting
others to your cause. Details vary, but the usual
form is that you're asked to get five or ten friends
to sign up for particular offers or to buy a
product. They, in turn, do the same with their own
circle of friends. In theory, you eventually gain
enough credit with the scheme to get your free
equipment. In practice, the organizer of the scam
receives lots of free marketing and often quite a
lot of money into the bargain, but you're unlikely
to manage to earn an iPod without making them very
rich indeed. You might be better off saving up for
an iPod instead.
Web sites that you don't want to see.
Lots of internet users constantly fall in these
type of internet website. some even install unsafe
add-ons to your Internet Explorer without your
knowledge. These scams are constantly evolving and
so you need a program that will keep up to date to
remove it.
Spybot S&D is a good option, as is
Lavasoft's
Ad-Aware SE. Spybot is freely available but it isn't
strictly freeware. Its development and support costs
need to be raised from somewhere and therefore
donations are encouraged. Head to
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
to learn more about the program and to find download
links.
The program works in a similar way to an anti-virus
utility. It scans your PC for known spyware,
checking it against a list of signature files.
You'll need to regularly update this list to stay
protected. To do this, select Update from the
options on the left-hand side of the main program
window and click Search for Updates to find and
download updated components. If any are found,
choose to download and install them.
To run a scan, choose Search and Destroy and click
Check for problems. Those identified by Spybot are
arranged in groups as they are found. Click the plus
sign next to a group to view all the items within
it. Items selected with a tick are slated for
removal. With all the items you want to remove
ticked, click Fix Selected Problems.
Spybot also enables you to protect your computer
against future Spyware infections. Choose Immunize
to find potential vulnerabilities in your system.
Fix these by clicking the Immunize button marked
with a green cross. This blocks known unsafe add-ons
to Internet Explorer.
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