December 18: More than 48 hours after being alerted that they're hosting a fake Canada Revenue Agency page that's clearly designed to steal private, personal information from Canadians...Maxnet.Co.NZ is still hosting the page. The company touts itself as a leading edge ISP and lists its awards, including finalist for the best ISP in New Zealand on more than one occasion. You'd think they'd be quick to pull a page designed to promote identity theft.

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An email arrived yesterday (Dec 16/2008) claiming to be from Revenue Canada and telling me I was due for a surprise refund. And with less than a week to go before Christmas, that's great news, right?

"After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 386.00"

Too bad it's a scam designed to trick you into turning over your personal information - name, date of birth and Social Insurance Number.

So how do we know it's a scam?

Think about it. This is too good to be true, right? And when did RevCan start sending you refund notices by email? They just send a cheque in the mail.

Looking a little deeper - that's what suspicious computer types do - the email didn't actually come from services@cra-arc.gc.ca - it came from an Internet site in Saudi Arabia that is doing its best to hide its ownership (kanoosa.com). And the web site where this supposed claim form lives (no name - just an Internet Protocal or IP address - 219.88.222.166)? That's an Internet company called Maxnet.Co.NZ - based in New Zealand. Now kick me if I'm wrong, but I don't think RevCan has set up shop in New Zealand. Where you can enter your personal information and get a pre-Christmas tax refund.

One of the giveaways that this is a scam that doesn't require that sort of technical expertise - look at the link to French on the phony page. The scammer obviously doesn't know how to create the French characters properly and the result is a link to Fran?ais. Can't imagine RevCan making that kind of mistake.

You may have heard the Privacy Commissioner bemoaning the fact that Canada has no anti-spam law - one of the very few industrialized countries in the world that has not taken concrete steps to stop the scourge of increasingly criminal activity -  and is becoming know as a haven for cybercriminals. The nature of this latest scam - looking for SIN numbers, DOB and full name - suggests that while it came from the Middle East and the trick web site is hosted near Middle Earth - the criminals behind this latest online fraud are based right here in the Great White North.

Cheers,

George

justFRED.ca

November story on CBC:

"Warning issued over fake letter from Canada Revenue Agency"
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/11/17/tax-scam.html">http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/11/17/tax-scam.html

Scrooge, Marley and Tiny Tim take to the stage at Nashwaaksis Middle
School tonight...we dropped into the dress rehearsal...and to the
NBCCD's annual Christmas craft show and sale...and we also attended
the FHS, LHHS and STU jazz band concert...

http://justfred.ca/

And the two Christmas tree lighting ceremonies take place this
evening - first at the Provincial Legislature (approx 7 pm) and then
at City Hall (approx 8 pm).

That and a whole lot more holiday style activities in the calendars.

http://justFRED.ca/calendar.php

We've been glued to the TV and the Internet over the past few days as
the continued rancour in Parliament led to the Prime Minister shutting
down the House of Commons for more than 50 days in the midst of a
global economic crisis in order for the minority government to avoid
a confidence vote it appeared destined to lose.

And we've been surprised at the wisespread misunderstanding about how
our Parliamentary democracy actually works. No, we're not going to
feed you a civics lesson here. But it's safe to say we're in the
middle of troubling times and our newly elected MPs are on holiday
for seven weeks.

Strange days, indeed.

Cheers,

George

justFRED.ca

We had so many photos of Christmas in the Village and the Nutcracker
Tea @ The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, that they filled the home page
again today...with a couple of other additions.

http://justFRED.ca/

And the calendar? It's pretty full, too, as you can see for yourself.

http://justFRED.ca/calendar.php

According to Environment Canada, we're going to have a glorious
end-of-fall day with the sun shining bright and the temperature
reaching 6 or 7 degrees...but bundle up. It's windy out there.

Cheers,

George

justFRED.ca

The 12th and final month of 2008 is upon us as the weather vacillates
between rain and snow, although we all know how it typically ends. We
visited Gagetown for the annual Christmas in the Village celebration,
watched the Kinsmen Santa Claus Parade, had tea at the Beaverbrook
Art Gallery and took part in the Boys & Girls Club fundraiser put on
by UNB's Sociology Department.

http://justFRED.ca/

Give blood, watch a movie, go to a Christmas concert...

http://justFRED.ca/calendar.php

Sure looks like a good day to crawl back under the covers with a
book...ah, wishful thinking.

Cheers,

George

justFRED.ca