Mortgage Casualties Flocking to the NFCC for Free Assistance!

There hasn't been a whole lot of good news on the economic front in recent weeks and the mortgage crisis has inspired our politicians to mortgage our grandchildren's future. Ironically, most of the experts believe it all started with what is being called the "mortgage crisis."

Even worse, the average person is merely a hostage in the equation because, without the bailouts, there is little doubt it would cause more pain and suffering for the common person. Still it's pretty disgusting to see corporate suit types getting millions of dollars in bonuses and showing up in Washington with their hands out after failing in their jobs. So far, we haven't seen much help for the people funding this massive bail-out, but if you look hard enough, there are a few places where an average person can get a little help free-of-charge.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) is one of the few places helping the little people dig out of the mess that has been created by, in my opinion, a few greedy people. The NFCC is getting busier all the time, registering 70 percent more calls for help than they did last year in October. For the year, they are registering 30 percent more calls. Sadly, this statistic might reflect that more people are reaching out for help.

The NFCC has been around since 1951 and is considered the longest serving national nonprofit credit counseling organization. They provide free financial advice at over 850 offices located throughout the country. Consumers can take a Mortgages Reality CheckSM, a self-assessment test that determines one's risk of foreclosure. Year to date, statistics reflect a 33 percent increase in people taking this test. Even worse, those showing up in the red danger zone have increased 15 percent compared to last year. Statistics also reveal that the number of people seeking counseling from the NFCC has grown 63 percent over last year.

If you were to go by these statistics, the mortgage crisis is getting worse. To rise to the challenge, the NFCC has increased the staff of NFCC-Certified Credit Counselors 10 percent (almost 2,600). They have also increased the number of NFCC-Certified Housing Counselors by 25 percent.

“Arguably, we’re living in the worst economic times of our lifetime. Consumers are smart to reach out for help, and doing so sooner rather than later is always preferable. Whatever your financial problem may be, you do not have to go through it alone,” according to Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the NFCC.

The NFCC can help people online, or by calling (800) 388-2227. For a Spanish-speaking counselor, call (800) 682-9832. Their website also has a Spanish version.

Telephone Call Offering to Lower Interest Rate is a Scam!

Cheap long distance, the ability to spoof caller ID and the credit crisis are being used to facilitate a scam called vishing. Although telephone (telemarketing) scams are nothing new, the term vishing probably came about because advances in telephone technology are being used to depart unsuspecting people of their hard-earned money.

The term vishing was coined from the word phishing. Internet scammers phish the waters of the Internet using spam e-mail as bait. Once a person falls for their "too good to be true" lure -- personal and financial information is stolen using social engineering (trickery) or malicious software designed to data-mine the information right off the infected machine. The personal and financial information is then used to commit financial crimes, which is often referred to as identity theft.

In the past week, I've received several calls where a computerized voice informs me that the offer to lower my interest rate is almost over. It then says to press "1" if I want to lower my interest rate.

I went ahead and pressed the number "1" to see what this "too good to be true" offer was all about. After a few seconds, a female voice came on and asked me if I was interested in lowering my interest rate. I told her I was and she asked me for the 800 number of my financial institution so she could verify my eligibility. Since this is public information, I went ahead and gave one to an institution, I no longer do business with. While I was digging up the number on the Internet, she made a lot of inquires about how many lines of credit I was behind on. After providing her with the 800 number, she asked me to give her all the credit card numbers that I wanted to lower the interest rate on.

At this point, I had very little doubt I was dealing with a scam designed to steal credit card numbers. At no point did she identify a financial institution -- and besides that -- no financial institution would make a cold call and ask for credit card numbers. Additionally, when was the last time a financial institution offered to lower an interest rate to an existing customer unless they were being bailed out by the government (taxpayer)?

I asked if she felt good about ripping people off and if I could speak to her supervisor. Of course, I was never referred to a supervisor and after cursing at me, she hung up. Trust me, from the vulgar language that was expressed, this call was not being recorded for training purposes!

In the past couple of years, we've seen reports of vishing. In the case, I'm writing about a dialer system is obviously being used. Dialers are used by collection agencies, telemarketing companies, political campaigns and even charities to direct calls to live employees. Basically, dialers screen the calls via computer to make the process more efficient.

Having never priced one, I decided to see what Google had to offer. I found them to be rather inexpensive starting at a mere few hundred dollars. There were also options to use already set-up systems on a cost-per-call basis.

Caller-ID spoofing services can be purchased legally and are used by a lot of legitimate companies to entice us to pick up calls. Because of this, it is probably wise not to put your faith in caller-ID.

Some blame VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology for vishing. VoIP has made calling long distance cheap.

So far as where the victim lists are obtained, they can be easily purchased. My phone number has been unlisted for over 20 years, but information brokers data-mine information from every source imaginable, including magazine subscriptions. Since these lists are worth money, companies who gather information routinely sell the marketing information they gather on all of us. It also isn't unknown for dishonest employees to sell information directly to criminals. Often this is done right on the Internet in chat rooms, which keeps the transaction fairly anonymous.

Recently, the FBI announced that they stung an Internet forum used to sell stolen information known as Dark Market. At it's peak, the group had 2500 registered members and it is estimated that they prevented losses of $70 million (worldwide) by cracking this case.

Even the IRS and Social Security have been impersonated in the past two years in vishing schemes.

