Some of you may have received some strange e-mail messages lately – messages purportedly coming from ISIL/Free-Market.net – but which contained all kinds of strange things – such as Viagra solicitations and connections to bestiality porn sites and the like. Diabolical pranksters (or worse) with technical web savvy have been able to broadcast messages to various lists around the world with the originator appearing to be us.

     And we have not been the only ones targeted. Diane Bast reports in the current issue of the Heartland Institute's Heartlander newsletter that scamsters have been sending out bogus messages in their name, conducting "phishing" expeditions for personal data, and employing messages like, "Security Alert" and "Your e-mail account will be suspended."

     Many of the phony messages will ask you to download an attachment to receive an "important message" from ISIL or Free-Market.net. These attachments are usually laden with deadly viruses which will then hijack your address book and spread the contamination to all your friends and associates. We never broadcast e-mail messages with attachments – so that should be a sure sign that a message is fraudulent.

     In the past month another bogus message provided a glowing review of an Adolph Hitler biography – again purportedly endorsed by ISIL (cute).

     As most experienced web users know, attachments are dangerous and should not be downloaded unless you are absolutely sure of the source of the message. Even then be sure that you have good anti-virus protection. Most good programs will automatically update your virus definitions on a daily basis. If you have a high-speed line then be sure you also have firewall software.

     These pranks are annoying of course – but the large numbers of the fraudulent messages seeming to originate with us have caused more serious problems. We discovered recently that AOL/CompuServe has blocked mailings from ISIL/FreeMarket.net, erroneously branding us a SPAM source. We are having a devil of a time getting the block lifted and understand that the only way to do this is for a sufficiently large number of people to complain about being cut off. So if you have AOL or CompuServe and have not been receiving Freedom News Daily or FMNews Bulletins from Free-Market.net we would appreciate it if you would drop a message off to them saying you want back on.

     Other scam messages using similar tactics will claim to be from your bank or credit card company and ask you to confirm your passwords and account numbers (due to "loss of data from computer crashes") – "phishing." Clicking on the link provided will lead you to a very close facsimile (complete with corporate logos) of the legitimate business. This is called the "evil twin" technique. One European libertarian organization had their e-gold account cleaned out in this manner. If in doubt, contact your bank, credit-card company, etc. – and do not use the link provided in the scam mail.

     It may be a jungle out there, but there's no need to be victimized if you take the necessary precautions and are aware of the scamster's techniques.

Vince Miller, Pres. ISIL

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