Power Ideaz

By Pinaki Ghosh

No one can actually give you 100% protection for your computer. But the least that you can do is get a firewall which can help you and protect your very important data. Regular updates on your PC can also help in maintaining. The antivirus software’s too having some subscription formalities which one would have to fulfill.

It’s the best that you take enough protection at first, even before your PC encounters any virus problem. 

There are a few basic steps that one can follow to keep away from the Virus attack:

• Using the Internet Firewall can be of much help.
• In case you subscribe to any of the main programs, you can get some automatic updates.
• Do not open any email attachments which you receive from unknown senders.
• Even though you receive a mail from someone you know make sure you know what the attachment is. Sometimes the person sending you the mail too may be unaware of the virus that he might be spreading.
Antivirus
Commercial Antivirus
  avast! http://www.avast.com/
  AVG Anti-Virus http://www.grisoft.com/
  F-Prot  http://f-prot.com/
  F-Secure http://www.f-secure.com/
  LinuxShield  http://www.mcafee.com/us/enterprise/products/anti_virus/file_servers_desktops/linuxshield.html
  McAfee VirusScan  http://us.mcafee.com/root/package.asp?pkgid=276&cid=25655
  Norton AntiVirus http://shop.symantecstore.com/store/symnahho/en_US/ContentTheme/ThemeID.504200/pbPage.NAVstatic/pgm.11227100 
  Panda Antivirus http://www.pandasoftware.com/
  PC-cillin  http://us.trendmicro.com/us/home/
  Windows Live OneCare http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm
  ZoneAlarm AntiVirus http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/home.jsp 
  BullGuard http://www.bullguard.com/

Free antivirus software
  AOL Active Virus Shield http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp? 
  AVG Anti-Virus Free http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
  avast! Home http://www.avast.com/
  BitDefender 8 Free Edition http://www.bitdefender.com.sg/
  Comodo AntiVirus http://www.comodo.com/
  Clam AntiVirus http://www.clamav.net/
  OpenAntiVirus http://www.openantivirus.org/
  Winpooch http://sourceforge.net/projects/winpooch/

                             By Pinaki Ghosh

 More and more anti-viruses have been developed to fight against the attacks that are made by the viruses on the systems. The developers work on software’s that can be used but no anti virus can guarantee a 100% protection from the web viruses. One may state the most common viruses but, the list keeps changing.

One cannot present a unified list of viruses as they are very difficult to state. As soon as a new virus is born, there is a sudden haste to identify it and name it, and also to understand it. Therefore, after a little research and understanding the behavior of the virus a quick name is added to the virus. Most of the anti viruses work upon their instant reaction when a new virus is detected. Thus, they end up studying and naming the virus individually. Till the time they come on any conclusion, there are a lot of names that are called on for the virus.
You won’t be surprised to know that sometimes the old viruses are initially detected as a new virus. This may happen due to the variable behavior. To give you an example: the variation between the Sobig worm which was earlier known as the Palyh but again went on to being called the Sobig. Thus, if you see, it all depends on how much time it takes, and at the end the old name persists.

From the Numeric computer viruses, 4K or better known as 4096 – MS DOS, it is the first virus to use sleath, but nobody can assume the origin place of this virus. Also the isolation date of the 4K is in the month of January 1990. The other virus from the numeric category is the 5lo –MS DOS type which again had an unknown author and it infects the EXE files. It had its isolation date in the month of October in the year 1992.

The other viruses that have been in the news are:
The Elk Cloner which was the Apple II type and it was the first virus that has been observed in the wild. The Lamer Exterminator, which is the Amiga, Boot sector virus, originated in Germany dated October 1989. The Random encryption fills random sector with “Lamer” notes are the signs. The Scores virus, which had its isolation date in the 1988 spring, was designed to charge on two of the specific applications which ultimately never release. It was also known as the Eric, Vult, NASA or the San Jose Flu.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Viruses destroy your computers hard drive by surfing the Net too at times. The viruses can get into your data through the come through the Temporary Internet Files which can be threatening.

Websites are not safe in this context. You must give proper attention while searching through the major search engines. Google may be safe, but you really cannot trust the other sites. Sometimes the websites are safe, but there are cases that the viruses spread through the websites.
You must be extremely cautious while browsing through any of the sites dealing with sex or maybe drugs. If one may observe, the hackers love placing viruses in every possible way. Sites dealing with sex and pornographic material have more possibility of spreading the viruses.
You must take care while browsing through the search engines, and also the URL’s as unknowingly you might be attacked by the virus.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Spam mails or the mails that one receives from the unknown people are known as the most unwanted, unsolicited messages that are directly sent to your Mail Box. Its nothing but Junk mail!
These emails can contain anything from promotions to attachments on the latest movies etc. But you would never know when the attachments may contain Viruses. This can severely damage your computer. It may directly ruin your saved data directly. Thus, open such unsolicited mails would be of a great risk. 
You cannot control the spam mails, but you can definitely limit them and also delete them once you do receive them. Usually one does not know much about the Viruses as the work without the user having any knowledge. By reading a plain text Email one does not have chance of getting the virus. But if in case you see and codes or attachments like the JavaScript and the HTML message then one must avoid working it out, as this maybe a virus. You must execute proper codes to get it working. Mostly these problems can arise if you insert corrupt floppies too.

By Pinaki Ghosh 

The viruses are mainly activated to destroy the computer by actually damaging the programs or by deleting the files, or the reformatting of the main hard disk. People mainly create much type of viruses to work against the other agents and in turn severely damage your files! There are viruses programmed in a way to actually reformat the hard disk, which in turn means losing out on much of the information that one stores on his PC. At the same time, there are viruses which do not get any severe damage done to the computer, but are present in the files. Thus, they appear randomly and can also be present in the outgoing mails.
The viruses in the computers are programs which are developed in a way that they spread from one computer to another and sometimes completely crash your system!
Not only does a virus corrupt your saved data, but at times it deletes the entire data on the system. It deletes everything that is stored on your hard disk. Mostly the attachments in the emails and the on the instant messages actually spread the viruses. Hence, this is why one is advised not to download the attachments which are sent through unknown email ids. These viruses can be even the images or the cards. Also, sometimes they are the audio or the video clips.

Downloads can also pose as a medium for the viruses to spread. Most of the time, you do not know the virus that you may be downloading and through which software! It’s extremely essential that you get yourself a tool like the antivirus tools and upgrade your computer before it does any harm to your PC. You must take proper care while downloading any sort of software directly, even before scanning the attachment. Once your PC is affected, it’s difficult to retrieve all the information that has been stored.
The viruses are further on divided into two types of viruses mainly the Resident Virus and the Non Resident Virus. 

To get a brief overview on the Resident Virus and the Non Resident Virus you can go through the following:

The Resident Viruses:

The Resident viruses have a certain imitation unit which is just like to the one that works along the nonresident viruses. The effect is seen when it is executed.

The resident viruses are further broken down into the fats infectors and the slow infectors. The fast infectors are designed in a way that they affect a lot of the files in one go. They can log on to the host file whenever they would want. But in this case, it poses a threat to the anti virus that has been installed. And if in case the virus scanner does not hold the ability to get hold on the virus, this virus can keep its hold over the PC and infect all the files which are stored on the disk. The infectors certainly depend on the infection rate which should be spread. But in this case, it slows down the PC and can also be noticed by the anti virus that is installed in the PC.

