SPOOFING
This Ain't No Old-Fashioned Flim-Flam.
Remember those classic scam scenes from old movies like The Sting? You know the ones—when a couple of enterprising young crooks create a completely believable, artificial world. A world involving elaborate sets, costumes, and actors—all designed to cheat a wealthy "mark" out of his fortunes.
Well spoofing is the new, 21st century, Web version of that very same scam. Only it's easier—no sets, no costumes, no actors required. Instead, all someone has to do is create an alternate Internet. It looks just like the usual Internet, except for one important fact. Someone else is controlling the whole thing. Someone else is watching everything you do on your computer.
Crooks Use the Internet, Too.
You send an online order; it goes to a crook before he sends it on to its intended target. You receive a confirmation; the crook has already reviewed it and sent it on to you. At each step along the way, the crook can take or change any information—credit card numbers, shipping addresses, billing addresses—all can be manipulated to suit the whims of the scam artist.
No matter the scope, it is often difficult to detect. But there are things you can do to protect yourself. Always make sure your connection to the Internet is with a trusted company that has proven security measures in place.
And be sure to pay attention to the links you visit. Do URLs that appear in the status bar at the bottom of your Web browser seem suspicious? Are they going directly to the location you expect them to? If they all go to the same, unknown domain name—that has nothing to do with the target site's domain name—someone may be spoofing you.
If you suspect you're being spoofed, consider talking to your ISP or other professional involved in managing your connection to the Internet. They can help you determine how best to proceed.
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