April 2009 Archives

This last Friday, Esther J. Cepeda of www.600words.com checked in with a refreshing update on where the Digital Divide stood (or not) as regards the Hispanic Community here in the United States (which you can read in full here).

A rant "dedicated to all the people out there who are innocently laboring under the misperception that the vast majority of Hispanics in the United States are living in such crushing poverty that they are not able to access information on the Internet."

Not so, she goes on to point out:

• In a recent report called The Power of the Hispanic Consumer On-line, Scarborough Research says that the majority (54%) of Hispanics are now online.

• In fact, Internet access among Hispanics has been increasing at a faster rate than it has among total adults in the U.S - growing 13% (on a relative basis) since 2004 - from 48% in 2004 to its current penetration of 54%.  By contrast, Internet access by all consumers nationally grew 8% during the same time period. (In 2004, 64% of all consumers accessed the Internet, and this increased to 69% in 2008.)

The same Scarborough Research elaborates:

"Younger consumers are more likely to download content online. Forty-nine percent of 18-34 year-old adult Internet Users downloaded digital content in the past month, compared to 35% of the total online population. Similarly, it is no surprise that when you examine this younger demographic of Hispanics, the percentage is even higher. 51% of 18-34 year-old Hispanics downloaded digital content during the past 30 days.

"Hispanics have been taking advantage of the expansion of broadband, and their rate of adoption has mirrored that of the total U.S. population. Currently, 68% of Hispanic Internet Users have a broadband connection in their household. This grew from 13% in 2002 - an increase of more than fivefold."

Refreshing news, indeed.

Another interesting article just surfaced to underscore the near enough inevitable: print news is edging toward the exit.

On Friday April 17, the BBC News reported that electronic book readers may in fact become tomorrow's primary outlet for reported news.

And I would tend to agree. While online news (such as you read on your personal computer) naturally serves its purpose, most of us cannot put the screen in our briefcase and read it on the bus (the one good thing about the paper variety of news). You can, however, do precisely that with an electronic book reader.

And not only that, the electronic book reader is very comfortable on the eyes, much more so--in my not so humble opinion--than the computer screen. Also, you are not liable to run out of power mid-article, for the new generation electronic book readers utilize digital ink, which only draws power when the page is refreshed, so battery life is measured no longer in hours but in page turns.

Sony's reader, for example, can turn 7,500 pages on one charge. Amazon's Kindle II is in the same league

Kindle News

Amazon has never been slow to market with anything, and newspapers on the eBook reader is no exception.

Today you can buy monthly Kindle subscriptions to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Newsweek, San Francisco Chronicle, The International Herald Tribune, Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Time, and The Times (London), all for around $10 a month.

Each of these papers can download automatically to your Kindle overnight, so at breakfast, it's available to read. And no fighting your dog for it either.

Add to that the ability to cut and paste the articles you find of interest and email them to yourself, and the ability to clarify any words through instant lookup in the built-in dictionary, and the electronic readers grows more and more compelling as a news delivery mechanism.

And think of all the trees you're saving. In fact, I think the writing is on the 6-inch diagonal screen.

The only drawback at this time is price. The Kindle, for example, does not come cheap, roughly $350.

But that, as the BBC News article points out, is a work in progress.

An excellent article by David Essex as published in ProAV Online shows why the sooner the digital divide is fully bridged the better, and why professional AV (Audio/Visual) and distance learning is turning into a near perfect marriage.

According to the article, experts now say that as distance learning evolves from synchronous (live) conferencing to asynchronous (on-demand) access it also much better suits today's flexible teaching and learning styles.

Distance learning is also becoming more distributed, with end-points as likely to be small conference rooms, or personal electronic devices, as an AV-heavy auditorium. The technical reasons for this evolution are cheaper (and more ubiquitous) bandwidth and a broader adoption of the H.264 video-compression standard.

At the same time, we see Voice over IP (VoIP) continue to outmuscle the Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), now making audio conferencing more intelligent, adaptable, and affordable.

