Hijacking is one scheme used for online scamming that con artists pull on unsuspecting businesses.

With fall and winter holidays coming up and more sales coming through, you can bet online scammers are amping up their game looking for vulnerable businesses to con.

The Better Business Bureau highlights the most recent scams going around – hijacking, phishing and scams involving the Yellow Pages and local authorities are the most recent trending scams.

HIJACKING

A common scenario is a supply scam, according to the Kentucky Attorney General. This often plays out as a call from a supplier you are not familiar with. If they try to sell you a “surplus at a discount price” or claim you have a large order that you never made, chances are your business has been hijacked, according to the Better Business Bureau.

A con artist will contact a supplier, put in an order using your business name and other information but has a different shipping address, so if a supplier doesn’t check up to verify who ordered, thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies may be headed to a destination other than yours and you’ll be stuck with the bill.

Another hijacking scheme is creating fake websites. Scammers will use your business’ URL and existing site making them seem legitimate, or hack into your business website and create fake online forms in which they can receive sensitive information from your customers and clients without them, or you, knowing it’s a scam.

Online hijackers could even redirect your Web traffic to other sites that sell bogus items if your network isn’t protected well.

Phishing

One of the trendier terms in online scamming is “phishing,” which come in many forms. Phishing is when con artists impersonate other companies or organizations, looking to extract any personal information about you or your business that could be used for identity theft.

There are many forms of phishing, however, email phishing is the most common.

Often businesses will receive fraudulent emails from so-called legitimate companies – often they claim to be a bank or retailer – asking you for sensitive information, such as your credit card number or Social Security number, to unlock a certain account or to provide better protection from – get this – online scammers.

Phishing is serious enough that state governments have issued warnings to businesses, often at length. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson spells out phishing quite extensively on her state website, pointing out a variety of phishing scams, such as website phishing (websites that look like familiar business websites), phony government email phishing, and terms like “vishing” and “smishing” that are scams used over a telephone or SMS.

YELLOW PAGES AND COPS

Particularly aimed at small businesses, this telephone scam involves a person calling you claiming to be a website that would like to include updated information on your business. Once you’ve given that information, he or she asks you to repeat it to confirm the information. Unknown to you, the scammer records you.

Weeks later, you receive an invoice with a whopping charge on it for an ad from the Yellow Pages online directory that you never signed up for. The trick here is when you call to complain, you get “proof” that you signed up for it, as the scammer plays back an altered recording of you that makes it sound like you ordered an ad for the listing.

Another over-the-phone scam small businesses need to be aware of are ones where scammers pretend to be local authorities informing you that there is a warrant out for your arrest or a pending fine you need to pay immediately.

The reason why many small business owners fall for this trick is that the scammer have used a computer program to cloak the caller ID number, changing it to show it’s from the “sheriff’s office” or “state police post,” a trick called “spoofing.”

The scammers say the only way to avoid any criminal charges is by sending money, either by money order or a pre-paid debit card.

TIPS TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED

– Equip your business with anti-phishing devices and software. The first line of defense is knowledge of possible scams. The next step is making it more difficult for scammers to burn you and your business.

– For Dummies points out that even though you have anti-phishing devices or software installed, it’s still a good idea to close your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections when not in use.

– If your business receives a call from “the Yellow Pages,” NFIB suggests to request additional information from the caller, find out how, where and how often the publication is distributed, and to check with your local Yellow Pages publisher to be sure the person you talked to was legitimate.

– Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson reminds business owners that there is no federal law requiring you to register any financial information with the federal government (such as the IRS or FDIC). This is a form of phony government e-mail phishing.

If the “police” come calling, the Better Business Bureau advises to never wire money over the phone. It is best to just hang up before delving out any other information. Be sure to contact the real police and report the incident.

The post Businesses beware: Tis the Season to be Scammed appeared first on Colocation America.

US citizens are understandably concerned about their privacy after recent revelations of domestic spying by the NSA and the leaking of thousands of social security numbers by the IRS.

Now, with school back in session across the nation, the focus is shifting to the Common Core Standards and the possibility of the creation of national student databases. Many parents and teachers are wary of the government system getting its hands on sensitive, personal information of minors, and with good reason.

Spying on Kids?

In 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law which, in part, was designed to invest in education. One of the reform areas the ARRA identifies is, “building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction.”

School districts already use data management systems. However, each district has its own software and systems in place. In order to qualify for Race to the Top funding, detailed in the ARRA, states would have to comply with Priority 4 outlined in the Race to the Top Executive Summary and implement a state-wide student database that can eventually be linked with other states. In other words, states need to be willing and ready to put their students in a national database.

At least nine states (Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts) have already complied and uploaded student information to a common system, sending parents and teachers into a panic. Race to the Top specifies that information regarding “data from special education programs, English language learner programs, early childhood programs, at-risk and dropout prevention programs, and school climate and culture programs, as well as information on student mobility, human resources (i.e., information on teachers, principals and other staff), school finance, student health, postsecondary education, and other relevant areas” be included in the database.

The theory behind the database is a solid one: to collect data on students that can be used to pinpoint success and problem areas in the educational systems in each state. Broken down by the areas above, administrators and educators can focus on which learners need the most remediation and differentiation, as well as which students are achieving beyond the standard expectation. Finding patterns in the data can help educators intervene before students begin failing. It has even been suggested that data this vast can help narrow down reasons why kids drop out of high school, allowing for intervention strategies long before the student ever considers dropping.

Many states are going beyond the required areas and adding their own to further service their students’ needs. In Louisiana, for example, districts are collecting and analyzing student work samples and standardized test scores. In Texas, staffs are using demographic data, student learning data and disciplinary data to look for trends among student groups.

While this is a wonderful idea in theory, in practice it can get a little scary.

Things to Consider

States are uploading the mandatory information to databases, including student demographic information. Personal information about teachers — including home addresses and teacher evaluation results — are being considered in order to watch even more trends. While proponents of the database claim this is not headed toward being a national database, the writing is on the wall.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is offering billions of dollars in support of Race to the Top, and it coincidentally has helped fund the current system, inBloom, that nine states use. According to its site, inBloom claims it is not a national database, since a district or state educational agency are the only entities that have access to the database. So what if the “state agency” wants to let all the other states in on their data?

Another concern among parents is that Social Security numbers and other identifying information of children are being stored in these databases. Again, inBloom’s statement is that it does not store any Social Security numbers unless the district or state waives that policy.

Currently, the data entered into these databases is only that of public schools. Those attending private schools, who are home schooled (with the exception of New York), and those acquiring a high school diploma online may not have their data entered into any sort of database system beyond a district or school system.

Databases can be rich with information for tracking trends and helping student growth. On the flip side, state, and possibly national, databases of information on children from preschool through college graduation is concerning. While educators can use aggregated student data judiciously, there seems to be no reason the state or federal governments need this information.

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