10online holiday scams to avoid

Many of us are already shopping online, or will be soon, for the holidays. McAfee is pushing its software with its release of the "decimal most dangerous online scams" this season, but there's also some good info here. Consider it a gift of knowledge for you as you surf the Web for presents for your loved ones:
1- Malicious mobile apps: "These are mobile apps designed to steal information from smartphones, or send out expensive text messages without a user’s consent. Dangerous apps are usually offered for free, and masquerade as fun applications, such as games. For example, last year, 4.6 million Android smartphone users downloaded a suspicious wallpaper app that collected and transmitted user data to a site in China."
2- Mobile malware: More of us are using our phones for shopping, to research products or to redeem coupons. McAfee says Android phones are "most at risk," citing "a 76 percent increase in malware targeted at Android devices in the second quarter of 2011 over the first, making it the most targeted smartphone platform."

McAfee also says new malware "has recently been found that targets QR codes, a digital barcode that consumers might scan with their smartphone to find good deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, or just to learn about products they want to buy."
3.  Phony Facebook promotions and contests: "Who doesn’t want to win some free prizes or get a great deal around the holidays? Unfortunately, cyber scammers know that these are attractive lures and they have sprinkled Facebook with phony promotions and contests aimed at gathering personal information." One recent scam promised two free airline tickets — something that sounds appealing at this time of year especially — "but required participants to fill out multiple surveys requesting personal information."

4.  Scareware, or fake antivirus software: We've seen lots of examples this year. "Scareware is the fake antivirus software that tricks someone into believing that their computer is at risk — or already infected — so they agree to download and pay for phony software." McAfee says it's one of "the most common and dangerous Internet threats today, with an estimated 1 million victims falling for this scam each day."

5.  Holiday screensavers: Ah yes, we love our screensavers for special times of the years like Christmas. But some of the free ones are loaded with more than holiday cheer. "A recent search for a Santa screensaver that promises to let you 'fly with Santa in 3D' is malicious," McAfee says. "Holiday-themed ringtones and e-cards have been known to be malicious too."
6.  Mac malware: Those two words wouldn't have even been put together in the same sentence a few years ago. But, as McAfee correctly says, "with the growing popularity of Apple products, for both business and personal use, cyber criminals have designed a new wave of malware directed squarely at Mac users." McAfee Labs says as of a year ago, there were "5,000 pieces of malware targeting Macs, and this number is increasing by 10 percent month on month."
7.  Mystery shopper scams:  "There have been reports of scammers sending text messages to victims, offering to pay them $50 an hour to be a mystery shopper, and instructing them to call a number if they are interested.  Once the victim calls, they are asked for their personal information, including credit card and bank account numbers."

8.  Hotel "wrong transaction" malware emails:  "In one recent example, a scammer sent out emails that appeared to be from a hotel, claiming that a 'wrong transaction' had been discovered on the recipient’s credit card.  It then asked them to fill out an attached refund form. Once opened, the attachment downloads malware onto their machine."

9.  “It” gift scams: Looking for the kind of gift that might sell out quickly this year? "When a gift is hot, not only do sellers mark up the price, but scammers will also start advertising these gifts on rogue websites and social networks, even if they don’t have them," says McAfee. "So, consumers could wind up paying for an item and giving away credit card details only to receive nothing in return. Once the scammers have the personal financial details, there is little recourse."

10. “I’m away from home” scammers: You know this by now, or should: "Posting information about a vacation on social networking sites could ... be dangerous. If someone is connected with people they don’t know on Facebook or other social networking sites, they could see their post and decide that it may be a good time to rob them. Furthermore, a quick online search can easily turn up their home address."

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Sexual Harassment Pervasive in Grades 7-12

It can be a malicious rumor whispered in the hallway, a lewd photo arriving by cell phone, hands groping where they shouldn't. Added up, it's an epidemic — student-on-student sexual harassment that is pervasive in America's middle schools and high schools.

During the 2010-11 school year, 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experienced some form of sexual harassment in person or electronically via texting, email and social media, according to a major national survey being released Monday by the American Association of University Women.

The harassers often thought they were being funny, but the consequences for their targets can be wrenching, according to the survey. Nearly a third of the victims said the harassment made them feel sick to their stomach, affected their study habits or fueled reluctance to go to school at all.

"It's reached a level where it's almost a normal part of the school day," said one of the report's co-authors, AAUW director of research Catherine Hill. "It's somewhat of a vicious cycle. The kids who are harassers often have been harassed themselves."

The survey, conducted in May and June, asked 1,002 girls and 963 boys from public and private schools nationwide whether they had experienced any of various forms of sexual harassment. These included having someone make unwelcome sexual comments about them, being called gay or lesbian in a negative way, being touched in an unwelcome sexual way, being shown sexual pictures they didn't want to see, and being the subject of unwelcome sexual rumors.

