Micro pretexter makes micro payment to FTC
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One down, four to go A tiny business that sold consumers phone records and records of credit card accounts over the Internet is very sorry and promises not to do it again. And no more pretexting, either.â¦
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Small investors can make small but effective loans to emerging economies through Microplace site.
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The FTC weighs the advantages of rewarding people for identifying spammers. It&#39;s a more complex calculation than you might think.
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Reposted in the queue as it's impossible or at least very complicated to move it as I asked (although the post where aphrael said such thing disappeared so perhaps this is not the case after all - another minor K5 mystery).  The original discussion can be found here (read it as there are some clarifications by rusty). All right, here is the (adapted) diary. Rusty posted a comment in the diary entitled "Would you pay 10USD for K5 Life Membership?" saying that K5 will become a pay site once new user registrations will be reactivated: "I was thinking $5.00 (none / 0) (#18) by rusty on Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 04:42:15 PM CET But it would actually be charged. That plus a hash of the identifying CC info so you only get one account ever, and I think we'd either shrivel up to nothing and die, or solve the spamming and crapflooding issues. Funny that someone else is thinking about this right now. It'll probably happen before I turn new signups back on." This of course begs the question: HIBT? If so I'll bite (see some considerations under the fold).
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(InfoWorld) - Two U.S. representatives have introduced a law that would give the U.S. Federal Trade Commission the authority to investigate and prosecute imposters who gain access to other people's private telephone records. The bill, introduced Wednesday by Representatives Jay Inslee, a Washington Democrat, and Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, comes in addition to a bill signed into law by President George Bush in January criminalizing the phone records scheme known as pretexting. The new pretexting bill is important because the FTC has more expertise and interest in prosecuting identity theft cases than many local prosecutors, a spokeswoman for Inslee said. Ken Springer, the founder and president of Corporate Resolutions, a private investigations firm, applauded the pretexting legislation. State prosecutors have been targeting similar tactics to get personal bank records for about 10 years, and reputable private investigations firms haven't used pretexting for many years, he said. "You've got to play by the rules," said Springer, a former special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "It's not a grey area. You can't use it." Although corporate customers may demand that private investigators use all means necessary, Springer tells clients they should consider that the details of their investigations could wind up in the media. "The risk-reward [balance] is something they should consider," he said. After a pretexting scandal at Hewlett-Packard in late 2006, "corporate America got the message," he said. Still, the new pretexting bill can give customers faith that their records are protected, he said. Inslee and Blackburn introduced a similar bill in January 2006, but it didn't come up for a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. Their Consumer Telephone Records Protection Act would make it illegal for anyone to knowingly obtain confidential phone records by making false or fraudulent statements to a telephone company or to knowingly sell or receive confidential phone records knowing such information was obtained fraudulently. The bill would also require telephone companies to notify customers when their phone records fall into the wrong hands. In January, Bush signed a law making pretexting illegal, punishable with up to 10 years in prison and fines. Fines and prison sentences would increase if the violations involve more than 50 telephone customers. Congress began investigating pretexting in early 2006 after media reports and a complaint from privacy advocacy group the Electronic Privacy Information Center showed that several companies were selling private phone records online for less than $100. Then in September, HP revealed that investigators it hired had used pretexting to try to discover the source of board leaks.Â California prosecutors charged former HP board Chairwoman Patricia Dunn, former HP legal counsel Kevin Hunsaker, and three investigators with feloniesÂ late last year.
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Trend Micro has convinced the trade commission to look into whether competitors are infringing on its patents.
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The company's new software might let private information go public. Also: A new website pays you to help your friends buy products  & hellip;. LAN operators start to gear up  & hellip;. and more.
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The U.S. House of Representatives may vote on a pretexting bill that would allow the FTC to fine companies that engage in the practice.
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New service offers spam, virus filtering for small and mid-sized businesses.
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People selling items over the internet or through newspaper adverts are warned of a sophisticated fraudulent payment scam.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked a federal court to require an alleged Web page hijacking operation to obey previous orders barring unfair and deceptive practices.
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Abandon Fal$e Hope$ US consumer rights organisation the Federal Trade Commission has joined up with law enforcement agencies to launch a crackdown on bogus job opportunity scams.â¦
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Photocopying wallet information pays off.
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(InfoWorld) - Consumers harmed by a pyramid-scheme scam at SkyBiz.com have until the end of March to file claims through a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced. In a settlement reached with the FTC in January 2003, SkyBiz.com provided $20 million to repay affected consumers. Under the redress program, consumers from the U.S. and elsewhere can receive repayments equal to the cost of their $125 SkyBiz purchase, minus any commissions they received. Consumers who want to file a claim must do so by March 30, the FTC said in a press release. Victims will be able to file claims on a Web site, at Skybiz-redress.com, available in several languages. Final payments will be made by May 21, likely in the form of a debit-type card that can be used in the U.S. and other countries, the FTC said. In May 2001, the FTC filed suit in U.S. district court in Tulsa, Oklahoma, against SkyBiz, alleging it had promoted a pyramid scheme with claims of quick riches. The complaint alleged the defendants used sales presentations, seminars, teleconferences and its Web site to tout the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars a week by recruiting new associates into the program. The $125 cost to join the SkyBiz program was supposedly to pay for an "e-Commerce Web Pak." Touting "huge amounts of money" participants could earn, SkyBiz encouraged participants to buy more than one Web Pak at a time. The plan was a classic pyramid scheme, promoted by fraudulent earnings claims, the FTC alleged. The case was scheduled to go to trial in January 2003. By then, the FTC also had pursued the case in the courts of Ireland and Bermuda, and received assistance from law enforcers in numerous countries including Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Canada. Before the trial, SkyBiz.com agreed to the settlement.
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COPPA bracelet America's laws protecting children's privacy online are working just fine, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). But just to make sure, it will slap violators with bigger fines.â¦
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SAN FRANCISCO -    For ransom: your sensitive computer files. In the latest online scam, cybercrooks are breaking into the PCs of small businesses and individuals, locking up data and demanding money in return for freeing it.
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Consumer advocates are turning their attention to scam artists who market computers to people with low incomes or bad credit.