Fake Web sites: Don't buy into the lie
By Carole Moore • Bankrate.com

Your e-mail inbox probably overflows with eager offers to part you and your money. Many are from scammers looking to score information so they can dip their greedy fingers into your bank accounts.

Thomas R. Burke, a partner in the San Francisco law offices of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, specializes in Internet privacy and security matters. Burke says fraudulent Web-based schemes proliferate faster than romantic rabbits -- and are here to stay.

"To be very plain about it, I don't think you can stop them (permanently)," Burke says. But, if you're smart, you can give thieves a run for your money.

Here's how phony banking Web site scams work: First the crook sets up a fake site that looks like the real one, then starts searching for victims.

One common approach is to shotgun spoofed (fake) e-mail messages to vast numbers of addresses. Also known as "phishing," the messages usually claim to be from financial institutions. 

The guy who banks at XYZ sees what looks like a legitimate message. The contents can vary from requesting a routine update to warnings of a security breach. There's a live link to the bank site, and the customer is directed to click on it. Those who do are taken to an official-looking page where they're expected to enter both information on their accounts and their passwords. Once thieves have this info, they can raid the accounts.

Banks are fighting back by educating customers and employees, as well as investing in new technology and the services of top-notch cybersecurity experts. But, as Burke points out, criminals are enterprising, so it's a never-ending job. Once a scam is identified and the word gets out, another one always pops up to take its place.

Politics -- but not as usual
The 2004 presidential election spurred fake sites pretending to be official campaign pages for candidates. The goal for the sites was to spread misinformation about these candidates, but there was also an opportunity to misappropriate other people's money in the form of campaign contributions.

At least two states -- New Mexico and Kentucky -- have already put into place a program designed to separate the real from the fake when it comes to political sites.

Leslie Fugate, director of communications for the Kentucky Secretary of State's office, says Kentucky candidates who run for state office can have an encrypted seal placed on their sites. The seal, which Fugate says would be very difficult to duplicate, has special properties that allow you to check its certification. For example, if you scroll to the bottom of bruceforrep.com, the site of Kentucky state-representative candidate Bruce Brockenborough, you'll see an encrypted seal that verifies authenticity.

"You can click the seal to check its certification," Fugate says.

By certifying bona fide candidates, Kentucky officials hope to protect voters from buying into phony election-contribution schemes and mudslinging.