Announcements
Scam Emails - What to Watch for
I know most of you know not to just respond to questionable, random emails, but some are more clever than others in trying to trick you into giving out confidential information. They use official sounding language, official looking graphics, and a plausible story. Here's a copy of one I recently received:
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Dear PayPal user,
As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.
We requested information from you for the following reason:
We recently received a report of unauthorized credit card use associated with this account. As a precaution, we have limited access to your PayPal account in order to protect against future unauthorized transactions.
Case ID Number: PP-503-172-560
This is a reminder to restore your account as soon as possible.
Please download the form attached to this email and open it in a web browser. Once opened, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access. We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.
In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved.
Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to restore your PayPal account as soon as possible to help avoid this. We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal Email ID PP85931
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This little gem included an attachement with a "Restore your account" form asking for your name, credit card number, the CSV (verification from the back of your credit card) and pin number! It looked very official, and was styled to sound like and look like PayPal. It's also very phony. It even has images from a domain with the word "PayPal" in the link. These types of emails try to scare you into action.
The easiest way to avoid these type of scams is to never use links in emails like this. If you get an email talking about an account for a company you actually do business with and you want to check it out, go directly to the website by typing their address into your browser or finding them on a search engine if you don't know the address. Don't use the links provided in the email, and don't open any attachements inclded with the email.
And if you ever get an email you are not sure about, feel free to ask your friendly web host if it's legit. We're happy to help you avoid these vermin. Stay safe out there!
Monday, August 31, 2009
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