Let’s start with a definition of phishing. It is the practice of tricking Internet users, through the use of deceptive email messages, phone calls or websites, into revealing personal or confidential information which can then be used to perpetuate identity theft, access sensitive data and/or steal financial assets from the victim.
Email messages employ “spoofing.” A hacker sends emails that appear to originate from trustworthy sources. They may appear to be sent from legitimate companies, from friends, family members or coworkers.
Hackers also spoof websites. They accomplish this via a technique called URL “cloaking” or “masking” Through the use of specialized scripts of computer code, hackers can cover up a legitimate URL with one that is associated with a trusted website.
The most common phishing scams involve bank or credit card notifications, unsolicited tech support notifications, “receipts” of high-priced items that you supposedly purchased, cut off of a service you use such as email or Amazon or even black mail attempts threatening to “out” your viewing of pornographic sites.
Common features to be aware of in email phishing:
Too good to be true offers
Urgency, you must act now
Hyperlinks within an email – ways to get you to a fraudulent site to complete the theft
Attachments in an email – often contain viruses or ransomware to seize your machine
Unknown senders – maybe not the Nigerian prince but folks you don’t know with requests or offers
Spotting the suspects:
Misspellings and poor grammar
Poor graphic reproduction, i.e., fuzzy logos or other graphics
Address from incorrect domain – if Bank of America sends you an email, it certainly will not come from @gmail.com or other personal account.
Emails from people you don’t know asking you to look at embarrassing pics of a friend.
Pop-ups – don’t be quick on the click.
Here are a few good ways to explore without getting snagged by the “phisher”:
Hover your PC mouse over the email address to expose the real sender. If you’re using a mobile device (Android, Apple), investigate an email address by tapping on the address with your finger or stylus. You will see the actual sender’s address.
Keep your browser up to date
Maintain your firewalls
Using anti-phishing toolbars or apps
MOST OF ALL – THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!
Extricating yourself from the clutches of internet thieves can be costly in more than one way. Identity theft can take years of legal work to resolve. Be aware of the many ways internet bad guys try to steal from you.
Sisters in Crime is sponsoring NaNoWriMo this November. They will schedule write-ins and weekly Twitter sprints to help you get to 50K words. They will also make other resources and support available.
The #SinC50K will offer:
2 write-ins a day 6 days a week
Twitter sprints twice a week
A private Facebook group
A weekly check-in with other members
Join and SinC will send you more information as November 1 approaches! Even if you’re not a member, SinC allows for non-members to participate if you’ve created a Guest – Non-Member account and signed in
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Chris Baty started the project in with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area. Each year since on November 1, thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a new novel. By just the following year, participants or “Wrimos” swelled to over 5,000. Participation skyrocketed.
NaNoWriMo became a nonprofit in 2005; their programs support writing fluency and education. Their website hosts more than a million writers, serving as a social network with author profiles, personal project libraries, and writing buddies. NaNoWriMo tracks words for writers like Fitbit tracks steps. With the help of over 900 volunteers in thousands of partnering libraries and community centers NaNo hosts real-world writing events in cities worldwide.
Hundreds of NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.
Each year, authors offer mentorship to participants. Past author mentors have included Gene Luen Yang, Roxane Gay, Kacen Callender, John Green, Andy Weir, N. K. Jemisin, and Veronica Roth.
Since NaNoWriMo is used to get people writing, the rules are kept broad and straightforward:
Writing starts at 12:00: a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time.
No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point.
Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later.
Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel.
Participants’ novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language.
To win NaNoWriMo, participants must write an average of approximately 1,667 words per day (69 per hour, 1.2 per minute) in November to reach the goal of 50,000 words written toward a novel. Organizers of the event say that the aim is to get people to start writing, using the deadline as an incentive to get the story going and to put words to paper. There is no fee to participate in NaNoWriMo; registration is only required for novel verification.
No official prizes are awarded for length, quality, or speed, though self-awarded badges are available on the site. Anyone who reaches the 50,000-word mark is declared a winner. Beginning November 20, participants can submit their novel to be automatically verified for length and receive a printable certificate, an icon they can display on the web, and inclusion on the list of winners.
Finalists just announced in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards. RMFW offers encouragement and opportunity to writers in all genres through this annual contest. Winners will be announced and celebrated at the RMFW Hybrid Gold Conference, set to take place October 15th thru the 17th.