The slow infectors on the other hand are especially designed to act as a slow poison for the host files. Most of the slow infectors infect files only when they are xeroxed. Normally they do not slow down the computer, and the anti virus is on an alert whenever there is any not so favorable act that goes on.

The Non Resident Viruses:
The Non- Resident Viruses are categorized as the Finder Module and a Replication Module. The Finder Module is mostly held up in finding the new files which can be infected. For most of the new executable folders and files which is called as the replication module which is used to infect that file.
Most of the Replicators main work focuses on:
1. You need to check the executable file which has been already infected with a virus.
2. The executable file must be appended with the Virus Code.
3. The starting point must be saved.
4. You must also save the changes to the executable file.
5. Close the file that has been infected.
There are many more areas that the Replicator would want to focus on.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Blocking spy ware is a tough job. None of the viruses can be blocked completely. To give you a detailed version:

If one may observe due to the internet, the computers are constantly attacked with the viruses. This is why, the companies and the users have the special anti-viruses to protect themselves from such viruses which can destroy the computers and delete the data. The inbox too is almost flooded by the spam and the other such useless mails which pose a threat to the computer. Once downloaded, if in case the computer is not protected, it can ruin your entire saved memory on the computer. Thus this will result in the computer break down.
The spyware and the adware software’s simply supervise and track down your sites (the ones that you have recently visited) so that you have a record of the sites that you have visited on the web.
To protect one from the unwanted but at the same time unavoidable little programs, you can just follow a little procedure. Sometimes, the spyware and the adware which are free at times turn out to be extremely useless.
Be Careful Where You Download:
The first basic part is that one must ask for a EULA. That is the End User License Agreement. Nobody goes out to read the entire terms and conditions in the box, and instead of clicking on the “No” tab, one goes one to click on the “Yes” Tab. This after not reading a word of the terms and conditions that are stated. Thus, it’s always better to click on a No, than clicking on the Yes button and facing a lot of nuisance.
The best would be that you read the entire terms, before you click on the text. Like the EULA, most of the users think of it as nothing but nuisance. The box works on a click and the once you do, it gets activated. The questions like, ‘would you want to install the spyware program?’ you are given the options like ‘yes’ and ‘no’. If you want to stop, just close the box, or cancel.
Try protecting your system with the help of the antivirus. Now days you may see that the antivirus come under various names. They are under the small parts or codes which help protect your computers. Mostly, the Trojans and the jokes, games and also the Spyware and the Adwares are free to download.  If at all the product does not show off the spyware or any of the products you must recheck your antivirus.
 
Try and scan your system:
Sometimes the antivirus software, and most of the other software that you think would work for you may eventually work miracles for you or at the other times, it might not work for you too. If you can actually download the Adaware Pro, Lavasoft, you can even try out their free trail versions.  It will scan your computer but at the same time manually work on finding out the viruses and the spy wares. Once you try and work on this system, you’re sure to have a system that is full protected and virus free! All the best!

By Pinaki Ghosh

To describe Spyware, it is computer software which if installed on your PC which restricts your interaction thus helping you keep the Computer safe! As the Spyware software developed, this industry has come up rapidly. Also, in response to the same, the anti- Spyware companies have sprung up in action. In order to keep your computers secure, the anti spy ware software’s are extremely necessary. A number of laws have been passed to target the software which almost controls the user’s functions on his computer.
To understand the functions and know more about the spyware you can log on to http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/spyware/ .
The spy ware program is often accompanied with many more components. The system often has a slow and degraded performance. It takes up most of the Disk place and also has a lot of significant CPU activity which in turn breaks down the computer and slows it.  The system crashes are a common site in such cases. Logging on to the net becomes extremely difficult when the Spyware mingles with the networking software.
Spy Ware is also called as the “data miner”.
To elaborate on adware, it means the advertisements or the banners which are displayed but this happens without the consent of the user. Just like the Viruses or the other worms that affect the computers, the spyware does not do so. Just for the commercial use the spyware manipulates the computers that are infected just for the increase in the commercial gain. Not necessarily does it spread like the other viruses, like the infected systems and again transmits the same to the other computers.
Spyware gets on a system and also the lack in the functioning of the proper software’s.

Normally the infected system does not spread from one computer to the other. Spyware comes wrapped up with the software’s that can be downloaded. The downloadable software’s also the music CD’s.  Not necessarily does the software do any harm. In any case, the people manufacturing and working on the packaging this software’s add spyware. Spyware or adware are the software which are secretly planted the system by some websites. The promoters and the marketers are even keener on supervising the online etiquettes. It would also want to reveal the web sites that one would want to visit. Most of the advertisers are keen to know more about what is being done by you on the net.
Log on to www.spyware.com to get your spy ware!

One of the subtypes of the spy ware is the surveillance spy ware. It’s specially developed to go through a person’s doings, and all this happens without the person knowing. Although the origin is unknown, the software and hardware is being developed by the day.
The software which is installed can actually track the keystrokes and at the same time save the chat and also the matter in the mails. At regular intervals there are screenshots that are taken on the computer monitor. The passwords which are stolen from one computer can be tracked down with the help of this spyware.

The hardware that is attached to the keyboard and the computer records and saves the buttons punched in and used on the PC. To be frank, this is an amazing way to steal the important information like passwords from one computer and never be caught by even a software anti spyware!
Minute cameras and the mikes that cannot be easily seen or spotted can be fixed in the cars of the rooms.
 

By Pinaki Ghosh

(This is a part of the series of mails which tried to steal personal details from the recipients)

Netherlands Lottery Scam
CONTACT: LEONALD GODFFERY
FROM THE DESK OF THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR,
THE NETHERLANDS STAATSLOTERIJ
THE NETHERLANDS
www.staatsloterij.nl

NATIONAL E-MAIL LOTTO PRIZE AWARD.

Dear Sir/ Madam

We are pleased to announce you as one of the lucky winners in the StaaatsLoterij E-mail Lottery draw held today the 11th of October 2006.All winning E-mail addresses were randomly selected from a batch of 100,000,000 international Emails from Internet Service Provider Companies. Your E-mail address emerged as a category “A” winner in this year’s Lotto Draw.

Consequently, you have therefore been approved for a total pay out of Nine Hundred Thousand, One Hundred and Eighty Three Euros only (900,183.00 Euros). In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number, batch numbers, and winning numbers in all correspondence with your claims officer.

1. BATCH: 007/48SL/847/970
2.The file Ref number: BSO61/94756/001
3.Winning Number: 003/67590/SL048

Please contact the under listed claims officer via this E-mail below as soon as possible for the immediate release of your winnings:
MR LEONALD GODFFERY
(CLAIMS OFFICER)
DE NEDERLANDSE STAATSLOTERIJ
TEL: ++31-616-557-921
Email: statslottooffice@aim.com
Please kindly fill in the attached form below for the immediate process of your winning prize.

1. FULL NAME
2. TELEPHONE
3. NATIONALITY
4. OCCUPATION
5. AGE/SEX
6. WINNING E-MAIL ADDRESS
7.WINNING NUMBER
8. TOTAL AMOUNT WON
9.MARITAL STATUS
10.CONTACT ADDRESS
11. BATCH
12. THE FILE REFERENCE NUMBER
Please note, in order to avoid unnecessary delays, please remember to quote your reference number, batch numbers, and winning number in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform the Claims Officer as soon as possible as he is responsible for the processing of your approved file for payment. Congratulations once again on behalf of all our staff.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Yours Faithfully
MRS JENET COX
(Lottery Co-ordinator)

Please make sure you keep your winning confidential till you have received your payment. This is to avoid double claims. Do not contact this office as your correspondence should be addressed to your claims officer above MR LEONALD GODFFERY.
NB: In accordance with the DE NEDERLANDSE STAATSLOTERIJ policy and regulations, this notification is dispatched directly to only the 45 lucky consultation prize Winners. This notification also contains information that is proprietary, privileged or confidential or otherwise legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not the right recipient whose email address attached to the lucky numbers along with the winning information’s you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or disseminate this notice or any part of it.

