When spam turns dangerous, it can cost you far more than time and frustration

You’d think that just getting mountains of spam in your inbox is bad enough. Even the most harmless messages are irritating—you keep deleting, you keep adding to the “block” lists, you take every measure your ISP advises you to take, but they just keep showing up. And again, that’s just the harmless ones. Factor in the chain letters, the phony solicitations, and the unending porn, and it’s almost too much to take.

Now think about the real danger. Imagine if one of those unwanted e-mails enabled the sender to steal your identity.

So what is identity theft? Basically, nefarious people steal your personal information: social security number, credit card number, etc. Then, they can call your credit card company, change the mailing address, and go to town with the card. They clean out your bank account, open new ones, take out loans, buy cars, obtain wireless service, even buy cars.

Identity theft is devastating. Victims can spend years cleaning up the mess, all the while in danger of losing not just their money but also their name and reputation, with jail being a real possibility. And according to the National Association of Attorneys General, identity theft is among of the fastest growing crimes in the nation with an estimated 700,000 victims each year. That’s from a report last year—the numbers have gotten worse since.

And that’s where the Internet comes in. It’s estimated that by 2006, fully a quarter of all cases of identity theft will originate on the Internet, up from only 5 percent in 1998. More specifically, according to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, e-mail and web pages dominate the fraud methodology, and the vast majority of victims actually have e-mail contact with the perpetrator.

The problem may actually be worse than imagined. Most governmental investigative agencies and private research organizations estimate that only one in 10 incidents of Internet fraud ever reaches the attention of enforcement or regulatory bodies.

Not surprisingly, the government has been getting increasingly active in this field. The Federal Trade Commission has already accumulated extensive research on Internet fraud and sends out constant on new and improved scams. Just last month, the FTC hosted a media roundtable to release a new report titled “False Claims in Spam.”

On the legislative side, meanwhile, there’s been considerable sound but not a lot of thunder. The CAN-SPAM Act, which garnered considerable attention last year, sought to place some restrictions on unsolicited commercial e-mail. However, the bill never made it into law. It was derailed over concerns—voiced primarily by direct mail marketers’ lobbyists—over what was legitimate e-mail and what wasn’t. But there’s more proposed anti-spam legislation is making its way through the system. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) have proposed one bill, while Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) has another in the works.

In the private sector, meanwhile, three of the largest providers of e-mail accounts have banded together to advocate changes in the way e-mail is circulated in order to better ascertain the identity of the sender. The companies involved—Microsoft, Yahoo and America Online—say this would go a long way in deterring problems such as identity theft. But the fact that these corporate giants chose to go their own way rather than team with other competitors or the numerous anti-spam coalitions may impede progress. At the same time, stung by charges of excess spam and Internet fraud, the Direct Marketing Association, which represents the e-mail advertising industry, has prepared its own proposal to deal with the problem.

But there are things you can do, too, to avoid getting on the victims’ list.

First, educate yourself, about the more common scams making the rounds on the Internet. Silly as they sound, they’ve been amazingly successful. These include:

• The Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud, also known as the "4-1-9" fraud, a perennial favorite that costs victims the greatest average losses (in excess of $5,000). This scam originated in the form of letters and faxes from a "government official," usually in Nigeria. Now, the method of choice is e-mail.
  
• The donation-seeking virus, which looks like an executable file attached to an e-mail message. The recipient gets a donation request form to fill out, and it looks just like a legitimate organization’s request. It’s not: The money goes elsewhere.
  
• The Social Security Services Scam, a new twist on an old dodge. There’s a website that looks just like it’s from the government, but it charges $12.00 for a form that’s actually free. More dangerously, it captures your credit card number. Say goodbye to your identity.
  
• Chain letters. Yes, chain letters. Most of these are probably innocuous, but it’s worth noting chain letters involving money or valuable items and promise big returns are illegal. If you start a chain email or letter or send one on, you are breaking the law.

Finally, just as technology is being used to essentially break into your home, you can use technology to keep intruders out. Common sense dictates some very obvious measures. Among them: Don’t download files sent by strangers or click on hyperlinks from people you don’t know. Don’t store financial information on your laptop, many good people have misplaced their laptops , and never use the automatic log-in feature that saves you from having to enter the password each time. Use a secure browser with software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet.

Best of all, use the software that goes a long way in keeping out not only identity thieves but all manner of viruses and other potential headaches. The McAfee PC Security Suite is an all-in-one security solution that guards against hackers, viruses, and identity theft. The suite includes a one-year subscription to VirusScan, the top-ranked anti-virus solution online; Personal Firewall Plus, which lets you prevent unauthorized access, receive immediate alerts and track the source of hostile attacks; and Privacy Service, which blocks cookies and ads and filters web content. For more information, visit: http://us.mcafee.com/root/bundles.asp?id=mss.