Phishing and scams

[abs]

I seem to be getting quite a few phishing and scam emails and thought I would pass on a bit of advice.

Never click on links in emails from banks, HMRC, BT, Paypal, Ebay or any other seemingly official emails (I have had phishing emails from all of these). Most of these are from people trying to get your personal details.

Either go directly to the website or telephone the company to see if the email is genuine.

The latest one I got was from BT saying that they were going to combine my bills into one (and I do have two) and to click on the link to take me to their website. I telephoned BT instead and was told it was indeed a scam.

Be aware!

Theresia

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks for posting that, Theresia.

Another one that has started cropping up recently is HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). They say you have a tax rebate due, and that you should click the link to claim it. (In practice, HMRC never email you about tax rebates; they generally just send you the money or factor it into your tax code.)

Mike

[Canary Dwarf]

There are a couple of domain name scams that crop up from time to time, namely:

The renewal scam:
A domain company will write to you (usually by post) stating that it is important that your domain name is renewed or you will lose it. Of course it is. Everyone knows that. But the gist of the letter makes people think that if they don't renew it with this company, they will lose it, and they charge considerably more than most.

The Chinese good samaritan scam:
A company writes to saying that they have received a request to register a Chinese domain name similar to your company name or brand name. For example, if you own domain.com, they will write and say that their client has requested them to purchase domain.cn on their behalf, but they noticed you already owned the the name in other top level domains, and are therefore giving you the opportunity to register it (with them) first. That's nice of them isn't it? No, because they're supposed to be working for their client and it's just a con to rack up another sale. There is no client.

I expect most SBF members are wise enough to see through these little scams, but it's just a reminder.

I will also take this opportunity to say: Always make sure you know who exactly is responsible for your domain name renewals, you or your web developer. If it is you, then renewal request will ONLY come from the company you registered it with, eg, 123-Reg, Go Daddy etc, and if it is your web developer, make sure you know whether the bill will come from them or the registration company.

And ALWAYS make sure that your domain name is registered in your name, not that of the developer.

And please, please, please. If you are in business and have a domain name, whether you have a website or not, use it it for your email. It will make you look more professional, especially when you are competing for business, and if you change ISPs, your email service may stop.

[visagephoto]

CITY EXPRESS COUREIR SERVICE
MANCHESTER OFFICE,
123 MIDDLETON ROAD, HIGHER CRUMPSALL,
MANCHESTER M8 4JY.
UNITED KINGDOM.
FROM: THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR

ATTNISPATCH UNIT!!

Contact us for Delivery of your $3,00,000,00 United States dollars BankDraft
deposited at CITY EXPRESS COURIER SERVICE by the UEFA CHAMPIONSHIP PROMO
BOARD,after their just concluded online promo which you emerge as one of
their beneficiaries
Fill out below your information and send
it to CITY EXPRESS COURIER SERVICE Via the email address below
to avoid any mistake on the Delivery.
1.Full Name:..
2.Postal address:...
3.Direct telephone number:..
4.Country...........
5.occupation:..........
Contact Person: Mr.WIILAM MORGAN
(CLIENT SERVICE MANAGER)
Email Address:citydelivery@sify.com
Tel:+44-702-406-0947

Note:The courier board will be charging you a compulsory fee of $250 usd
being payment meant for the SECURITY KEEPING FEE of your package,so do make
sure you request for the payment infomation on your response to this mail
to avoid any
further delay as every parcel deposited in our office has an expirIng date
for return from the day of notice to you.

AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS MAIL ON YOUR RECEIPT.

yours faithfully,
Mrs Tracy Cole
Secretary

[sheilaenn]

These phishing e-mails are scary but after you have been online a while it becomes clear at first glance what is a scam. But the bad guys are always thinking of new techniques -- I've heard of even very experienced online users who have been duped by twitter and Facebook scams, being lured into clicking a link in response to a simple tweet that said "hey, you're on this."

So the person clicks through, thinking they will see or read something about themselves on Facebook or twitter -- they get directed to what looks like a login page for Flickr or twitter, enter their username and password, and BLAM. The spammers have everything they need to start using that person's network of connections to send spam. The victim may not even realize they have been victimized.

Unbelievably intricate but it's a scam that is working. Your simple defense is the traditional one of not clicking on any links you don't trust -- and always glance up at the address bar when it looks like you're on the login page for a trusted website. If it's not the proper web address for your trusted page, run away fast.

[stugster]

Welcome to the 419 Eater <-- great wee site where people get their own back on the Nigerian scammers. Warning: Will eat up at least an hour of your time!

[barryhynd]

I actually nearly fell for that Twitter scam myself. I got a DM from someone I knew saying my picture was on a link. It then prompted me to resign back into Twitter which while I thought it was strange could easily be explained by a wee glitch. Within about I minute I kind of figured out this could be a scam and promptly changed by password direct with Twitter.

Spammers are getting more and more elaborate and because of that I tend be very wary of anything I do online. If something sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Just make sure you're careful at all times

[TFGtv.com]

Gentle 'heads up': New one in today claiming to be from the Halifax; URL starts off..

vvv.alwatan.com (I've replaced the 'w's with 'v's so as not to create a link..) It's a particularly stupid one though the page looks quite convincing...

Why do they bother??

[TFGtv.com]

And another one....

044 845 286 0000 or if you prefer 0845 286 0000

The number appears to traceback to a company called Matchmaker Marketing...

This is an automated dialler which will either ring you incessantly simply hanging up when you pick the phone up or play you back a message; some crap about internet marketing... You'll be asked either to key in '1' or '9' DONT!

The company itself seems to be the usual SEO snake oil; their website seems to be the same old same old... BUT there have been suggestions that the dialler connects you to a premium rate line. Either way it's a scummy way to push a business and grossly incompetent marketing... Especially since these calls, once they start, can be two and three times a day with some folk complaining of them going on dailly since new year...

[Canary Dwarf]

Got one of these today Matt. Interesting that they put Bing before Google in their spiel. You would have thought scammers would prey on the Golden Google Gambit