Warning, warning, danger, danger

There are some extremely devious and tricky emails out there that want to fool you into thinking you need to click on a link in the email to verify a bank account, a credit card number, or maybe to change a credit card expiration date. Such scams are getting much smarter and appear much more realistic than ever before.

I nearly just got fooled by one, purporting to be from eBay asking me to verify credit card info. I’ve gotten similar emails pretending to be from PayPal. This is called “phishing”, and the emails are scams to get credit card numbers.

Here’s how to avoid such scams yet also check to make sure if your account is, in fact, ok.

1) Never ever click on links in any email asking you to update account or credit card information 

2) Instead, go to the website in question the way you normally do (via a bookmark or typing the address.), then go to your account information. If something in your account actually needs to be updated, the website will tell you.

For example, I just got a phony email pretending to be from eBay saying to click here to update the expiration date on your credit card number (which in fact does expire next month.) Something about the email didn’t look right, so I logged onto eBay and saw no message from eBay about updating my account. So, I forwarded the email to spoof@ebay.com and within minutes they replied saying thank you, the email was not from eBay, it was a scam.

You might consider using the free SpoofStick, which resides on your browser bar and tells you the actual website you are on, not the address the email is pretending to be. And yes, another variant of phishing  puts a phony address in your browser bar address by using a graphics file - however SpoofStick will still display the real address.

From SpoofStick

SpoofStick is a simple browser extension that helps users detect spoofed (fake) websites. A spoofed website is typically made to look like a well known, branded site (like ebay.com or citibank.com) with a slightly different or confusing URL. The attacker then tries to trick people into going to the spoofed site by sending out fake email messages or posting links in public places - hoping that some percentage of users won’t notice the incorrect URL and give away important information. This practice is sometimes known as “phishing”.

SpoofStick makes it easier to spot a spoofed website by prominently displaying only the most relevant domain information. It’s not a comprehensive solution, but it’s a good start.

Be careful out there.

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Blowback

US Saudi embassy to American nationals: Leave now

The US embassy on Saturday reiterated its call on US citizens to leave Saudi Arabia following a series of attacks by suspected Islamist gunmen in the oil city of Al-Khobar in which an American was killed.

The embassy originally issued the call on May 15. Think about that. The embassy told US citizens to leave Saudi Arabia ASAP because of the ever-increasing danger and instability. Sounds like they, um, aren’t real optimistic about what is coming down the pike.

Oil prices expected to soar

As Saudi security officials surveyed the horror, energy experts warned of the potential for a global fuel crisis triggered by instability in the country with the world’s largest reserves.

From the Beeb

BBC Middle East correspondent Paul Wood says that with oil at more than $40 a barrel, the attack is bad news for the world’s economy.

He adds that by terrifying foreign workers in the oil industry, the militants are also undermining the ruling Saudi royal family - one of their stated aims.

Watergate was an internal issue, it ripped the country apart, but had little international impact. The idiocies of Bush however - his pointlessly agressive wars, founded in lies and deception, and now lurching towards ignominious defeat - have made the world vastly more dangerous. He wanted unchallenged empire and unfettered access to Mideast oil. Instead the empire is becoming unsustainable and the oil slips out of reach.

Not only will the neocons not grab Iraqi oil, the US and the rest of the world now faces an unstable Saudi Arabia. And, among many other things, this probably mean sharply higher oil prices.

None of this had to happen. There was no need to invade Iraq, no WMDs, no threats lurked there for the US. But the neocons wanted oil and empire, and in their arrogance and stupidity, they destroyed the balance of power. A destabilized Saudi Arabia is now one of the results. There will be many more.

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“Pentagon says (better sit down for this one) they are running out of bullets”

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Intelligence agents accused in abuse

Several U.S. guards allege they witnessed military intelligence operatives encouraging the abuse of Iraqi prison inmates at four prisons other than Abu Ghraib, investigative documents show.

Scant evidence cited in long detention of Iraqis

Hundreds of Iraqi prisoners were held in Abu Ghraib prison for prolonged periods despite a lack of evidence that they posed a security threat to American forces, according to an Army report completed last fall.

Here’s more confirmation that many officers are deeply disturbed by the cover-up too.

The unpublished report, by Maj. Gen. Donald J. Ryder, reflects what other senior Army officers have described as a deep concern among some American officers and officials in Iraq over the refusal of top American commanders in Baghdad to authorize the release of so-called security prisoners.

Blameless Iraqi scientist apparently beaten to death by US

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Live fast, die old

Researchers have turned the medical world’s understanding of how the body’s metabolism works on its head by discovering that the more energy you burn, the longer you will live.

“We are really excited by this finding,” said Professor John Speakman, leader of the research team. “The result is striking: living fast means dying old.”

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