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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    California takes down 10 fake Obamacare websites

    California takes down 10 fake Obamacare websites

    BY SHARON BERNSTEIN
    SACRAMENTO, California Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:35pm EST


    A man looks over the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this October 2, 2013 photo illustration.
    CREDIT: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR


    (Reuters) - Authorities in California shut down 10 fake Obamacare websites, amid nationwide concern among law enforcement officials about potential fraud during the program's rollout, the state's attorney general said on Thursday.

    The sites, which mimicked the official "Covered California" affordable health insurance website, were removed from the internet in an effort to stop fraud connected to the rollout, said a spokesman for California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who ordered the sites to close after a month-long investigation.


    "These websites fraudulently imitated Covered California in order to lure consumers away from plans that provide the benefits of the Affordable Care Act," Harris said in a statement. "My office will continue to investigate and shut down these kinds of sites."


    The extent of fraud related to the Affordable Care Act is not yet clear. But Harris' spokesman, Nicholas Pacilio, said that attorneys general from several states have been participating in regular conference calls on the subject.


    In September, Better Business Bureaus nationwide warned that fraudulent telemarketers were calling consumers pretending to offer information about the Affordable Care Act in an effort to obtain personal information for identity theft.


    In the California case, the websites used names meant to evoke the state's own insurance exchange, such as "Californiahealthbenefitexchange.com," Harris said.


    Consumers who used internet search programs such as Google to find the Covered California site were presented with ads for the fake sites instead, some of them using the exchange's logo and using its name.


    But instead of directing users to the site of the state's insurance exchange, where they could purchase policies approved under the new law and possibly qualify for a federal subsidy, the ads took consumers to the websites of private insurance companies and brokers.


    Harris warned consumers who wish to sign up to go directly to the state's site, which is www.coveredca.com. She said policies offered outside the exchanges may not have the consumer protections required by the Affordable Care Act and may not be eligible for subsidies.


    Harris did not disclose the names of the businesses involved, other than to list the now-shut website names.


    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9AD17K20131114

    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 11-14-2013 at 05:43 PM.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    'Cyber-Squatters' Set Up Fake Obamacare Websites

    Thursday, 24 Oct 2013 01:12 PM
    By Sandy Fitzgerald

    More than 700 fake or misleading websites playing off of the new federal Healthcare.gov site and the word Obamacare have been created on the Internet by so-called cyber-squatters looking to steal personal information from individuals trying to get healthcare coverage.

    According to The Washington Examiner, many of the sites are considered legal, though they have nothing to do with the government or the Obamacare program.

    One website, the Examiner noted, has even branded itself as part of the "Obamacare enrollment team" and directs people to enter their name, address, Social Security number, and more on an enrollment form. But the site — www.obama-care.us, which is registered through GoDaddy.com and is owned by a Georgia company that also runs 167 other squatter sites — doesn't enroll anybody in anything. It just takes the information.

    Cyber-squatting is nothing new. Many companies set up websites with names similar to high-profile pages to either draw traffic away from their competitors or to share information collected with other companies. But identity thieves also use fake squatter websites to gather information that ends up being used or sold to someone else.

    Earlier this month, McAfee Antivirus founder John McAfee described the Obamacare website as a hacker's dream because millions of Americans could have their identities stolen. He warned that anyone could put up a fake page and claim to be a healthcare insurance broker affiliated with the federal program.

    "Any hacker can put a website up, make it look extremely competitive, and because of the nature of the system, this is healthcare after all, they can ask you the most intimate questions, and you're freely going to answer them," McAfee said.

    An unsuspecting user might give up his Social Security number, date of birth, or share any mental health issues, he said.

    Adding to the confusion are legitimate sites that have similar names to the Heathcare.gov site. For example, healthcare.com was established in 1994 to help people shop for private health insurance. It offers quotes from different companies, but it has no affiliation with the federal Obamacare program.

    To prevent cyber-squatting, security experts typically recommend that multiple domain names be purchased similar to the main website name.

    The retired cyber security expert who spoke to the Examiner said he was "shocked" that the government had not picked up any other obvious domain names before cyber-squatters could purchase them.

    The expert provided the Examiner with a list of 221 websites trying to take advantage of the Healthcare.gov name, and another 499 that are squatting on state healthcare exchange websites.


    http://www.newsmax.com/US/fake-obama...0/24/id/532901
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