As a result, says Robert Abbott, director of product management at Smart Technologies, a maker of whiteboards and other input devices, "the line between remote and in-room becomes largely irrelevant. Our philosophy is that distance learning is not about the one special room on our campus, it's about every classroom."

Also, the definition of "remote" is has begun to blur. As an example, fifty percent of on-campus students at one state college, who easily could have attended online courses in person, chose instead, for whatever reason, to attend them online, attending instead from the dorm or from a smaller classroom.

The same principle can of course be extended to any high-bandwidth Internet endpoint, whether just across the street, or at the very edge of the grid.

Of course, this is based on the assumption that the bandwidth exists to facilitate such distance learning, which where the stimulus packages are now beginning to make great strides.

Again, for the full--and very informative--article, go here.

The 2008 IC3 report on cyber crime is just out, and the news is not good: cyber crime is up again. This, of course, is hardly surprising seeing as the cyber criminal is getting smarter, and more numerous, by the day; while law enforcement continues to play catch-up.

What is a little surprising, however, is that Internet Auction Fraud--which was the most reported online crime for the last two years--no longer heads the pack, though at 25.5% of all reports, it runs a close second; instead, the most reported online crime for 2008 is Non-Delivery of Merchandise and/or Payment, which comprises 32.9% of all reported instances of internet fraud.

The IC3

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) began operation on May 8, of 2000, as the Internet Fraud Complaint Center--a partnership between the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)--to serve as a vehicle to receive, process, and refer cyber crime complaints.

IC3 was intended for and continues to serve the broader law enforcement community, including federal, state, and local agencies, and since its inception, IC3 has received complaints about the full gamut of cyber crimes, including online fraud (in its many forms), intellectual property rights matters, computer intrusions (hacking), economic espionage (theft of trade secrets), child pornography, international money laundering, identity theft, and a growing list of additional cyber crimes.

The 2008 Internet Crime Report is the eighth edition.

The Numbers

From January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2008, IC3 received 275,284 online complaints. This is a (33.1%) increase over 2007, which saw 206,884 online complaints.

Of all complaints received IC3 referred 72,940 of them to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies around the country for further consideration. The vast majority of these cases was of a fraudulent nature and involved a financial loss on the part of the complainant.

The total reported dollar loss from all referred cases of fraud was $264.6 million with a median dollar loss of $931.00 per complaint. This is up from $239.1 million in total reported losses in 2007. Other significant findings related to an analysis of referrals include:

Non-Delivery

Non-delivered merchandise and/or payment was, by far, the most reported offense, comprising 32.9% of referred complaints--this is a 32.1% increase from the 2007 levels of non-delivery of merchandise and/or payment reported to IC3.

Internet Auction Fraud and Other Scams

Internet auction fraud accounted for 25.5% of referred complaints. Credit/debit card fraud made up 9.0% of referred complaints. Confidence fraud, computer fraud, check fraud, and Nigerian letter fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year.

Access Method

E-mail (74.0%) and WebPages (28.9%) were the two primary channels over which the fraudulent contact took place.

Fighting Back

According to the IC3, the best way to guard against Internet facilitated scams is to stay informed. Keeping informed of the latest scams on the Internet may enable Internet users to recognize and report these scams instead of losing money or their identity information in one of them. To learn about the latest scams, we recommend periodically checking the IC3, FBI, and the FTC websites for the latest updates.

Additionally, the IC3 and its partners have launched a public website, www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com, which briefs the consumer about various consumer alerts, tips, and fraud trends.