By Pinaki Ghosh 

(This is a part of the series of mails which tried to steal personal details from the recipients) 

From: Mr. David Nkolo
Box 1287 Port Shepstone
Chaka -South Africa.
Hello,
My name is Mr. David Nkolo and I work in the International operation department in a Local Bank here in South Africa. On a routine inspection I discovered a dormant domiciliary account with a BAL of (fifty Six Million USD) on further discreet investigation, I also discovered that the account holder has long since passed away (dead) leaving no beneficiary to the account. The bank will approve this money to any foreigner because the former operator of the a/c is a foreigner and from Iraq in particular and I am certainly sure that he is dead, and nobody will come again for the claim of this money, A foreigner can only claim this money with legal claims to the account Holder; therefore I need your cooperation in this transaction. I will provide the necessary information needed in order to claim this money, But you will need to open an account where this can be transferred. If you are interested send your private Telephone No. And Fax number including full details of the account to be used for the Deposit. I wish for outmost confidentiality in handling this transaction as my job and the future of my family would be jeopardized if it were breached.
The amount involved is (USD 56M) Fifty Six million United States Dollars, I only want to first transfer $36,000.000[Thirty Six million United States Dollar from this money into a safe foreigners account abroad before the rest. I want to assure you that the transaction is without risk if due process is followed accordingly. However, I got your contact address from my secretary who does not know the need for it. Finally, I will give you 35% for your corporation 5% for the expenses. I look forward to a favorable response from you.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr David Nkolo
N.B. I need your phone and fax numbers for easy communications.

By Pinaki Ghosh

(This is a part of the series of mails which tried to steal personal details from the recipients) 

account holder with no kin has died, leaving millions in his account
From: Mbeki Sisulu
Address: Johannesburg-South Africa.
Email:mbekisisulu@myway.com
Dear Friend,
In our search for a trustworthy individual to work with us on a very important and confidential project, we came across your esteemed profile through our Chambers of Commerce and Industries. My name is Mr. Mbeki Sisulu, a principal executive officer in the audit department of the Peoples Bank (PBSA) here in South Africa. During they early preliminary in-house auditing of accounts, I discovered an account opened by one of our late clients in 1995 and since 2000 has remained dormant which means that nobody has been operating it up till date. The total amount in this account is $15,500,000.00 Million less accrued interest. Working together with the audit manager; we decided to investigate this account for more information. We discovered that the owner of this account, a foreigner has died inter-state leaving no heirs or next of kin who could make a claim.
Presently, we are the only two people in our organization with access to this information and we have decided to keep it that way and claim the money using you as a (third party) to take the place of the deceased (next of kin). We will supply the necessary information on the deceased and ensure that the claim application is giving immediate approval. Documents like the death certificate will be arranged and forwarded to you for onward submission to the bank.
The project is risk-free as we will use contacts that hold strategic positions in the bank to effect a successful completion of the project and also ensure that all traces of our mutual involvement are completely wiped off. These presents no problem as all documented evidence will be directly under their supervision.
I have the authority of my partners to propose the following: SHOULD YOU BE WILLING to assist us in this transaction, your share of the sum will be 25% of the total sum, 70% for us and 5% for reimbursable expenses (taxation and miscellaneous Expenses incurred.) This is after all expenses have been refunded and taxes have been paid. The transaction itself is 100%-SAFE for all involved.
This is possible if on your part you treat it as confidential and with the utmost secrecy it deserves. Please note that your area of specialization is not a hindrance to the successful execution of this transaction. Hope that you will not disappoint us. We would like to get your decision to this proposal as soon as possible. On receipt of your decision, we will fax or email you explicit details of the already completed ground work on this project. You can contact me at all times via the above email for further explanation.
Best Regards,
Mbeki Sisulu.

Continued from my previous post (below)

By Pinaki Ghosh
PayPal Scam 2

Dear valued PayPal member:
We regret to inform you that your account has been suspended.
As a result, your access on PayPal has been restricted. To start using fully your PayPal account, please update and verify your information by responding this notification. If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into any future problems with the online service.
Please update your records on or before July 28, 2006. Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.
To update your PayPal records click on the following link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run
Thank You.
PayPal - UPDATE TEAM

PayPal Scam 3

Dear users of PayPal services,
Due to upcoming year 2006, and recent changes in Pay Pal’s Service Agreement you need to submit additional details on your PayPal account. Starting from 2006 all PayPal accounts will come with complete detailed information! Identity protection matters. And PayPal works day and night to help keep your identity safe.
According the new changes in Service Agreement any unverified account will be deleted from the system in 72 hours after receiving this letter.

By Pinaki Ghosh

In this section I am producing some of the legendary Phishing mails, exactly as they came, to make you aware of the nature of Phishing mails and as such, alter you. Here is a phishing mail in the unchanged form, claiming to be from PayPal.

Pay Pal Scam 1: Updating Records

Dear Valued PayPal Member,
During our timely schedule account maintenance and verification unfortunately we have detected a slight error in your billing information on one of the files with PayPal.
Such things might occur due to the following problems:
- Any recent changes in your personal information like the change of address
- Our inability to verify the option of payment that you have selected which may be because of an internal error within our processors.
Therefore your account has been temporarily suspended. We need you to confirm your identity so that you can regain full privileges of your account.
However, the failure to update your records will result in account suspension.
In case it is not completed by July 20, 2007, we would reserve the right to terminate all privileges of your account indefinitely, as it may have been used for fraudulent purposes.
We thank you for your cooperation in this manner.To confirm your identity please follow the link below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run
Thank you for your patience in this matter.
PayPal - Customer Service
Please do not reply to this e-mail as this is only a notification. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

By Pinaki Ghosh 
According to Peter Hildreth, New Hampshire’s Director of Securities Regulation and President of NASAA, “Today we have an ideal climate for fraud! Millions of new investors, many of whom expect unrealistically high returns, are looking for places to put their money. At the same time we’re living through an Internet-driven technology revolution that is a boon to investors and con artists alike.”
Eric Clark, the Secretary of State, Mississippi, has made a report on the top ten online investment scams in order to caution the internet users from the happenings.
According to Clark, “Securities fraud costs Americans billions of dollars each year; I know Mississippians just like me are investing for their retirement or their children’s education. But all of us need to be careful and watch out for these scams.”
The list has been worked upon by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).
The following is a list of the most spoken about Top Ten Scams, ranked in an order of seriousness or prevalence:
1) Internet fraud:
The scamsters or the frauds that log on to the web to “pump and dump” small stocks, peddle bogus offshore “prime bank” notes and perpetrate fraudulent pyramid schemes comprises of the first internet scam. Most of the states have certain programs that supervise the web for such fraud and conduct Internet “Surf Days.” The web world is like a city with good people and also bad people, and the people wanting to invest need to be a little extra careful about taking the advice from the people they do not know. Do not invest on the basis of a “tip” on the web without indulging in any independent research. You might not have the slightest hint about who’s offering you the not wanted help.

