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Deceptive New Phishing Scams |
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| Oh, these guys and gals are getting
smarter, sneakier, and way more deceptive. Their ability to create
realistic-looking e-mails of, say, a message from a buyer at eBay or a note
from Amazon.com, is remarkable.
The latest phishing scam I received depended on my curiosity and desire to do the right thing. It was from "bethfurball," a supposed eBay buyer frustrated because a seller hadn't sent her product or responded to numerous messages. Oh, the poor dear, I thought; she's sending the message to me by mistake. I ought to at least let her know the e-mail went to the wrong person. Of course, I should have immediately wondered how it got to me. But I remained in a helping frame of mind until I spotted the gaff: In one of the design elements of the HTML e-mail was the giveaway misspelling, "Mesage from eBay member." Yep, you're right--I deleted the message. Phishers also rely on coincidence. For instance, I recently bought something from Amazon.com. About two days after Amazon.com sent a confirmation e-mail, I received another message, politely explaining that my on-file credit card had expired. Coincidentally, it had, and my first impulse was to click on the link. LOL--no way, especially after almost getting burned by the eBay message. Phishing Contests If phishers worry you, it's with good reason. Read "Phishers Pose as IRS
Agents" to learn how they exploited a glitch in a government Web site: They even scammed eBay officials; read "Phony E-Mail Tricks eBay" for
details: For help avoiding phishers, take a look at "Fight Fraud and Phishing With
New Tools": You'll also want to check our E-Mail, IM, VoIP Info Center from time to
time, to keep up with the latest scams:
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| I'm sure you know folks who've been,
how shall we say, somewhat overconfident when it comes to computer safety.
To subscribe to this news letter: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/newsletters/index.asp?sub_source=NL_XB |
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