News / International
Man receives emails from deceased father
30 Nov 2011 at 23:19hrs | Views
COLONIAL HEIGHTS, VA - Tom Kifer gets about two emails a year from his father's email account. Over the last 10 days Kifer has received five. Tom Kifer's father died six years ago.
"It does upset me knowing that there are so many people who were in his address book that are now receiving that, that bothers me. Because I know how other people are re-acting to it," Kifer said.
Kifer said hackers took over his late father's AOL account several years ago and have sent spam to the emails in his father's address book.
The FBI does not want to see other email address and online accounts fall into the wrong hands.
It recently distributed a list of holiday shopping tips to safely shop online.
Tips include:
1. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware software and keep up with security updates and to prevent viruses or malicious programs from infecting your computer.
2. Use your credit card instead of a debit card when making a purchase. A criminal could have direct access to your bank account if your debit card is lost or stolen. Credit cards offer added protection from fraudulent transactions.
3. Make purchases using websites with secure connections. Look for websites that use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security which protect your personal information. Check the browser's status bar for an unbroken "padlock" icon that indicates the site uses SSL.
4. Be careful when accessing certain links online. Online scammers will redirect shoppers to a bogus web page that looks similar to the legitimate page in order to coerce you into sharing personal information. To mitigate this threat, be careful when clicking on shopping links, set your browser to block pop-up windows, and type the actual store's web address into your browser instead of using a link that may have been provided.
Kifer said he does not know for sure how hackers took over his father's account.
He said when he first started to receive the emails, he contacted America Online (AOL) about the situation. Kifer said AOL had no explanation either.
"It does upset me knowing that there are so many people who were in his address book that are now receiving that, that bothers me. Because I know how other people are re-acting to it," Kifer said.
Kifer said hackers took over his late father's AOL account several years ago and have sent spam to the emails in his father's address book.
The FBI does not want to see other email address and online accounts fall into the wrong hands.
It recently distributed a list of holiday shopping tips to safely shop online.
Tips include:
2. Use your credit card instead of a debit card when making a purchase. A criminal could have direct access to your bank account if your debit card is lost or stolen. Credit cards offer added protection from fraudulent transactions.
3. Make purchases using websites with secure connections. Look for websites that use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security which protect your personal information. Check the browser's status bar for an unbroken "padlock" icon that indicates the site uses SSL.
4. Be careful when accessing certain links online. Online scammers will redirect shoppers to a bogus web page that looks similar to the legitimate page in order to coerce you into sharing personal information. To mitigate this threat, be careful when clicking on shopping links, set your browser to block pop-up windows, and type the actual store's web address into your browser instead of using a link that may have been provided.
Kifer said he does not know for sure how hackers took over his father's account.
He said when he first started to receive the emails, he contacted America Online (AOL) about the situation. Kifer said AOL had no explanation either.
Source - WTVR