2) Investment seminars:
The people who invest must know about the seminars that are very costly and where the self proclaimed gurus imply that you can quickly get rich!
By luck, some people do tend to get rich. But if one may observe usually they’re the ones taking the seminars, making the money from the admission fees, and selling their books and audiotapes. An Idea that works to promote oneself! The seminars that are marketed through the media such as the newspapers, radios and TV ads and “infomercials” on cable television too have the capability to get some people in their favor. Just recently the promoters have started their own colloquium and tutorials that promise to turn the investors into a successful stock “day traders.” The day trading, more similar to gambling than investing, is inappropriate for the vast majority of investors.
3) Affinity group fraud:
The people from the closely knit religious, political or ethnic groups are often the target here. The frauds from the same religion, ethnicity or political orientation target them. The crooks that seek to misuse the natural trust of the common people like us. The targeted media advertising is used to recognize the people who can be easily fooled. Most often this works with the offers of employment or mere financial advice. To explain better take an example of the California’s Asian communities that have been wronged by scammers luring them in the foreign exchange investments which are bogus. Most typically the promoters steal the money and absolutely no reserves are made.
4) Abusive sales practices:
The entire State and other securities regulators have been working on and also report progress in the fight against “microcap” stock fraud by suspending, barring and criminally prosecuting brokers who specialize in the manipulation of low-priced securities. But none the less the investors need to be on a constant vigil and should hang up on cold callers.
5) Telemarketing fraud:
The new “boiler rooms” or the high-pressure telephone sales operations are unlocked most of the time, and they sell the illegal or the fraudulent investments. The advertisers try to make the most out of the headlines—from the fears over the Year 2000 problem to the Asian currency crisis or breakthroughs in computers or biotechnology. In one way the weak investors can try and protect themselves by using their telephone answering machine to screen their calls and not even answer solicitations by the much irritating salespeople.
6) Promissory notes:
The growing area of fraud and the notes that are supposedly “insured” and backed by real assets are better known as the promissory notes. In fact, they are backed only by often worthless promises to repay. They tend to give you the high interest rates also to the investors who may be trying hard to get the income from the money market funds or also the certificates of deposits. The investments are sold by the life insurance agents that are lured by the high commissions, and most of the times even they know nothing about the promoters also of the savings beyond what they have been told. Sometimes, the agents do not know much about what has been licensed as the security brokers with the state securities regulators to sell these notes. In most of the cases, the notes must be recorded with the regulators. The multi-state investigations which also have been exposed to a number of the promoters of these notes state that there have had problems with the regulators of the past. Most notes that are questioned are on the behalf of companies which do not even exist. In any case if the companies are legal, investors should realize that the reason these notes are being offered directly to small investors is because banks and venture capitalists have refused to invest in the companies.
7) Viatical investment scams:
The most wanted and the hottest new investment product and at the same time extremely risky, “viatical contracts” are usually the interests in the death benefits of terminally ill patients such as AIDS and cancer victims. The patient who is insured gets a percentage of the death benefit in cash, supposedly to improve the quality of their lives in the last days. The investors get a part of the entire amount of the death benefit when the insured succumbs into his ailment; this is only once a fee is paid off to the viatical investment broker. Because of such reservations in stating as a terminally ill person would die, these investments must be considered extremely exclusive.
8) Entertainment fraud:
The con artists or the frauds zero down on the investors hoping to hit it on a big by purchasing a piece of the next big ship like “Titanic.” Leaving aside the movies and investment vehicles include the cable television shows, video games and other such entertainment products.
9) Ponzi/pyramid schemes:
Almost always in style, these cheat by promise on high rates of return to the investors, but the only people making a profit are the advertisers which send them in motion, at the expense and out of funds from later investors, and those who end up losing their money when the house of cards inevitably caves in.
Illegal franchise offerings:
The State that has now taken the strict action relating to the inadequate information and fraud involving franchise investments, often marketed at business opportunity and franchise trade shows where promoters target people attracted by the prospect of owning their own business.

Today’s post continues from where I left yesterday

Pinaki Ghosh 

The Bait:
The report that you’ve been “pre-qualified” to receive something like a low-interest loan or credit card, or repair your bad credit even though banks have turned you down is the ultimate bait here. To take the benefit of this, you must first be ready to shell up a processing fee which may be of some several hundred dollars.
The Take:
A lawful and pre-qualified take also means you’ve been given the chance to apply. Firstly you must try and complete a form which can still be turned down just in case. If you have paid a fee in advance for the promise of a loan or credit card, you’ve been hustled. There may be a list of lenders, but there’s no loan, and the person you’ve paid has swiped off your money and run away.
Your Safety Net:
If in case you think it’s just a promise with no legal documents, do not pay! The legal lenders never base their cards on “guarantee” or talk about loans before you even apply. It may require that you pay for the application, appraisal, or credit report fees, but these fees rarely are required before the person who is lending is identified and the terms and conditions are completed. The plus is that the fees which are generally paid to the lender and not to the middle man who arranged the much “guaranteed” loan.
You can forward unsolicited email containing credit offers to spam@uce.gov.
 

Debt Relief
The Bait:
This is when the mails advertise themselves in a way that one can combine their bills into their monthly payment without even borrowing; or the stop credit harassments, foreclosures, repossessions, tax levies and garnishments; or pay off your credits.
The Take:
The offers, often involve a lot of bankruptcy proceedings, but rarely say so. The reason being, that it has a negative and at the same time a long term impact on your creditworthiness. A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years, and can hinder your ability to get credit, a job, insurance, or even a place to live. To top it off, you will likely be responsible for attorneys’ fees for bankruptcy proceedings.

Your Safety Net:
Try getting the main idea from the mails. Before actually resorting to the bankruptcy, get into a conversation with your creditors about arranging a modified payment plan, contact a credit counseling service to help you develop a debt repayment plan, or carefully consider a second mortgage or home equity line of credit. But you must take care that while a home loan may allow you to combine your debts, it may also require your home as security. And just in case you do not make your payments, you could unfortunately lose your home.
You can forward debt relief offers to spam@uce.gov.
 

Investment Schemes
The Bait:
The mails which promise one the “investments” and the high rates of return with little or no risk are the bait here. In one way it seeks the investors to form an offshore bank. In another way it is absolutely vague about the nature of the investment, and also the stress in the rates of return. The promoter’s sometimes publicize the high-level financial connections; and also the fact that they’re privy to information from within the body; also that they’ll give a guarantee on the investment; or again that they’ll buy it back. To stop the deal, they would often serve up phony statistics, and then misrepresent the significance of a current event, or stress the unique quality of their offerings.

