Gameover Zeus: scam that could empty your bank account in a fortnight

Check out grc.com which demonstrates any number of vulnerabilities that your system, or the internet, can show. One section, called HTTPS Fingerprints, can demonstrate how someone else can intercept encrypted traffic to deliver what would appear to be a genuine site. It also shows you how to tell a genuine site from a spoof site. As for vulnerabilities, these are mainly inherent in Windows based operating systems simply due to the internal architecture of the operating system, which was designed NOT to take advantage of some of the facilities the protected mode of the 80x86 offered. Other OS's such as OS/2, Linux and Unix, are very difficult to compromise, if not impossible. It is all down to how the OS allocates memory and recovers it. Unix allocates memory to an application, then reclaims that memory when the application terminates. If the application tries to access memory outside its boundaries, it is terminated by the OS. Everything is kept neat and tidy. Windows allocates memory but expects the application to do its own clean up when it finishes. Not all applications finish cleanly, therefore you get a phenomenon called 'memory leak', which is why you have to reboot a Windows machine when it becomes slow. Windows always has been the Achilles Heal of the PC world. Even going back to the nineties, Windows 95 was a 16/32 bit hybrid, whereas OS/2 was a fully fledged 32 bit system. The problem with Hybrids is that while much processing is done in 32 bit mode, some of the core processes are still running in 16 bit mode, so you have to thunk between the two processor modes, which introduces vulnerabilities. Ironically, Microsoft were in partnership with IBM when developing OS/2, but pulled out the work on their Windows NT, which was a comparable product, unlike Windows 95, which was inferior. The difference between Windows NT and OS/2 was the price. Windows NT was circa £250 while OS/2 was circa £79. Microsoft obviously realised that they could make a killing by selling something marked up to such an extreme, especially when you consider that OS/2 was more or less bomb proof (you couldn't crash the machine). There are plenty of ways to secure both the humble PC and the Internet, yet no one wants to take the lead in this respect. ISPs could block specific traffic that is known to be used for running botnet attacks (dDOS), and enforce anti spoofing rules which allows you to send a packet with a fake return address, or partially complete packets designed to bog down servers (handshake stallers). Unfortunately, it is down the common person to protect their system. Install virus protect/anti malware, change the OS to Linux or some other OS that doesn't have loopholes used for exploiting, or just plain ignore all those pleas to respond to some Nigerian bank manager. Also, watch out for additional devices being attached to your computer. Keyloggers can be tiny little USB plugs. If something new appears on you PC, beware. Mind you, new tech doesn't have to be physical. Software can also compromise your system, and just because that new bit of shareware came from a genuine download site doesn't mean that package itself is clean. Norton often complains about discovering malware inserted into installation packages, as this is the easiest way to infiltrate your system.

We never give out sensitive personal information that might lead to a fraud. Often people will call us on a variety of pretexts and ask us to "confirm our address" or other more sensitive information. We just say yes and wait. After a while the caller will say "Well go on then" meaning we should tell them the information. Our response is "No You tell us what you have and we will 'confirm' or not". The watchword is to be suspicious of EVERY invitation to pass information or to "click" on an unternet link or open an attachment. Electricblue is right that the standard of written English is deplorable but if you receive an e-mail from someone you don't know don't open a link or attachment at all. If you receive an e-mail from someone you do know you should know if the language used or the action requested is what you would expect from that person. The advice is "Be suspicious and unless you are SURE - Don't".

@QuietDave: Just remember that Paypal operates outside the UK and outside the control of the FCA for a reason. It is not subjected to the same checks and controls as the UK based banks and financial institutions are. r.