Weaselboy is behind bars: ‘Weaselboy’ jailed for internet scam A computer obsessive nicknamed Weaselboy was jailed for six years yesterday for an elaborate internet scam that earned him more than £1.5 million. Still only 23 years old, Peter Francis-Macrae boasted that he could bring the country’s economy to its knees by crashing computer systems. He… Read More »
I feel I need to add a footnote to my outburst about the difficulties of buying Skype credits in far-flung countries which may not have great reputations for handling fraud but which do maintain impressively high international call charges. One reader in the Philippines, John Richards, told me he’d had success using Moneybookers by transferring money… Read More »
If you think the Internet is a scary place for stealing your sensitive bank data, try your local gas station. The Star Tribune in Malaysia reports that criminals there are increasingly intercepting the transmission of credit card data between the point of sale machines that swipe your card and the bank. This data, incredibly, is… Read More »
The Federal Trade Commission has accused a California pop-up advertising company of digital-age extortion. MSNBC reports that D Squared Solutions allegedly hijacked Internet users’ computers by bombarding them with Windows Messenger pop-up ads — as frequently as every 10 minutes. The ads hawked $30 software that promised only to stop future pop-ups from the company.… Read More »
Microsoft has just released a new version of its Money software, 2004. New features: — An extensive Credit Center provides a free credit report and one year of ongoing credit monitoring, in addition to a summary of debt accounts, educational content, access to “what-if” scenarios and information on credit protection. — Money 2004 Premium offers… Read More »