The Take:
Most of the unsolicited plans are often a good investment for the advertisers, but not so for the ones taking part. Promoters of fraudulent investments operate a particular scam for a short time, close down before they can be detected, and quickly spend the money they take in. Here, they might open an account in a new name, and also by selling another  

Investment scam.
Your Safety Net:
Take as much time in understanding the offer as the higher the promised return then the higher is the risk. Do not let an advertiser put you under pressure into committing an investment before you are sure that it’s legal.
To understand and sign up for any investment offer, get yourself an attorney or an accountant who can help you understand.
In case of any scam spam, forward it with investment-related schemes to spam@uce.gov.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Work-at-Home Scams
The Bait:
What works here are the advertisements which lure the audience with the steady income in turn of minimal labor — in the medical claims processing, envelope-stuffing, craft assembly work, or other jobs. The ads here use some one liner like: Fast cash, minimal work, no risk and also the advantage of working from home when it’s convenient for you.
The Take:
The amount of time or the hours are not mentioned but only the nature of the work to be done. After you put in your individual time and money, soon after you’re most likely to find your promoters who in turn refuse to pay you, claiming that your work isn’t up to their quality standards.
Your Safety Net:
Whenever you commit any money to anyone, try and find out the nature of the work that you will have to fulfill, or whether you will be paid a salary or work on commission, or also who will pay you, when you will get your first paycheck, the total cost of the program — including supplies, equipment and membership fees — and what you will get for your money. Try getting some advice from a professional lawyer, an accountant, a financial advisor, or another expert if you need it, and check out the company with your local consumer protection agency, not only where the company is located, but also where you live.
You can forward work-at-home scams to spam@uce.gov

Weight Loss Claims
The Bait:
These Weight Loss Claims commit a revolutionary pill, patch, cream, or other product that will result in weight loss without diet or exercise. These products lure and block the absorption of fat, carbs, or calories; others guarantee permanent weight loss; and at the same time suggest that one would lose lots of weight at a lightening speed.
The Take:
These are nothing but ideas that indirectly take over your senses. An immediate hope takes place in a persons mind. Nobody thinks that there’s nothing that is present via email which can be worn or applied to ones skin which can cause any kind of weight loss.
Your Safety Net:
The experts also know for a fact that the most reliable way to cut the fat is to munch on a fewer calories and also gain any kind of physical activity so that you are capable to burn more energy.
To set a goal to lose about a pound in a week is achievable. Most of us, which means that one, have to cut about 500 calories in just a day, by eating a variety of nutritious foods, and exercising regularly. As the lifestyle changes, the weight loss is expected. You can have a conversation with your health care provider about some nutrition and exercise plan which can suit your lifestyle and metabolism.
You can forward your weight loss emails to spam@uce.gov.
Cure-All Products
The Bait:
The mails which actually try to prove that a product is a “miracle cure,” a “scientific breakthrough,” an “ancient remedy” — or an instant quick and effective remedy for a large number of ailments or diseases. These normally announce the very short accessibility, and also require a payment which has to be cleared off in advance, and that also offers a no-risk “money-back guarantee.” The case histories or testimonials by some vague people or doctors which claim to have the amazing results are not at all uncommon.
The Take:
There is no absolutely no item for consumption or nutritional supplement that can be sent through emails and which can prove the claims to shrink tumors, cure insomnia, cure impotency, treat Alzheimer’s disease, and prevent severe memory loss right. This usually deals with the remedies of the diseases; that the companies make claims which follow the FDA’s pre-market testing and review process required for new drugs.

Your Safety Net:
When trying to evaluate any of the health-related claims give it a skeptical thought. If possible consult any of the health care professionals before buying of any “cure-all” packs which claim to find a wide range of ailments or also that offer some quick cures and easy solutions to the much serious illnesses. Frankly speaking, the cure all, cure none formula works here.
You may forward spam with miracle health claims to spam@uce.gov.
Check Overpayment Scams
The Bait:
What can look like a net to trap you can be a response to the ad that you’ve posted or any of the online auction posting, offering to pay with a cashier’s, personal, or corporate check. The so-called buyer (or the buyer’s “agent”) makes up a valid reason for writing the check for more than the purchase price, and can also ask you to wire back the difference once you have deposited the check.
The Take:
You lose just in case you deposit the check. Mostly the checks that are issued are counterfeit, but definitely they are good enough to dupe the unsuspecting bank tellers; and if in any case they bounce, you must pay the entire sum.
Your Safety Net:
Do not agree to a check for any amount which is more than your selling price. Do not succumb into any situation even if it tempts you. You can ask the buyer to give you the check for the purchase price. If the buyer gives you the incorrect sum, return the check. In such cases do not send the merchandise. If you are the vendor who accepts payment by check, you can ask for a check which is drawn on your local bank, or a bank with your local branch. This way, you can also personally make sure that the check is ultimately valid. If this cannot be done call the bank from which the check was drawn and by using the phone number from directory assistance or an Internet site that you know and trust, not from the person who gave you the check. Find out whether the check is totally valid.
You too can forward the check overpayment scams to spam@uce.gov and your state Attorney General.
Also, you can find contact information for your state Attorney General at www.naag.org.

By Pinaki Ghosh 
Also known as Junk Mails, Spam mails are sent at a bulk, and are almost identical. At just one time, these mails are sent to a numerous recipients. Over the years, there has been a considerable increase in the sending of these Spam Mails.  Most of the time, these Spam Mails have a lot of viruses too. There are a lot of precautions that you can personally take care of so that it does not affect you and your computer at a financial level. You can delete the spam mails as and when you see them in your inbox or the junk folder. This war, it would be easier to keep your mail box safe. Spam mails are most of the times mails that are sent by the scamsters. A huge number of spam mails are into circulation nowadays, which is an area of concern. If in any case you want to keep yourself safe from these spam mails, you can follow some safety precautions for yourself. Do not sign in for any newsletters as most of the times, these newsletters are also Spam. Unless and until your sure about the site that you want to view, do not click on to any unknown sites.
Try not entertaining the spammers. Do not fall prey and subscribe to buy what they want to sell. Just mail in a complain mail to them. It is not point trusting the Spam Mails.
Usually the spammers log on to the user nets to hunt for people who can fall prey to these scams. They trick the people in every possible way over the internet. On request, these spammers get the required information from the servers. Spammers have web-spiders that spider through web pages, looking for email addresses (e.g. email addresses contained in mailto: HTML tags).

By Pinaki Ghosh

‘Hacking’ is a concept known by most of the people who log on to the internet. Hacking is a crime! By simply punching some codes, one can get a copy of the passwords and then in turn misuse the account that belongs to someone else. These spoofs hamper the safety of the internet users. Generally people wanting to explore the possibilities of getting into someone else’s account indulge themselves in these hacking tactics. But this is also a way of misusing the information. People who indulge in these crimes are known as Hackers. Usually the hackers hack the computers of big companies and leak the important information.  Hackers normally are not differentiated from the crackers, who are the people who get the unauthorized access to any of the restricted computers. The security of the computers is hampered due to the hacking that takes place. Most of your important information is leaked out due to the hackers. If most of your files are deleted or blocked by the hackers, you cannot access your own PC. This is when we end up saying “My PC has been hacked!”
Just as to protect your PC from such cases, you can install the firewall that can help you and protect you from the existing hackers to a certain extent.

I will continue my series on hacking, phishing, viruses and all other online threats, and how to protect yourself. I shall discuss later who ar ethical hackers and how they can be helpful.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Yahoo success story
In the year1994 when Internet was in its early days, two good Electrical Engineering students and also friends from the Stanford University, who were great buddies and loved surfing the net, from their campus trailer, pursued their liking of adding names of websites to the list of their favorite sites that they had come across. The list never stopped and kept growing. When the list grew very long, they made headings and subheadings to manage it. This list was soon made available on the internet for other people who had the interest and their site started off with the name, Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web. Jerry Yang and David Filo loved the name Yahoo which had a dictionary meaning as ‘rude, unsophisticated, uncouth’ as it went with their mood. Yahoo is also an acronym for ‘Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.’ David and Jerry favorites’ list became a big success, and by November 1994 they had already more than 1 million viewers visiting their site!
Filo and Yang soon understood the huge potential business waiting for them, and went forward and approached several Venture Capitalists in order to expand their business.  It never was an easy task for these two students who had with no business experience in order to arrange for finance. Ultimately they succeeded in convincing Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Sequoia Capital (Venture Capitalist of Apple, Atari, Cisco and Oracle) who agreed to finance them with $2 million in April 1995 and Yahoo.com took off to an amazing start The two friends were extremely quick witted to hire a proper management team with Tim Koogle, a veteran of Motorola and an alumnus of the Stanford engineering department, as chief executive officer and Jeffrey Mallett, founder of Novell’s WordPerfect consumer division, as chief operating officer. Yahoo then started with the new high profile work force in April 1996 comprising of a total of 49 employees. Yahoo then had its initial public offering on April 12, 1996, raising $33.8 million, by selling 2.6 million shares at US$13 each.
Today “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web” is the top global internet communications, commerce and media company serving over 345 million users every month across the globe. Now it offers the multiple solutions like instant messaging, free email service, search engine, news, advertising, gaming, streaming audio-video, hosting solutions, social connection building (Yahoo 360 degrees) and lots more. It too has different sites according to the different countries. Yahoo has offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, Canada and US; with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.

