As technology becomes more advance, the hackers, and scam artists become wiser and more devious. This is why we need to be even more aware of our safety online.
Thomas Taylor, from America who is one half of eCard scam artist team, has finally been caught and sentenced for his crimes. Taylor, from Connecticut used fake e-Cards to spread ‘malware’ (a type of software that is used to infiltrate your computer system with nasty viruses, and ruin your computer) to thousands of AOL users. Taylor was sentenced to four years probation for his role in the malware-powered ID theft scam, and ordered to pay $33,714 in restitution to those who fell victim to the plot.
Four years prior to September 2006, Taylor and his associates used malware to trick AOL customers into handing over sensitive financial information. Firstly, AOL members were sent spam e-Cards that claimed they were from legitimate electronic greetings card companies such as Hallmark.com and Bluemountian.com. By opening this e-Card, members were unwittingly giving these fraudsters financial information and therefore vulnerable to having their accounts cleaned out. The brains behind the scam artists, Michael Dolan, was sentenced to 84 months imprisonment.
Luckily these two were caught, but there are plenty more fraudsters out there, the trick is being able to spot the difference between a real ecard and a fake.
The help section on our site is a good place to start on learning all about online greetings cards and the difference between real and fakes. It is important to know what a real ecard looks like, and how it should appear in your inbox. A good rule to always remember is that if you don’t know the person in the “from field” then best to not open, just hit ‘delete’ instead. Check out the helpful hints on our site and learn how to spot a real e-Card from a fake.
If in doubt and you need advice then contact us and we shall help out as best we can.