Mystery, Thriller Delve Too Deep by Phillip Castle One Way In by Susie Lindau Pieces by Becky Munyon The Puzzle by Robert Selzer Worse than Death by Brooke Terpening
Mainstream Kamikaze Girl by Kevin Campbell It’s Cool if You Hate Us by Charles Culp The Ghosts of Chang An by Vickie Fang Green Side Up by Ann Ivancie The Band by Jedeane Macdonald
YA, Middle Grade The Problem with Pamela by Heather Durham Kung Fu to You, Too by Richard Erixon True Love Never by Kelley J.P. Lindberg Elly Elliott – Secret Code Breaker by Jedeane Macdonald The Serpent’s Covenant by Ann Marie
Women’s Fiction, Romance Bannock Bliss by Lyda Mary Hardy Celie Logan’s Gone to the Dogs by Martha McCannon The Original Handmaid by Margaret Morse The Sweetest Revenge by Meegan Epps The Parts We Leave Behind by Rise’ Smith
Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spec, Horror To Feel the Earth as Rough by Dani Coleman The Osect Indiscretion by Matthew Cushing Seraph by Cheryl Fallin Thief of Time by Val Moses Mars Material by John Arthur Neal
Create a personalized experience with the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival in 2021 by engaging in author conversations online, watching the broadcast special on PBS, listening to NPR podcasts, tuning in to Washington Post Live author interviews and attending a ticketed event at the Library. Full interviews with each author will be featured in on-demand videos through the National Book Festival website at loc.gov/bookfest and will be released Sept. 17.
The Festival, Sept. 17-26, is a 10-day event with the theme, “Open a Book, Open the World.” Investigate the “Festival Near You” page on the festival website. Searchable by state, it will highlight associated book festival events across the country. Kick-off is September 12 hosted by LaVar Burton on PBS at 6 PM EDT.
In my book, Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller, my protagonist, Rita Mars searches for the killer responsible for her fellow reporter, Bobby Ellis’s death. She determined there was a political target of the story that got him killed and immediately began the search through available sources as to which groups he might have been investigating and who were their members.
She started at the Federal Election Commission. The FEC maintains a searchable database on its website; the Center for Responsive Politics maintains its own website — opensecrets.org — which is designed to be more user-friendly and includes analysis of FEC data.
For state level races, there is followthemoney.org, a joint project of the National Institute on Money and Politics and the Campaign Finance Institute. The site claims its database documents more than $100 billion in contributions, and more than 2 million lobbyist relationships per year.
Other sites will allow you to drill down at the local level. The Virginia Public Access Project has a database on money and politics including local elections in that state. In California, the nonprofit group MapLight includes data about state and local races on its website, as well as information about national campaign finance. Disclosure requirements vary by state and locality and the federal government offers an online directory.
Even with these multi-level sources, Rita found no easy task. Why?
First, many object to disclosure laws because they believe that such requirements impinge on First Amendment freedoms of speech and association in spite of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA).
Secondly, the Supreme Court determined that disclosure reporting need not occur until the minimum threshold financials provided in the BCRA are triggered. The goal was to ensure that only truly serious candidates would be affected by the disclosure requirements.
And then there are the gaping holes:
Groups that spend $12,499 or less in a quarter need not disclose
Outside contractors hired by organizations to lobby have to report work billed at more than $3,000 in a quarter – but that reporting still doesn’t show a full and accurate total.
The most significant level of underreporting is generally attributed to a carve-out in the law that allows some highly-paid political operatives to avoid disclosing any of their lobbying activities. The law is based on semantics and former office holders label themselves “advisors.” This permits them to avoid registering as lobbyists and so gives them exemption from reporting.
General meetings with special interest groups need not report their sessions or monies spent in conjunction.
In reporting meetings with office holders or government officials, lobbyists indicate only agency or branch of government, not individual names and titles.
There is no accountability or reporting of retired government officials or office holders as to their lobbying of their former agency of employment
The trail Rita followed is long, convoluted and difficult to find. First, she “fingerprinted” her potential suspects, expanding their profile with contacts, family members and other organizations to which they have contributed. What is the fingerprinting Rita did? She utilized best practices of criminal investigation link analysis and social media analysis. These are complex methods and the links I have provided will give you an excellent overview.
From the fingerprint data, Rita categorized each individual or corporation to determine a similarity to Bobby Ellis’s story. This exercise led her to her short list for in-depth investigation. When you read the book, you’ll see how her search took her down the right path.
Valerie Webster and Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller in the spotlight via Author of the Day interview.
Make your next book club event an author event with a writer who’s lived the cases, developed the crime fighting technologies. Contact Valerie Webster today.