By Pinaki Ghsoh 

Once your Internet Marketing Business starts working, you will definitely need an accountant within the few initial months itself. The use of the accountant is that he is a key-advisor in your business; his presence will help you stay relaxed. Lack of a good accountant in your business can make you feel restless. Thus it’s imperative that you appoint one. You feel it less tiresome when you know when your money goes or about your savings.
(i) Try appointing an accountant before you stat your business.
(ii) You must get the qualifications of this person verified which is important, you must make sure that he is well-qualified.
(iii) While choosing an accountant, make sure your accountant has experience of dealing with the accounts of small business, if your business is small in nature. Even better, if she/he has experience of working with organizations of your type/sector.
(iv) Try getting the cross checking done with other firms how much their accountants are charging. It is a good idea to compare rates before choosing an accountant, to make sure he/she is charging the right rate.
(v) Meet up with the concerned person as you would trust the person for dealing with your money.  This is an important step in choosing an accountant for your business.
(vi) Try and know the additional services and advices can she/he offer.
(vii) The best accountants for the small business are the ones who are used to dealing with the small time business—they know how to manage and utilize the small funds. It would be a very silly mistake to choose an accountant and to bring one who has experiences of dealing with big firms and big funds.
(viii) In the process of selecting an accountant, make sure your accounts person does not keep the work reserved till the year end.
(ix) Your accountant should be able to minimize your taxes; for that get in touch with his/her former clients to find out how far she/he has been successful in doing this.
(x) You must question the person how he or she can guide you when the company will be dissolved.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Once you take the plunge into the internet marketing business, mostly your mode of payment would be via the credit cards to make the online payments. It’s not always secure to make online payments through the credit card.

You can follow some of the tips from experts on online credit card safety:

• Truly, encryption technology means online transactions can be much safer than using your card over the phone or by fax.

• But the buying must be done from the secure sites only. A small closed lock symbol towards the lower, right side of the site (Internet Explorer), or an unbroken key on a dark blue background at the bottom of a site (Netscape Navigator assures that the site is protected. It also means that your credit card, and purchase information is scrambled over the net; which means your credit card information is safe. But the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) reports that these symbols can be duped also.

• It’s not safe to pass on your credit or debit card info out via email, nor use it as proof of who you are.

• In case of getting any deals do the needful with only known companies. If it is a little known company, ask for their printed documents for your records.

• Mostly you must pay through a third party between you and the merchant, like Pay Pal, rather than directly giving away your credit/debit card information to the merchant.

• In case of doubts, take strict and swift action. You must not ignore to report to the bank immediately.

• Go through your statements and be sure that the amounts shown are yours. At times it may happen that the business name is different from the brand name, and what looks like an unauthorized transaction, may really be your transaction! Be careful!

• If you’re assured that the amount was not transacted by you report the card as stolen to the company, and also to your bank. Even if you still have the piece of plastic, someone else has the numbers. So it’s stolen, anyway.

• Use complex, alphanumeric (combination of letters and numbers) passwords for online accounts. Do not use your personal information like wife’s name, son or daughter’s name, your own nickname, your car number, your phone number etc. for such accounts. There are chances that whoever is using your account is acquainted to these details too.

• Try using just one card for the transactions.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Nochex.com is the name of UK’s leading independent service provider of the secure online card payments. Presently based in 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF; it gives you a secure and reliable online payment service lots of petty businesses like maybe yours. The aim of the company is to leave you with a professional and flexible service at an assuring rate. The most impressive features are: competitive transaction rates, no customer sign up necessary, instant availability of funds, no monthly charges, easy to integrate and manage, professional, helpful and flexible. Hence, you can open a Personal Account, a Seller Account, or a Merchant Account but only if you’re monthly transactions are above £1,000.
Nochex Personal Account
The Nochex Personal Account is the best for sending in and receiving the money between the individuals for bidding and the classified adverts and also the online buy.

The main areas are:

(a) FREE to send money

(b) ability to send up to £300 per day (and also receive money)

(c) account balance limit of up to £90 at any time

(d) just 2.9% + 20 pence processing costs per received transaction (no set up charges).
Nochex Seller Account
The ideal payment solution for any new businessmen and small time vendors who are likely to be processing up to £30,000 a year (£2,500 a month) is the Nochex Seller account. You are not charged with the basic setup charges, processing charges are 2.9% + 20 pence processing costs per received transaction, you can receive instant card payments of up to £100 from any non-member of Nochex and £300 a day from any full member. With Nochex, you can easily acknowledge the UK issued MasterCard, Switch, Solo, Maestro, Visa Debit, and Visa Electron credit and debit cards. You also get the benefit of chargeback protection and guarantee.
Nochex Merchant Account
The Nochex Merchant Account mostly suits the merchants who are likely to be processing over £12,000 a year (£1,000 a month), or also for the vendors who give in the way of greater value transactions (over £100 each). The benefit of this account type is the instant cash that you receive. Once you receive the money into your Nochex account you can withdraw the money immediately. The minimal charges for the setup are £50. All the other features are similar to the Seller Account, and the rates too are the same for receiving the costs. The other benefit of this account type is that you can agree to the global payments only with this type of account.

  By Pinaki Ghosh 
The Idea:
Most of us would want to agree that Paypal is one of the best things that developed in the e-commerce zone. Paypal has a heavy ranking among the most popular sites, and also is an assured form of sending and withdrawing payments between you and the customer. If you do not wish to give your credit card details to the merchant as it may prove to be a risky affair, send your payments through Paypal! Isn’t that beneficial? Paypal stays between you and the vendor and your details remain a secret. People with an email address can easily, and without hassles and on a faster mode receive and send payments online, using the Paypal system. Paypal works on the existing network of bank accounts and the credit cards, to create a global payment solution. Paypal also is a brand acquired by Ebay.
To open an account:
You really do not have to shell out money to open a Paypal account or even send money via Paypal. A person with an email id and a valid credit/debit card can open a Paypal account and from then start receiving and sending money. However, to withdraw or transfer money you need to get verified, which will cost US$1.95, that will be charged on your credit or debit card account.  In your card statement you will receive a 4 digit expanded use number, which you have to use, to get the expanded use process completed. Once you get verified by Paypal, you can use the seal ‘Paypal verifier’ in your site; which gives more confidence to those who will deal with you.
To get the payments done: Paypal is extremely easy and instant. After getting registered for a PayPal account, you need to get the payments done, and also add your credit or debit card to your account, click on the “Send Money” tab, and then enter the email address of the person who will be receiving the payment. Also you may use your PayPal balance or your checking account to fund your payment.
Is it safe?
Paypal takes the help from the SSL technology to keep the information safe. When you complete the payment through the Paypal system, the much risky information like the credit card number, bank account number, is not revealed. Even the receiver does not know about the payments. However as I mentioned earlier about the phishing mails, which get your information and eventually hack your account are a scary thought! You must be careful with such mails and scamsters. The actual Paypal site would never ask for your password etc by sending you mails.