InsideCRM magazine recently published an article detailing 50 ways to protect your privacy. This magazine represents the call center industry and has a stake in fighting vishing activity, which gives legitimate e-commerce a black eye. If you (like a lot of us) enjoy the hassle-free environment shopping at home, the article is a great educational resource.

The U.S. government has also set up a highly visual and interactive site to educate people about crimes being enabled by technology. Please note this site is available in Espanol, also.

While both of these sites are designed to cover computer security issues in addition to telecom type scams, we need to remember that a lot of these scams probably started before telephones or computers made them easier to do, as well as, more efficient.

Scams rely on human emotion and greed. Knowing this is the best way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim. The "too good to be true" principle coupled with "does the transaction make sense" is the best way to figure out whether an offer is legitimate or NOT!

Microsoft is NOT the Biggest Hacker in China!

Chinese surfers are crying foul at Microsoft's launch of the "Windows Genuine Advantage Program," which turns a screen black when it detects pirated software. It is believed up to 200 million computer users in China have counterfeit software on their machines.

China is well-known for being involved in the knock-off trade, as well as, selling dangerous and defective products in the global economy. The news has had a lot of stories about them censoring the Internet, violating user privacy and being involved in hacking on an industrial scale.

Ironically, Dhong Zengwhi, a Bejing lawyer, accused Microsoft of being the "biggest hacker in China with its intrusion into users' computer systems without their agreement or any judicial authority," according to the China Daily. His argument is that this will cause serious functional damage to users' computers and according to China's criminal law, Microsoft could be accused of breaching and hacking into computer systems. Zengwhi has filed a complaint with the Chinese government about this.

Does this mean Microsoft won't be able to out-source work to China?

I wonder if Mr. Zengwhi's opinion was when it was revealed that the Chinese were data-mining the communications of Tom-Skype users? Tom-Skype is the Chinese version of the popular Skype software, which allows people to communicate worldwide using the Internet.

Privacy violations in China aren't limited to Tom-Skype communications, either. During the recent Olympic games, the government openly monitored Internet communications, using the excuse of security to justify what many believe was censorship.

The allegation that Microsoft is the biggest hacker in China is questionable. Governments from all over the world have accused the Chinese of hacking into their systems and it isn't considered safe to carry a laptop, or even a smart-phone when visiting China. Recently, there was speculation that Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez had his laptop hacked during a visit to China.

In fact, if you follow the news, the theft of intellectual property is often traced to the Chinese. The FBI has caught numerous Chinese agents stealing a lot of private and government information in the recent past.

Pirated software is a huge problem in the global economy. It is estimated that one third of all software being sold is counterfeit. A large percentage of the software sold on auction and even e-commerce sites is counterfeit, also. It isn't unknown for a consumer to think they are getting legitimate software when they are not.

Besides costing jobs and revenue to legitimate firms -- knock-off software can damage a machine, or even lead to information theft when malicious software is added to the mix.

I'm sorry that that certain people in China are outraged by Microsoft's solution to the theft of their property, but let's face it, they are hardly the biggest hacker in China.

Yahoo Software Engineer Accused of using Hacking Techniques in Terrorist Bomb Plots

In July, an Islamic terrorist group sent e-mail messages claiming responsibility for bombings in Indian cities before the acts took place. The messages were sent by hacking into unsecured wireless networks and one suspect in the case has been identified as software engineer, Mohammed Asghar Mansoor Peerbhoy, who is a Yahoo employee.

Peerbhoy allegedly made several work related trips to the U.S., while employed by Yahoo. It is alleged that he, along with two other Indian software engineers, were part of a media terror cell. One of the engineers has been identified as Atiq Iqbal and Mobin Kader Chaikh and Asif Basrudding Shaikh have been named as the techie connections in the case. One worked for an IT firm and the other was a qualified mechanical engineer. Fifteen people have been arrested in the case thus far.

One of the emails which the hackers sent can be viewed on deshgujarat.com.

The Times of India alleged that Peerbhoy admitted in an interrogation to attending a hacking course, where two foreigners were present. This was an ethical hacking course designed for training internet security workers. Ethical hacking courses are offered all over the place and given that India is part of the global economy, the tie between foreigners and terrorist activity is questionable.

The Indian authorities are stating that the wireless networks were hacked using a fairly well-known technique often referred to as wardriving. Once they secured an unsecured network (pardon the pun), they programmed the e-mails to be sent shortly before the blasts, according to the authorities.

Wardriving is a pretty simple hacking method where someone drives around until they find an unsecured signal. Most wireless cards have the capability of sniffing out available networks. Once an unsecured network is found - getting on it normally only requires the click of a mouse. Teen age hackers are known to engage in this activity for fun. In most cases, any wireless network can be made "hacker proof" by simply password protecting by using the instructions you get when you buy the router. Wardriving has recently been made a felony in the United States.

This story illustrates that you don't have to be very sophisticated to commit crime or terrorism with a computer. Quite often, pretty simple techniques can equate to devastating results. Much more sophisticated do-it-yourself hacking kits, which sometimes come with technical support, are easily obtained on the Internet black market.

Saying that, the end result in this case is tragic.

India has suffered a rash of bombings in recent history. The specific terrorist group behind the incidents in question is known as the Indian Mujahideen, known locally as the IM. It is believed to be affiliated with another Indian terrorist group known as Student Islamic Group of India (SIMI). The Indian government suspects SIMI has been penetrated by Al Qaeda.

Initial arrests in this case were made when Indian authorities tracked down suspects in the case after discovering cell phone numbers the group used and investigating them.