Fighting Non-Delivery

The IC3 makes specific recommendation about fighting non-delivery of merchandise or payments:

• Make sure you are purchasing merchandise from a reputable source. As with auction fraud, check the reputation of the seller whenever possible, including the Better Business Bureau.
• Try to obtain a physical address rather than merely a post office box and a phone number. Also, call the seller to see if the number is correct and working.
• Send them an e-mail to see if they have an active e-mail address. Be cautious of sellers who use free e-mail services where a credit card was not required to open the account.
• Investigate other websites regarding this person/company. Do not judge a person/company by their fancy website; thoroughly check the person/company out.
• Be cautious when responding to special offers (especially through unsolicited e-mail).
• Be cautious when dealing with individuals/companies from outside your own country. Remember the laws of different countries might pose issues if a problem arises with your transaction.
• Inquire about returns and warranties on all items.
• The safest way to purchase items via the Internet is by credit card because you can often dispute the charges if something is wrong. Also, consider utilizing an escrow or alternate payment service after conducting thorough research on the escrow service.
• Make sure the website is secure when you electronically send your credit card numbers.

Fighting Internet Auction Fraud

The IC3 also makes specific recommendations on how to battle Internet Auction Fraud:

• Understand as much as possible about how Internet auctions work, what your obligations are as a buyer, and what the seller's obligations are before you bid.
• Find out what actions the website takes if a problem occurs and consider insuring the transaction and shipment.
• Learn as much as possible about the seller, especially if the only information you have is an e-mail address. If it is a business, check the Better Business Bureau where the seller/business is located.
• Examine the feedback on the seller and use common sense. If the seller has a history of negative feedback then do not deal with that particular seller.
• Determine what method of payment the seller is asking for and where he/she is asking to send payment. Use caution when the mailing address is a post office box number.
• Be aware of the difference in laws governing auctions between the U.S. and other countries. If a problem occurs with the auction transaction that has the seller in one country and a buyer in another, it might result in a dubious outcome leaving you empty handed.
• Be sure to ask the seller about when delivery can be expected and warranty/exchange information for merchandise that you might want to return.
• To avoid unexpected costs, find out if shipping and delivery are included in the auction price or are additional.
• Finally, avoid giving out your social security number or driver's license number to the seller, as the sellers have no need for this information.

Steps To Take If Victimized:

1. File a complaint with the online auction company. In order to be considered for eBay's Fraud Protection Program, you should submit an online Fraud Complaint within 90 days after the listing end-date.
2. File a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
3. Contact law enforcement officials at the local and state level (your local and state police departments).
4. Also, contact law enforcement officials in the perpetrator's town & state.
5. File a complaint with the shipper: USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex, etc.
6. File a complaint with the National Fraud Information Center
7. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

A Closer Look at Non-Delivery

Doing the non-delivery math paints an unpleasant picture:

Since Non-Delivery constitutes 32.9% of the 275,284 reported cyber crimes in 2008, this means we saw 90,568 reported non-delivery cases. Now, since according to the National White Collar Crime Center's August 2005 report, The National Public Survey on White Collar Crime, only one cyber crime in seven is actually reported to police or a regulatory agency, we will have to multiply this number by seven to get an accurate count of perpetrated non-delivery crimes for 2008, which ends us up with 633,976.

This in turn means that 1,736 such crimes occur every day, or 72 ever hour, 24/7.

Or, to put it in another light, here in the United States, every minute of ever day (24/7), a product is fraudulently sold (and gullibly purchased and paid for) online.

Not a laughing matter.

Fraudulent Online Escrow Protection

One of the IC3's key recommendations is to consider utilizing an escrow or alternate payment service after conducting thorough research on the escrow service.

However, please take careful notice of the line "after conducting thorough research on the escrow service." Why did the IC3 include that warning?

It is because fraudulent online-escrow protection has proven to be a very profitable online fraudulent activity, masquerading as it does as protection, while only intending theft.

It is nothing short of escrow wolves in sheep's clothing. For this is the world of praying on the innocent and unsuspecting; of perpetrating fraud in the guise of help.

This is the world where the weary online buyer--well informed perhaps about online auction frauds and false promises--to safeguard his money turns to an online escrow service to make sure that he receives and approves the merchandise before his funds are released to the seller.

