Security Fix
Brian Krebs on Computer Security
Katrina Phishing Scams Begins

It was bound to happen.On a hunch that we might see phishing scams popping up that take advantage of the terrible destruction that Hurricane Katrina has wrought on the Gulf Coast, I started looking up new Web address registrations for possible scam sites. In just a few minutes, I stumbled upon Katrinahelp.com, which claims to be a donation site for Katrina victims but was almost certainly constructed to steal Paypal usernames and passwords.

The DNS records have very little information on the registrant, which should be the first red flag. The only information in the DNS record is a P.O. box address registered to one "Demon Moon."

What's more, when you click on the "donate" link on the site, you are taken to a Web site designed to look just like Paypal.com. Only problem is that if you visit the site in Firefox, you will see that the Web address in the URL field is still Katrinahelp.com, when it should be Paypal.com.

Maybe this site tries to pull some tricks to manipulate what you see in that window if you visit the page with Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, but I don't know. I haven't tried it yet. My advice would be to just stay away from this site altogether. I am sure the authorities will have it shuttered soon anyhow.

And then something just like it will popup somewhere else and no doubt someone will fall for it.


Folks stick with Charities you KNOW and it might be best NOT to click on any links you get in emails or elsewhere. Just copy and paste the address.The Red Cross can be trusted, but to be consistent with my former advice here is the URL to copy and paste. ;-)

http://www.redcross.org/

Much other good trustwoorty information here

hurricane katrina -- flood aid--Instapundit Roundup

UPDATE: I just got paid tonight so I kicked off donations to the Red Cross from this site.

If you want to join in, use the links above to make the donation and Report your donation on The Truth Laid Bear Website with

This Link

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