By Pinaki Ghosh
The Blackhat SEOs are the search engine optimizers who repel the illegal means and practices in order to encourage and boost the website rankings in the search engines. It involves methods that break the TOS of all reputed search engines. Cloaking, spamming, keyword & link stuffing, using doorway pages and site hijacking are some of the methods used by black hat SEOs.
The term black hat SEO is exactly the opposite of the White hat SEOs, who then use legal, ethical means for the search optimization. These terms have evolved from the classic western movies, where the cowboy hero is seen wearing a white hat, and the villains, wear on the black hat. Most take the witches from the tales wearing a tall, wide brimmed black hat. Thus, the black hat symbolizes the evil.
To save money employs the Blackhat SEO’s which are also economical. Most take their help to pull them out from some sort of trouble they have stepped into. Blackhat SEOs are known to solve some of the toughest problems with ease. But still, the Blackhat SEOs are never employed by any famous organizations. Blackhat SEOs do not believe in ethics and follow no ethical guidelines. They will give a high rank to a site by methods that are fair or foul. It is however debated that many SEOs who pose to be white hats, are really black hats in disguise. This theory differentiates that the black hats and the white hats live in the same body. Some white hat SEOs who copy paste content of one site into another, and thus create 50 or 100sites, are really Blackhat SEOs; lacking in ethics. A true writer white hat will never create a second site with content of another site.
The sufferers are the search engines, who are deceived and made to list bogus sites above good sites. Next to suffer are the surfers, who have to make up to choose the better sites from the list containing the bad, ugly and the spammer sites.

Pinaki Ghosh

When one adds the website to any of the search engine, it automatically uses a scanning software called ‘spider’ to go through the content of web pages. The so called spider then adds the links to the other pages to read all information on the different pages and join them in a larger database of the search engine. If then there is any need of the information on certain keywords from the search engine, it would help in searching its database and look out for sites offering information on the keywords that are needed. Most search engine have there own crawlers which vary in code from each other, but at the same time, have a similar set of rules which one can then apply to look on the web.
The simplest forms that are used by these crawlers are the HTML codes that are used by the sites and come free from errors. Why make a face if one does not find his site cached by the search engines; the mistake lies in the poor coding of that particular site. It also can mean that the menu system design restricts the technological spiders to follow it. In such a case your site will not be indexed by the search engines.

You can correct by following the ways given below:

(a) Change the menu system to CSS type, text based menu system.
(b) Add a text menu below the web page (as a second menu system).
(c) Update the latest code to a search engine friendly version.
You can also optimize your web page by keeping the following advices in mind:
(i) When it comes to understanding pictures the search engines are useless. They really understand nothing much but only the text names of the pictures. Thus, using the ‘alt tags’ which are text equivalent of the pictures on the site helps.
(ii) Try and make up a site map away connecting from the main page, to let the search engines find out the other pages of your site.
(iii) Never use the same kind of color of the text and background. Also, making the text appear transparent can get you penalized by any of the search engines for using irrelevant ways.
(iv) Try not to use the ‘hidden text’ in your CSS files.
Make use of the traditional techniques like the title, description, metatags, and at the same time some good content in your site; and then be convinced that your page will be cached.

Pinaki Ghosh

Google allots a value to almost all the web-pages in the Google index which is based on a complex formula. The search that Google performs has the results based on algorithm, which includes the Page Rank value. The higher is the Google Page Rank of your site, the more are your chances of getting a top listing, when someone performs a search Larry Page) and Sergey Brin   using keywords from your site.
Larry Page bought in and developed the Page Ranks System (The name Page rank comes from his surname) and Sergey Brin at Stanford University, while researching on a new search engine project. Together, Page and Brin gave birth to Google Inc.
You can easily download and install the Google toolbar (which is pretty simple). Then by choosing the ‘advanced’ option and you can view the Page Rank of any site on the toolbar.
The way Page rank works is best understood by the mathematicians as it’s complicated and involves a lot of calculations. For you to understand, let me put it in a simpler form:
PRA = 1-d + dPRt1/Ct1 + … + PRtn/Ctn
To understand the above Google PageRank formula, here’s the English meaning: The more links that point to your site, the higher is your rank. The higher is the Google PageRank of the sites, pointing (linking) to your site, the higher will be your Google PageRank.
Supposing, a site with PageRank 10, and 5 other sites link to your site it will give you more value, than any site with PageRank 20, and 100 other sites linking to your site. Besides, your PageRank goes on increasing if other sites with content similar to your site point to your site. Thus you see the formula has a lot of variables, and complications.

Your Google PageRank can be increased by:
(a) Getting the higher number of incoming links i.e. links to your site. The PageRank for your site falls by the increasing number of outgoing links.

(b) By getting the incoming links to your site from good sites with high PageRank, will increase your Google PageRank!

(c) To increase your PageRank you can increase the number of pages of your site.

(d) Your PageRank also increases if other sites with similar web content point to your site.
Every month your Google PageRank changes once, as Google updates the rankings once a month.

By Pinaki Ghosh

The Internet marketing Gurus like Rand Fishkin promote that an internet-based business depends 60% on the sales page and 40% on the product itself. The 1 page mini websites mostly rely on the sales page. The total business rests on the same. A bad sales page is more of less like a death knell for your site, though it sells good.

Here are the 7 golden rules for writing golden sales letters that can bring you good business:

1. Shocking start
Begin your sales copy by saying something that sounds negative but creates certain amount of excitement. The market experts claim that a negative heading can be much more effective than a positive one. Suppose you read something like, “Throw your computer out of the window!” you will be curious to read further, and it continues in smaller letters, “Because you are going to get frustrated with the insane traffic flow that is going to hit you”. It does sound effective right?

2. Tell your own success story
Try writing a story in your own words, which is spicy and at the same time talks about your success. It does not have to be entirely true! Write in a very personalized form which is much appealing to the reader. Boast about the possessions! Most of us need a leader to follow.

3. Use testimonials
Post the testimonials of the buyers who have been satisfied alongside the main body of the sales letter. To make the testimonials look more genuine, paste photographs of people who have given the testimonials and the links to their sites.

4. Give free gifts
This trick works well! Give away e-books for free if someone buys one product. This way they feel satisfied as at the price of one, they get a number of things.
5. Use bullets
When one uses the bulleted points, it helps the content look better than the paragraph text – this is what the expert copywriters like Tom Johnson of the American University in Cairo believe. Not only are they readable, they also carry a point much more effectively into the mind of the reader. Log on to http://www.prc.dk/user-friendly-manuals/ufm/tip-9810.htm#WhyBullets to know more.

6. Buy it today
Most of the readers almost always forget to come back to the site, unless of course that is his requirement. Thus, you have to make the visitor take out the credit card as soon as he visits; if he decides to think over the offer later, he is never going to do so. Thus, it is important to show urgency or a deadline for any offer.