He Googles "Online Escrow" and is met with a host of sites, one seeming more legitimate than the next. He reads the "about us" carefully, and as much of the fine print as he has time or mind to absorb. Finally settles on one: Integrity Escrow.

He establishes an account, and his email is verified by the site, over a secure https link. So far so good. Seeing the https and the little security symbol in his browser makes him feel warm and fuzzy.

He then provides the details of the transaction, and, as a final step, deposits the purchase amount--in this case $3,500--in his newly established escrow account.

And that, as the saying goes, was the last he saw of that money.

How do they do it?

Impersonating the Solution

Turns out Integrity Escrow was nothing but a slick impersonation of a bona fide escrow company, established--normally in China, Russia, or the former Eastern EU--for the sole purpose of stealing your money while pretending to do the exact opposite, i.e., preventing theft.

Unfortunately, online escrow fraud is escalating, due to factors such as:

• Online identity/credit-card theft
• The Anonymity of the Internet
• A lamentable lack of public awareness about fraudulent escrow sites
• Web hosting companies that allow fraudulent escrow sites to be created with stolen credit cards, and then allow them to remain on their service even after they have been reported.

To this, add an increasing number of tech savvy criminals with zero concern for their fellow man.

Luckily--for those who's job it is to track the fraudulent online escrow sites down--those who set then up fraudulent are, as a rule, lazy people, who wouldn't (probably couldn't) create original copy if their lives depended on it. No, too much work.

Lazy people normally resort to templates, made to order scam sites (which abound as well) where they go to download a respectable site. As for trust-inducing copy, few sites are better than bona fide online escrows, which is where they go for the words.

Safeguard Your Money

How can, you, the average Internet user protect yourself against online escrow fraud?

Firstly, it is important that you (as recommended by the IC3) research these sites before ever sending money or merchandise. First, do a WHOIS search on the domain. This will show you how long the site has been up, where it is being hosted, how many times the site has been taken down. These are clues. If it smells fishy at all to you, go elsewhere.

It is your money. Handing it over to a cyber criminal probably has not yet made it onto your top-ten list of what to do with it.

There are many great deals online. There are many great auction houses online. There are bona fide online escrow sites, but nowhere near as many as there are fraudulent ones.

So do all the online research you can. When you have found a site that seems legitimate, you should take one of several additional steps:

• Firstly, while fraudulent sites can buy the necessary certificate to make it a secure site, they seldom do;
• Secondly, you can check at escrow-fraud.com to see if the site you have decided on is listed as a fraudulent site by them; they also maintain a list of bona fide sites;
• Thirdly, you can call the site's customer service department to make sure they are based in the United States. If you have any doubts about that, ask them to call you back, and check the caller ID--if it is an international call, beware. Also, if the site does not have a customer service department, again, beware;
• Once you know that you're talking to a U.S. based service department, ask any questions you can think of to ensure they are legitimate, such as which bank are they using for their escrow accounts, and who is their main contact at that bank (whom you can then call to verify that this online escrow company does in deed have an escrow account there);
• If the answer is a well-known American bank, and if the customer service rep can supply contact information at the bank, you are 99% there. Then, if you want to reach 100%, make that final call to the bank to rule out any vestige of doubt.

Now you have found an online escrow company you can trust; register with them and enjoy your purchase.

Escrow.com

To make your life a little easier: there is an online escrow company with the credentials to put your mind at ease.

Licensed by the state of California--as well as by the States of Idaho and Arizona, who require separate licenses--Escrow.com is the only on-line escrow company credentialed to serve every state of the Union, and who indeed does so 24/7.

While Escrow.com will handle transactions of any size, it may not make financial sense to turn to them for low cost items since their transaction fee is $25, and their commission is $63 per $1,000 value of the transaction if payment is by credit card and $32.50 per $1,000 for wire transfers.

But, if you value your sleep, Escrow.com would be indispensible for any transaction of $250 on up.

