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Web Fraud 2.0 — Point-and-Click Cracking Tools
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post's Security Fix blog is running a fascinating series that peers inside some of the Web-based services cyber crooks are using to ply their trade: from masking their identity, to defeating CAPTCHAs, to creating counterfeit documents and validating stolen credit and debit cards. Everyone familiar with this space hears about these kinds of tools and services all the time in the abstract, but the Post blog includes screen shots and background details on the popularity of the services and how each one is helping to bring cyber crime that much closer to the realm of even the most newbie scam artists." Many of these tools require a working knowledge of Russian. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that Chinese-language tools exist too.
Except it isn't a stereotype...it's a statistical certainty. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that English-language tools exist too?
See how stereotype doesn't apply? Probably not.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
I am Jack9.
Everyone knows me.
It won't help with intangible goods and isn't practical with gift items, but stores that ship tangible goods can require that the shipping address be the same as the billing address and verify the billing address against information held by the credit card company.
Even verifying only the postal code will make it hard for me to order a computer using your credit card if I'm not prepared to visit your locale to take delivery.
Another technique is to allow exceptions but only if a person picks up the item at the post office or carrier's depot in person, presents ID, and smiles for the camera.
There will need to be a solution for gifts and intangible items.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Is today global stereotype day and did I miss the memo ?
Hitting on the Russians seems to be in real fashion these days, you'd almost think there was a political motive behind it. Is France out of fashion or so ?
Really, the reason these tools exist is because there are several requirements before you can deploy these tools, which are:
- access to international banking
- a large base of hackers, preferably unemployed
(I use 'hacker' in its original form)
- organized crime
The USA, China, Germany and Russia all have these in abundance so that's where you will find your toolkits.
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The stereotype doesn't imply that the statement is wrong, but why was that statement made about Chinese and not English tools? According to the Spam origin data, English tools are a lot more likely then Chinese tools, so while in itself not wrong the decision to focus on one correct statement while omitting another correct statement speaks of bias and creates an incorrect impression to the casual reader (and if you know the data then you don't need news articles in the first place).
It is not a stereotype to say that many burglaries are committed by blacks, as this can easily be backed by data. It is stereotypical, however, to say, "All blacks commit burglaries", "Most blacks commit burglaries", or "He is black so he's probably committed burglary."
The botnets that send those spam messages from the Unites States are controlled by Russia(ns). Remember the news a few weeks ago when Russia invaded Georgia and 80% of the world's spam stopped while the botnets switched to attacking the Georgian government's web page?
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)