Again, after the latest cyber crime crackdown in the US, I feel compelled to warn people about hoaxes on the Internet.

Last week US officials announced that 135 people were charged and more than $17 million seized in a crackdown on investment swindles, identity theft and other forms of Internet fraud. Online crime now accounts for more than half of all fraud complaints.

Some of those arrested are accused of setting up fake banking Web sites to collect the account numbers of unsuspecting customers.

Many of the cases involved advertising goods or services that did not exist. Other fraudsters sold computers, video-games players, Beanie Babies and other items through e-mail or online auction sites but never delivered them.

Since the start of this year the US Justice Department and other federal agencies have uncovered more than 89,000 victims bilked out of some $176 million.

For example one US resident was charged with operating a bogus investment scheme that took in $60 million from some 15,000 victims worldwide.

The case refers to the Tri-West Investment Club, an Internet-based investment fraud scheme that allegedly guaranteed investors a 120 percent annual rate of return with "no risk of losing the investor's principal investment".

Instead Tri-West was a Ponzi scheme, paying initial investors with money being brought in by new investors. The two defendants in the scheme instead used the money to purchase millions of dollars of properties in Mexico and Costa Rica, as well as a yacht and helicopter, and funnelled money to dozens of shell companies created in Costa Rica.

One of the defendants, Alyn Waage, pleaded guilty on May 5, 2003 to mail and wire fraud charges as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Meanwhile the Internet Fraud Complaint Centre (IFCC) said it had referred about 48,000 Internet-related fraud complaints to law enforcement officials in 2002.

Go to the press section of the Justice Department (www.usdoj.gov) for details of all the ways you could be scammed out of your money.

In relation to the announcements, the Hong Kong financial services regulator has also issued a warning that in the recent weeks, customers of certain well known banks have been targeted by people sending out fake e-mails or using fake websites which are designed to trick bank customers into revealing private details such as e-banking login names and passwords.

Such websites and e-mails can look genuine by using genuine logos and branding by grabbing the genuine graphics from the respective bank's website, or by redirecting customers to the real websites so that customers are communicating with the real bank concerned without knowing that their private details may be passing through the fake websites.

Just do not give out any sensitive account information, such as PIN numbers or passwords, by e-mail to anyone.

Real banks will not ask you for such information by e-mail.

Customers should also not access their bank's online e-banking website through hyperlinks embedded in any e-mail. Stay safe.

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Watch out for a new computer worm that disguises itself as an e-mail from Microsoft Corp. The e-mail is spreading (a friend of mine got hit last week) and contains a worm, dubbed Palyh or Mankx, that appears to come from supportmicrosoft.com.

When the attachment is opened, the worm copies itself to the Windows folder, gathers e-mail addresses from the hard disk and starts sending itself out.

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If you use Windows Media Player you'll need to patch it as Microsoft has discovered flaws in Media Player 7.1 and Media Player for Windows XP.

The flaw is found in the way Media Player handles "skins", custom overlays that change the appearance of the player. Skins consist of collections of one or more files of computer art, organised by an XML file.

The XML file tells Windows Media Player how to use these files to display a skin as the user interface.

The flaw in the way the player handles skins could allow an attacker could force a file masquerading as a skin file into a known location on a user's machine.

This could allow an attacker to place a malicious executable file on the computer. Go the security section at www.microsoft.com for the patch.

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And finally, from Microsoft, the company has said it has ended its project to develop a portable toilet with a built-in Internet terminal in Britain this summer.

This after rumours of the project began appearing in the media and after initial denials that the project existed at all.

The software maker had said the "iLoo," which was described in minute detail in an April 30 press release by its MSN British subsidiary, was a hoax and apologised for any "confusion or offense".

But 24 hours later Microsoft retracted the denial and admitted that the project had been legitimate but had now been stopped.

"The aim of the iLoo is to illustrate MSN's mission to deliver an Internet experience from any device at any time," the MSN UK subsidiary had stated in a press release.

The iLoos were intended as a promotional device to be installed free of charge at concert venues in the US. The loo was to be kitted out with a plasma screen, which has an adjustable height level, and a wireless keyboard (all waterproof), so users can surf away while using the toilet.

There was also a six-channel surround sound speaker system under the sink unit for users to stream music from the Internet. One cheeky user commented at a Web site: "Finally, I'll be able to physically do what I've always wanted to do to a Microsoft product, and they even intend for me to do it!"

**** Tech Tattle deals with issues in technology. Contact Ahmed ElAmin at editoroffshoreon.com.