7. Increase the price and give a discount
Although is sounds funny, it works miracles. If you have decided to sell your product for $29.95, make the price $79.95 and then give a $50 discount. This heavy discount will make the real price of $29.95 sound very reasonable.
On a better side, it is always good to give an iron strong word of guarantee. The guarantees work well to convince your buyer. Your guarantee is even stronger if you can offer a 30 day money back trial offer. If your sales copy for the internet-based business is based on the 7 secret tips, you’re going to be very happy about your profits!

By Pinaki Ghosh

One can never sell a car at the original price that he got, but in the case e-books, one can benefit over the same. E-books have a re sale value also, there aren’t any chances that anyone would sue you for doing that as you aren’t breaking the law. Although you must change the information like the name of the publisher and the writer etc i.e., you must customize them.  Most of the e-books come with the master resell rights which means after the resale you are permitted to keep the full profits. You do not have to share the royalty with anyone. Ebooks on success, stress-management, travel and leisure, understanding human psychology, relationship development sell extremely well on eBay. Prices of books range from $9.95 (books on magic tricks or cooking recipes) to $79.95 (real good books on making huge money). The prices of most e-books are around $29.95 (travel, success formula, stress management, relationship-development, understanding human psychology and technical).

To find out a better way to keep your profits high on eBay, read on: 

1. Do your research before you start selling
Even before you become an eBay seller, do some amount of research about eBay, and how things go about on eBay. In a matter of days you will be able to identify your potential competitors and at what cost they are offering their e-books. There are 2 ways to sell:
(a) Selling to the highest bidder
(b) fixed price selling (advisable for selling e-books).  

2. Write a strong sales copy
The second step would be to write a strong, creative sales copy which can be used for eBay listings and that would work. If you are not very good with copywriting, hire a freelancer for this purpose, because, you will constantly need the help of this person for various e-books that you would work on. A convincing copy will always attract your potential buyers’ attention towards your product. Not only should the sales copy be attractive, but it should be SEO friendly; which means that it should be rich in keywords. That will also make your product search-engine-friendly.

3. Invest on a good e-book cover
If you want to step into business, why hamper the quality by not working or spending too much on the e-book cover! Experts like Brent Turner (CEO of eCover Frog, http://ecoverfrog.com) say that almost 40% buyers are attracted towards e-books by the image i.e. the e-book cover. Place an order with a professional designer to get a first grade e-book cover design. You can use this image (or images) in the eBay listings of your e-book.

4. Offer multiple payment options
Give the buyers as well as the bidders multiple options to clear the payments. In fact, offer them as many options as possible. This will also increase your chances of selling more.

5. Add shipping costs
Shipping costs do not come into consideration if you offer an option of direct download on payment, but if you opt to send your e-books in compact discs by snail mail; you must calculate and include the shipping cost which would be fair enough.

6. Maintain professionalism
Keeping the attitude and the relation completely professional right from the start, would help in the future. You must be extremely prompt and at the same time provide good service; you can change the taxes wherever necessary, and also register the business with the government.

7. Feedback
The system of the exchange of feedback with the buyer on eBay is extremely good. This helps in building a good relation with the buyer. There’s a lot of comfort in the picture. The feedback is you certificate which will motivate the other buyers. There are namely 3 types of feedback that can be given: (a) positive (b) neutral, and (c) negative. You must stay in the good books of your buyer! Just be frank, if the buyer has been rather nasty, give him the same kind of feedback. It is advisable sometimes not to leave a feedback at all, instead of leaving a neutral feedback for your buyer, as that can attract a negative for you.
Ultimately, you must be wondering how good is business on eBay? Effortless and slow in the beginning, picks up gradually and finally shoots up like a rocket. In a matter of days or weeks you can regain the money you invested on the e-book and for selling on eBay.

 By Pinaki Ghosh

 Viral Marketing was the first which was used by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, the venture capitalist behind Hotmail, before it was sold to MSN in 1997 while describing Hotmail’s email practice of attaching their own advertisements with outgoing mail from their users. The infamous media critic Douglas Rushkoff wrote about Viral marketing in his book named Media Virus (1994); and that was the very first article on this special way of marketing.

In this book he wrote that Viral Marketing works. Even if we presume that many people who receive your free gifts will not share with others, still there will be 80% others who will share, and go ahead to pass them down to friends and acquaintances. He has written, that this network continues to seven or eight levels before the campaign fades out.

World famous examples of Viral Marketing 

   • Hotmail promotion campaign
• Gmail promotion campaign
• Microsoft’s Origami Project campaign
• Tupperware popularization
• Popularization of text massaging
• Popularization of chat
• BMW’s Mini Cooper campaign
• Ford Motor’s Evil Twin campaign
• Jami Kane game (BBC sponsored)
 

   By Pinaki Ghosh 

GetResponse (outsourced auto responder) http://www.getresponse.com/

Features
 Unlimited email marketing campaigns, auto responders, follow-ups, lists and broadcasts.
 150+ professionally designed HTML templates.
 Powerful, cost-effective newsletter hosting.
 Incomparable email deliverability.
 Click-through, sales and revenue tracking.
 Excellent support and training.

Pricing
 1 month  $17.95
 3 months  $47.85
 6 months  $87.70
 1 year  $145.40

b. JVListPro (outsourced auto responder) http://www.jvlistpro.com/

Features
 Experts state it often takes 7 or more messages before prospective customers make a purchase.
  Unlimited campaigns, lists, follow up messages, and newsletters.
  Reliable, >99.34% email deliverability, fast.
  51+ Templates for newsletter and follow up design.
  Easily create and add opt-in web forms to your website.
  Free training guides and videos.
  Expert unlimited free customer support.

Pricing
 1 Month $19.95n/aPaid
 3 Months $53.85
 6 Months $101.70
 1 Year  $179.40
c. Email-Auto responder-Free (Software type) http://www.email-autoresponder-free.com/

Features:
 Unlimited follow ups.
 Create systems ranging from the simplest “I’m out of office!” auto responders to automatically sending out messages to your contacts at regular time intervals.
 One can subscribe easily! The email address in any emails can be extracted and included into marketing database for further email marketing. 
 It provides support looping protection. Email Auto responder can find the closed loops.
 Powerful Contacts Management. Import contacts, export, adding, updating, deleting and perform many other operations.

Pricing
 Fast Email Auto responder  $139
 Fast E-Delivery Engine  $149
 Fast Email Verifier   $139
 Opt Out Manager   $99

By Pinaki Ghosh

1. Give away freebies: The most common methods that work is to forcefully make people sign up and give their details so as to give out free gifts. These free gifts should preferably be digitally downloadable. It should be automatically downloadable, to cut off any hassle.

Such free gifts are generally:
E-books on subjects like:
o Self help
o ‘How to’ topics
o ‘7 Secret tips’ type topics
o Business/career tips
o Internet business related
o Stress management
o Relationship development
o Health/fitness
o Travel
o Child care

• Software products of small niche utility, like mail management.
• Games
• Video
• Music

2. Disable some features for non members: While making your website, make an option for signing in. This means visitors have to become members to use all the features i.e. they will have to sign in to use the features. Non members should be allowed to see everything, but should not be allowed to use all features. If your website has appealing material, visitors will view everything and ultimately sign up.
This way you can get paid members too!

3. Allow a trial, create an addiction: Most of the times give a 30 day trial period to your users. After 30 days if they want to use all the features, or the software, they will have to sign up, may it be with payment. This will definitely work.

4. Offer discounts to members: You must showcase two types of rates for your products and services. One should be for the members; and the other for non members. This difference of rate will automatically make your visitors sign up.