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| The award-winning monthly publication of The Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society P.O.Box 5915 Baltimore, MD 21282-5915 |
September, 2007
Jim Cross, WI3N, BRATS Guest Speaker - 9/18/07
Jim Cross, WI3N, the ARRL MD-DC Section Manager will be visiting our September BRATS MEETING (Tuesday, September 18, 7:15 PM, at the Randallstown Library, Liberty at Old Court), to tell us a little about himself and ARRL as well as to give him an opportunity for people to ask him questions. I will also plan a short presentation on a digital mode , Jeremy, K0RYX (ex-K2ORX)
Rogue signal sparks rescue mission
A Coastguard helicopter was scrambled at the cost of tens of thousands of pounds on 14 January after a
rogue radio signal from a faulty digital TV set-top box in Portsmouth sparked a sea rescue mission. The
defective set-top box transmitted a signal on a frequency reserved for emergency distress beacons at sea.
This "mayday" call was then picked up by a satellite and passed on to the Aeronautical Rescue
Coordination Centre at RAF Kinloss, Scotland, which in turn contacted the Coastguard in Portsmouth.
The helicopter that was scrambled scoured the seas around Portsmouth for stricken people for two hours
before experts discovered that the signal was coming from dry land. The source of the signal was eventually
traced to a set-top box in a house in Portsmouth. The faulty box is now being investigated by
telecommunications regulator Ofcom. [GB2RS]
Beware fake e-mails from FTC, IRS
The federal agency charged with protecting consumers from Internet scams now finds itself wrapped up in one.
Identity thieves have sent thousands of bogus e-mails purporting to be from the Federal Trade Commission — as well as the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department — in an attempt to trick consumers into divulging personal financial information.
The agencies are the latest institutions to be exploited in "phishing" scams, long the bane of large banks and credit card issuers.
Analysts who track online crime say that while financial institutions are still the most commonly hijacked brands, the use of federal agencies in the hoaxes is increasing and reflects criminals' desire to take advantage of the familiarity and authority of various government departments.
Phishing typically involves sending fraudulent e-mails that include links that direct recipients to fake websites where they are asked to input sensitive data. Phishers may also include attachments that, when clicked, secretly install "spyware" that can capture personal information and send it to third parties over the Internet.
Criminal gangs in the United States and overseas use the information to steal thousands of dollars from consumers or to sell their identities in what experts describe as a sophisticated underground economy surrounding identity theft.
The FTC said in June that corporate and banking executives, among other consumers, have received fake e-mails with spyware attachments purporting to be from the agency.
The Treasury Department, meanwhile, said June 27 it has received over 23,000 complaints about IRS-related phishing scams since an investigative arm of the department began tracking them in November 2005.
The scams have been "unprecedented both in terms of sophistication and the volume of reports we have received," J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, said in a written statement.
Michelle Lamishaw, an IRS spokeswoman, said most of the hoax e-mails tell recipients they are under investigation or that they have a tax refund pending. Some are more sophisticated, including those targeted to small businesses that mention obscure agencies known primarily to business men and women such as the California Franchise Tax Board.
But government officials said recipients of such e-mails should be suspicious of their origin for one simple reason: federal agencies rarely communicate with citizens over e-mail.
| September, 2007 |  |
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