Scam warning!

[Glenn]

If you receive ANY e-mail from your bank, delete it!  The identity thieves are upping the ante this holiday season by sending out hordes for real-looking e-mails designed to get you click to a site that looks like your bank's interface.  There, they will do anything to entice you to "log in", at which point they'll have your login info and steal everything out of your accounts.

I don't care HOW real, authoritative, urgent, or enticing the e-mail is, toss it immediately!  If you're really concerned that you need to do something with your bank (according to the e-mail), CALL THEM INSTEAD!

You've been warned.

[MALTESE FALCON]

Thanks for the heads-up Glenn.

Falcon

[cart7t]

I received an email from Wal-mart the other day.  Or at least it looked like Walmart.  They wanted me to take a buyer survey about my local store.  If I took the survey I could be eligible to win a $100 credit for Walmart.  After inputting my zipcode and closest store I was immediately informed that I was going to receive the $100 credit (despite the fact I hadn't even taken the survey yet.)

They then asked for my credit card information explaining they'd credit my account the $100.   :

Yaa, right.

I went to Walmart.com and could find no way to contact them about this.  I hope no one else got one of these and fell for it.

[roadwarrior]

SCUMBAGS!

We have two scam threads running that we will keep

at the top of the page through Christmas. Be sure to

read them both.

>

[firefightn15]

Just curious how far we have to go before there is absolutely no security left .  Is there even a system for being completely safe anymore?

[atx_newbie]

I'm not sure that we've ever been completely safe. In fact, humans are probably safer now than ever before. But I get your point.

The fact is, the dangers of life constantly evolve. The bullet begat the bulletproof vest, which begat armor-piercing rounds.

We just have to be smart about it, and not let ourselves be trapped by security worries. You'll never be completely safe, but a little common sense goes a long way.

As far as the fraud stuff goes, it just blows my mind.  It reminds me of friends in school who would spend hours coming up with the most elaborate means to cheat on an exam, when they could just spend those same hours studying.  The people that come up with these scams and then execute them must be intelligent; if they could just use that intelligence for positive means they would probably make more money than through dishonesty.

[Sam]

Same for the IRS.

Banks and your friends at the IRS do not send you e-mails.

And do not respond.  If the crooks know that you are a "live" e-mail address you will get showered with fraudulent e-mails.

Thanks for the reminder, Glenn.

Happy Thanksgiving.  

[KYntucky Warmouth]

Good looking out.

[toolpush]

I recieved one today from "credit card" co,  with a link to renew my credit card. As it's about up for expiration soon I thought it might be for real. Something told me not to click link. so I didn't. Thanks Glenn, I will promptly go delete it.

[Glenn]

It can be very difficult to spot a scam. They're getting very good at making their outreaches look legit.  So how can you tell whether or not something is a scam?

Easy.

In every case, they contact you first!

If you recieve some sort of contact about your card, ebay account, paypal account, bank account, etc. and it sounds like it requires your attention - don't click on the link, don't talk to them on the phone (hang up!), don't engage any written or verbal dialog in any way whatsoever.

Instead, initiate contact with your credit card company, bank, ebay, whatever through a legitimate, known means that you know for certain is legit.

Example:

Credit card company calls you to investigate possible fraudulent charges on your card.  They want to know if you actually made a few recent purchases.

HANG UP!!

Now, look at the phone number listed on the back of your card.  Call it, and ask for the fraud department.  Then ask if they're trying to contact you about possible fraudulent charges.  The conversation will flow from there.

In this case, you know, beyond a doubt, you're talking to the real McCoy and not a scam artist.

Make sense?

[Muddy]

MAKES SENSE! The other thing to look for is that while these scams today are modernized using the internet, the mark is usually set up by appealing to GREED or FAST MONEY. The ol saying THERE AIN"T NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH IN AMERICA, should play loud and clear in your head .

So when you see a free 100 bucks ,or protecting an assest you already have  in an unsolicited eamil know that is what they are doing. They have just found an easy way of hitting a lot of potential marks with one email.

[Long Mike]

Don't forget about all those folks in Nigeria and other parts of Africa who just cannot wait to share your inheritance and/or lottery winnings with you.

[moby bass]

Don't forget about all those folks in Nigeria and other parts of Africa who just cannot wait to share your inheritance and/or lottery winnings with you.

Yeah, I didn't even know I had relatives in Nigeria!  ;D

[simplejoe]

The other day someone called my wife about our credit card machine at the store the wanted the merchant ID number and access code since they lost it thier system. The guy said they can no longer take our cards until we get the problem fixed. She was calling me from her cell phone as she was talking to him. I told her to hang up and call the company direct, so she did and they had no idea about this phone call my wife was telling them about. The lady transfered my wife to another depatment a guy came on and said they've been getting alot of calls from other businesses saying the same story.  Glad my wife has some common sense and hung up who knows what would've happened.

Who ever owns a company and has a credit card machine WATCH OUT!!!

[toolpush]

Hope some will reread this thread. Today I received 2 different e-mails about paypal transactions, requesting authorizations. The first time I clicked on the link just to see where it would take me and it was avery realistic looking paypal page spoof  and requested my credit card numbers. I quickly exited out and they hit me again a short time later, I guess by then I was an easy "mark",  I then sent the e-mails to paypal and shortly received a reply that they were indeed phishing attempts. As stated before. Beware!

[Glenn]

They'll try anything to get your information.  The key is, they contact you first!  Always be wary of anybody who calls or e-mails you that wants information from you in any way, shape, or form.  Unless you contact them first, you never know who you're talking to!

[tipptruck1]

I got one of these the other day. It was from citi bank. I don't even go to citi bank. So I just deleted it. Also My bank dosnt have my email so I guess if I get any thing from my bank I know iits not them.