{"id":59,"date":"2011-12-18T16:21:13","date_gmt":"2011-12-18T16:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cybersecurity.bellevue.edu\/?p=59"},"modified":"2011-12-18T16:22:07","modified_gmt":"2011-12-18T16:22:07","slug":"congratulations-%e2%80%93-you-are-a-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cybersecurity.bellevue.edu\/index.php\/2011\/12\/18\/congratulations-%e2%80%93-you-are-a-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Congratulations \u2013 You are a WINNER!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone wants to be a winner. You may have seen the pop-up or big letters on a webpage announcing that you have won an iPad2, $1000, or some other grand prize.\u00a0 All you need to do is “Click here to win your prize!” \u00a0It seems simple and harmless, but you should know where it is taking you, what you\u2019re giving up, and what could be loaded on your computer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Users are taken to these sites when they mistype well known domain names such as wikipedia.com, amazon.com, and youtube.com. \u00a0(I\u2019ll let you conduct your own research, but you can see a list here: http:\/\/www.bfk.de\/bfk_dnslogger.html?query=69.6.27.100#result<\/a>. They all resolve to the same IP address. I don\u2019t want anyone accidently clicking on a link to a bad site.\u00a0 Proceed at your own risk!) \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve included a screenshot as an example:<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Example of winning page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

To \u201cclaim\u201d your prize, you need to enter much of your personal information on a site whose origin is questionable.<\/p>\n

Some of these websites even have their own form of privacy policies stating exactly what they\u2019d do with your personal information.\u00a0 Basically, once you give it to them, they can do with it as they please.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They can sell it, give it away, or use it without ever informing you or asking further permission.\u00a0 They can even perform further background checks on you.\u00a0 Since you agree to the policy when you click submit, there may be nothing you can do to stop them; especially if the site owners are in another country.<\/p>\n

To avoid this type of fraud, it\u2019s important to remember, \u201cStop. Think. Click.\u201d from staysafeonline.org. The Protect Yourself<\/em><\/strong> website (http:\/\/www.staysafeonline.org\/in-the-home\/protect-yourself<\/a>) contains a number of great tips to help all webizens. From that website, comes this:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cUse your judgment about what you post about yourself on Internet sites. When any site requests information about you, ask these questions:<\/p>\n