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E-Mail Warning
Phishing Scams Are On
The Rise
An ever-increasing number of "phishing" scams are targeting
online consumers each month. In fact, such scams are said to have
risen by an average of 50% a month during the first half of this
year alone! The term "phishing," also referred to as "brand
spoofing," or "carding," is a variation of the word "fishing" -- the
idea being that "bait" is thrown out with the hopes that while most
people will ignore the "bait," some will be tempted into
biting.
Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to an
Internet user and falsely claiming to be an established legitimate
enterprise with the intent of scamming the user into surrendering
confidential information that will then be used for identity theft.
Here's how a typical phishing scam works:
A con artist sends
a bogus e-mail message to a list of e-mail addresses. The phony spam
e-mail message purports to be from a bank, for instance, and asks
the e-mail recipient to provide account information to assist the
bank in its efforts to crack down on identity theft. The e-mail
message is usually very authentic looking and includes company logos
and copyright information. These messages typically state something
about the recipient's account being temporarily suspended if account
information is not provided. A link is provided within the e-mail
message which takes the consumer to an official-looking Web site.
The site asks for personal information such as account numbers, pin
numbers, social security numbers, birth dates, etc. Participation in
the scam by the consumer results in identity theft -- and bad
consequences.
Businesses that are commonly targeted by
"phishers" include banks, credit card companies, brokerage firms,
eBay, PayPal, Internet service providers, as well as a variety of
online retail e-commerce sites.
How To Avoid Getting
Hooked By Phishing Scams
1.
Legitimate companies don't ask for financial or personal
information via e-mail. If you get an e-mail or pop-up message
that asks for this type of information, do not reply or click on
the link in the message. If you are questioning the legitimacy of
an e-mail regarding your account, contact the organization in the
e-mail using a telephone number you know to be genuine.
2. NEVER send personal or financial information via
e-mail. E-mail is not a secure method of transmitting personal
information.
3. Initiate online transactions by
typing in the organization's Web address into your browser's
Address Bar rather than clicking on a link provided within an
e-mail message that supposedly takes you to the organization's
site. Con artists can spoof an organization's Web address shown on
an e-mail message's link and send you to a bogus site instead.
4. When you are asked to provide personal or
financial information through an organization's Web site, be sure
to look for indicators that the site is secure like a padlock icon
on the browser's status bar or a Web address that begins with
"https:" (the "s" stands for "secure"). Be sure to follow #3 above
before doing this step.
5. Review bank account and
credit card statements as soon as you receive them to determine
whether there are any unauthorized charges.
Be sure to report any suspicious activity to the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC). If you receive spam that is fraudulently phishing
for information, forward the message to spam@uce.gov.
If you believe
you've been scammed by a phishing scheme, file your complaint at http://www.ftc.gov, and then visit the
FTC's Identity Theft Web site at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft.
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Monthly Statements Available
Online
Simplify Your Life With e-Statements
 Cannon Communications now
features online versions of our monthly statements - absolutely
free! The electronic statement, or e-Statement contains all of the
same account information as a paper statement except that it's
delivered online instead of through the mail.
Certified
Security
All e-Statement transactions are encrypted for
security and take place on our VeriSign-certified secure server. A
personally selected user name and password are required to access
your account.
E-Statements provide you:
- The ability to
view, print and save statements.
- Secure access to previous 12
months of statements, 24 hours a day.
- The freedom to choose to
have your monthly statement paid by credit card or automatic
checking account withdrawal.
How Do I Activate My
e-Statement?
It's easy! Complete a one-time registration
process that includes a personally selected ID and password, then
start enjoying the benefits of paperless billing.
To begin,
go to https://estatement.hectorcom.com/canon/,
then click "Register Now."
Want to know more?
For
answers to all of your questions regarding our online e-Statements,
visit our FAQs page (http://www.cannoncommunications.net/estatement-faqs.htm)
or contact a customer service consultant at 651-385-0877.
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Ask The Help Desk
How Do I Know Which
Service Packs Have Been Installed On My Computer?
Question: My computer uses Microsoft's Windows
XP Home Edition as its operating system. I have automatic updates
set up but how do I know if the new Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been
installed on my computer?
Answer: If you
are curious to find out which service packs or software updates have
been installed on your PC running Windows XP Home Edition, do the
following:
1) Click your
cursor arrow on the "START" menu located at the bottom left of
your screen. Click on "My Computer" from the resulting pop-up
menu.
2) When the "My Computer" screen appears, you will
see a list of items along the left side. Click on "View system
information." The "System Properties" screen will then appear.
3) Click on the "General" tab and you will see all of your
system information listed including which version of Windows you
are running and which service packs have been
installed.
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Great Sites To Check Out This
Month
The Rebel Billionaire: Branson's Quest For The Best TV
Show
http://www.fox.com/rebelbillionaire/
- Donald Trump's ego just got some new competition. Britain's Sir
Richard Branson, billionaire and founder of Virgin Records, Virgin
Airlines, and over 300 other Virgin-related companies, debuts this
month in his own reality TV series. In a format similar to The
Donald's popular The Apprentice TV series, sixteen American
entrepreneurs are jetted to destinations around the globe where
their leadership skills are tested. Each week one contestant is left
behind on the tarmac as the rest of the group flies off to the next
adventure. The winner receives Branson's job and one million
dollars!