While Escrow.com is gaining increasing recognition as the Internet escrow company to turn to for peace of e-commerce mind, their staff, on a daily basis, also hunt and diligently work to shut down fraudulent impostors, which are encountered daily.

And they spring up like mushrooms, these impostors: there are days that Escrow.com staff discovers as many as ten new such sites.

The good news is that as these sites are tracked down, authorities are alerted and the sites are soon off the air.

eBay Weighs In

To quote the biggest online auction site of them all, eBay: "Pay safely - beware of fake escrow services when you consider using them to pay for your eBay item.

"For eBay transactions, you should use eBay's only approved Escrow Company: www.escrow.com."

Escrow.com--A Soon-To-Be Household Name

As Escrow.com gains further and further recognition on its way to become a household name, it gets harder and harder for impostors to defraud the public for the excellent reason that they are not Escrow.com--the only name you know you can trust.

Here's to peace of mind and a good night's sleep.

I'm not sure I'd call myself a tree-hugger; perhaps a first cousin of one, for you almost have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to the realities of deforestation not to worry as the rain forest is being razed at the rate of one of our smaller states a month to make room for cattle gracing, corn or sugar crop (for bio-fuel), etc., leaving the planet to gasp for air.

And that is why--to do my little part--nearly a decade ago now, I was one of the first buyers of the Rocket eBook (since renamed the Planet eBook, and now no longer available). It weighed near enough a pound, had 16 megabytes of RAM, and storage expandable to a whopping 32 MB. It had a nice--in my opinion--backlit screen, a serial, pre-USB, connection, and it didn't harm trees.

It was battery hungry, however, and as such did not, in the end, get as much use as my tried and true tree-books.

About four years ago (may have been longer) I started to see rumors about a "digital ink" developed by Sony, and a year later read that Sony had in fact released a digital ink book reader in Japan (with no plans to market one in the United States, however--lamentably).

Fast forward another six months, and something had made Sony change its mind. Coming soon, to a Borders near you: the Sony Reader (PRS-500).

I was one of the first customers, honest. And this is the reader I still have, and actually love, although since then Sony as brought out its sequel, PRS-505, and Amazon has brought out Kindle, and now, a couple of months back, Kindle 2.

The sweet thing about digital ink is that the reader only draws energy from the rechargeable battery when it "turns" (paints) a new page. Once the page has been painted, it is like paper, it's displayed without drawing any power at all. When Sony talks of Reader battery life, they measure it in number of page-turns. Kindle, which works on the same principle, is a little more power hungry since it also talks to the internet a lot (for downloads and Wikipedia access). Sony's current reader claims 7,500 page turns from a fully charged battery, while Kindle says it's battery charge will last up to 2 weeks (with wireless off).

 The downside, if there is one, with digital ink is that lacking backlight, you need good lighting to read it--as is, of course, true of paper books as well--and while the print is not as sharply contrasted as a paper page (the Sony Reader background is not crisply white, nor the letters crisply black) I still find it a pleasure, actually, to read the Sony Reader, and I've never had a problem with legibility.

All this to say that the eReader is here, and that between the two giants Sony and Amazon, they may--in the long run--have a positive impact on tree-preservation, not only through books but also newspapers; especially now since not only the Seattle Post Intelligencer, but also the Christian Science Monitor, have ceased their print editions and will now operate as digital-only papers (although the CSM will print a weekly magazine, with more in-depth coverage of current stories).

I gather that it will not be long before the Seattle Post Intelligencer and the Christian Science Monitor follow New York Times and Los Angeles Times in also becoming Kindle editions, to be downloaded automatically over-night, to be read, like any morning newspaper, with the coffee in the morning, sans dead trees.

The CSM, as did the Seattle Post Intelligencer, sites the economic advantages of an online-only edition in its efforts to stay viable, and even expand its coverage but fielding more journalists, especially abroad.

Not a word about trees, however; but in my mind, that is the sub-text.