The survey quoted one ninth-grade girl as saying she was called a whore "because I have many friends that are boys." A 12th-grade boy said schoolmates circulated an image showing his face attached to an animal having sex.

In all, 56 percent of the girls and 40 percent of the boys said they had experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment during the school year.

After being harassed, half of the targeted students did nothing about it. Of the rest, some talked to parents or friends, but only 9 percent reported the incident to a teacher, guidance counselor or other adult at school, according to the survey. Reasons for not reporting included doubts it would have any impact, fears of making the situation worse, and concerns about the staff member's reaction. The report comes at a time when the problem of bullying at schools is in the spotlight, in part because of several recent suicides of beleaguered students.

The AAUW report observes that sexual harassment and bullying can sometimes overlap, such as the taunting of youths who are perceived to be gay or lesbian, but it says there are important distinctions. For example, there are some state laws against bullying, but serious sexual harassment — at a level which interferes with a student's education— is prohibited under the federal gender-equality legislation known as Title IX..

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Cain ‘Back on Message,’ if His Rivals Will Allow It

If Herman Cain has been less than clear about exactly what happened during his tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s, when he was accused of sexual harassment, he is being perfectly clear about how he intends to conduct himself now. “We’re getting back on message, end of story,” Mr. Cain said here on Saturday night after a debate with Newt Gingrich, which ended up being more of a Tea Party pep rally than a clash of ideas. At no point during the nearly three-hour event, a fund-raiser that began with cocktails, did Mr. Cain address what had consumed his campaign the previous week.“Don’t even go there,” Mr. Cain warned reporters who clamored to ask him at least one question after the event.

But Mr. Cain’s effort to move past the story were thwarted on Sunday by what may be a sign of things to come. One of his opponents for the Republican presidential nomination, Jon M. Huntsman Jr., and an influential Republican leader, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, used appearances on a Sunday morning talk show to urge Mr. Cain to be more forthcoming in responding to the accusations.

“Legitimate questions have been raised,” said Mr. Huntsman, a former governor of Utah. Mr. Cain has built his reputation on being a folksy and straight-talking former pizza executive, an alternative to his rivals with years of political experience. But his recent denials and evasions threaten to become a turning point, or at least a midcourse correction, on his unlikely but thriving campaign for the presidency.

The very qualities that endeared Mr. Cain to so many conservatives appear to be undercutting his chances, as new questions are raised about his management style.

Mr. Cain, inexperienced on the national political stage, has stumbled repeatedly since Politico broke the story of the harassment accusations a week ago. He has issued an avalanche of confusing and often contradictory statements, lashing out at his rivals, accusing Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign of leaking the information, and ultimately blaming the news media for covering the story. “His base is skeptical of the allegations,” said Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist. “However, he will have to get it behind him sooner rather than later. I suspect this week will be the key week on the issue, and then it will die. Of course, that depends on what the accusers are allowed to say.”

Mr. Cain told reporters after the debate on Saturday that instead of asking him questions, they should read a copy of “the journalistic code of ethics.” And he has not budged on his insistence that he will not address the specifics of the accusations.

Until Sunday, his Republican opponents had for the most part refrained from bringing up the accusations. But Mr. Huntsman, appearing on the NBC News program “Meet the Press,” signaled that was no longer the case. “It’s up to Herman Cain to get the information out and get it out in total,” Mr. Huntsman said.

And Mr. Barbour, also on “Meet the Press,” said, “People need to know what the facts are.”

Such comments could undercut Mr. Cain’s case that the accusations were stirred up by a left-wing news media intent on destroying his candidacy.

Still, polls released late last week suggested that the crisis was not eroding Mr. Cain’s standing as a top-tier candidate; he was running neck and neck with Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. J. D. Gordon, a spokesman for Mr. Cain, said the campaign had raised $6.7 million since Oct. 1, effectively tripling what it had collected during the entire summer. He said the campaign staff had grown to 65, up from 30 paid workers at the end of the summer.

The Cain campaign did not respond on Sunday to a request for comment about its strategy. But judging from the lack of any public campaign events over the next several days, Mr. Cain is likely to be spending time behind closed doors preparing for the next debate with the large field of Republican candidates, which will be held Wednesday.

The debates have been an opportunity for Mr. Cain to shine, highlighting his capacity for making quick and catchy remarks while promoting his simple policy prescriptions, like the “9-9-9” flat tax plan. But it is unlikely that he will be able to evade questions about the harassment accusations or make light of them should they arise in the debate. Simply allowing time to pass might not be the best strategy. “Bad news is not like fine wine,” Mr. Barbour said, paraphrasing a quote from Henry A. Kissinger. “It doesn’t improve with age.”

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