Delicious Holiday Recipes
http://epicurious.com/ - Are you
looking for a variety of great new recipes to try this holiday
season? Then head over to what this site calls "The World's Greatest
Recipe Collection." The recipe section has a "Search Spy" link which
gives you a peephole look into the ten most recent terms typed into
the site's recipe search box. The terms are refreshed every fifteen
seconds with a new set of ten terms. It might give you some great
ideas for something new to try. How about a platter of lime and
coconut shrimp with red curry sauce to go with your turkey?
Online Owner's Manuals
http://livemanuals.com/ - So it's
time to reset the clock on your VCR but you can't find your owner's
manual. Not to worry. This useful site makes online owner's manuals
available for hundreds of different products -- everything from
photography equipment to electronics. You can search the site's
database by the type of product or by the manufacturer. The Web site
also includes a live simulation showroom with an audio feature that
reads step-by-step manual information to you.
The
SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Opens This Month
http://nick.com/all_nick/movies/spongebob/
- This month marks the return of SpongeBob SquarePants, Squidward
Tentacles, Sandy Cheeks, Mr. Eugene H. Krabs, and the rest of the
gang in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. The movie is based on the
popular animated TV series which was the #1 rated TV show for ages
2-11 during the 2001-2002 season. Its creators ended TV production
in 2003 to concentrate on the making of this movie. Yes, SpongeBob
SquarePants still lives in a pineapple in the community of Bikini
Bottom. The site includes four hilarious movie trailers, fun games,
cast member bios, and cute e-cards.
Simplified BCS System
To Determine College Football Champion
http://bcsfootball.org/ - The
purpose of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which was established
in 1998, is to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I
college football yet maintain the bowl system that's nearly 100
years old. Although not perfect, the system is probably an
improvement over the old format of bowl match-ups with affiliated
conferences. There's a new, simpler formula in place this season. So
now is the time for football fans to begin putting down their
binoculars and picking up their calculators. For all you've ever
wanted to know about the BCS plus a complete breakdown of the week's
current standings, check out this site.
Back to Top
Short Tutorial
Turning Off Your
E-mail Software Program's Preview Pane
E-mail programs such as
'Outlook Express,' 'Entourage,' 'Netscape 7.1,' and 'Eudora' all
utilize the "Preview Pane" feature as a default setting. The Preview
Pane setting allows recipients to easily view the contents of new
e-mail messages without having to click on the message to open it
up. This saves time and is great when getting e-mail messages from
friends and family.
The problem with the activated Preview
Pane feature of these software programs, of course, occurs when spam
e-mail is sent to a user's inbox. The recipient is almost forced
into viewing the contents of spam e-mail messages prior to deleting
them. Sometimes the images can be pretty distasteful.
A user
can easily "turn off" the Preview Pane feature of their e-mail
program. By doing this, the user only views messages he/she actually
wants to open. In a moment, we'll show you how that's
done.
Another option for dealing with junk e-mail is to
automatically stop it from ever reaching your e-mail inbox with an
e-mail filtering program like Postini. E-mail filters
quarantine junk e-mail and suspicious messages before they reach
your computer. Postini is one of the top-rated filtering programs
and we include it free with all high-speed Internet accounts and 200
hour+ dial-up accounts.
Remember, without a filtering
program, e-mail viruses can still infect your computer -- even
though the preview pane is turned off. Now, here's how to do it:
Outlook Express for Windows
1. Click your cursor
arrow on the Outlook Express "View" menu.
2. From the resulting
drop-down menu, select "Layout."
3. When the "Layout" window
opens, look for "Preview Pane" about half way down.
4. Uncheck
the check box next to "Show Preview Pane."
5. Click on the
"Apply" button and then click "OK" to close the window.
Entourage for Macintosh
1. Click your cursor
arrow on the "View" menu.
2. From the resulting drop-down menu,
uncheck "Preview Pane" by clicking on it.
Netscape 7.1
Mail
1. Click your cursor arrow on the "View" menu.
2.
From the resulting drop-down menu, select "Show/Hide."
3. From
the resulting submenu, uncheck "Message Pane" by clicking on it.
Eudora 6.1
1. Click your cursor arrow on the
"View" menu.
2. From the resulting drop-down menu, select
"Options."
3. When the "Options" window opens, look for the
"Category" pane on the left-hand side. Scroll down until you find
the "Viewing Mail" icon and click on it.
4. In the "Preview
Pane" section, uncheck the check box next to "Show message in
preview pane."
5. Click "OK" to close the window.
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We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our
way of keeping you up-to-date on what's happening in the fascinating
world of the Internet. However, if you'd prefer not to receive these
journals on a monthly basis, click
here to
be removed.
Thanks for your business and best
regards,
Cannon Communications -
Your Hometown Communications Provider
(We have used our best
efforts in collecting and preparing the information published
herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all
liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions,
whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident,
or other causes.)
©2004 Cornerstone Advertising Group Inc.
Trademarks:
All brand names and product names used in this e-Newsletter are
trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective owners. |
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