Category: Phishing

There’s a web page made to look like it’s from KMart (a retail store). It has a survey and it promises to give you $150 credit if you fill out the survey.

Like most scams, there’s an incentive to catch your attention – in this case it’s a $150 credit. This kind of scam is called phishing.

The fake survey asks a set of questions, then asks for your full name, credit card number and PIN. Never give this out in a survey!

After you enter all your details, it takes you to the real KMart’s web page so that you don’t suspect anything. Then criminals will use your credit card details to make expensive purchases.

How to identify the fake survey:

• An email is sent to you with the subject "You have been selected"
• The link in the email doesn’t point to KMart, it points to a web site with the word epiqteen in the URL
• The body of the email is:

You have been selected to access the Kmart Holiday Survey and win a $150.00 gift certificate.
Please click here and complete the form to claim your prize. Thank you.

To prevent these attacks:

• Use one of the "other" web browsers, such as FireFox, Opera and Chrome. These have better technology at detecting phishing sites.
• Install a good anti-virus package, one that scans web sites as well as files. This a paid service and you usually get a good up-to-date list of phishing sites, and it works automatically in the background. The small cost is a great investment for your security.
• Be very cautious of generous offers (I don’t think many companies can afford to give $150 to all their customers right now).
• When you see a suspicious email, copy and paste its contents into Google. Then read through the results to determine if it’s a scam. E.g., Google indexes all of Fraudo’s pages, so any scams I write about here will show up on a Google search.
• Never give out your credit card details in surveys.
• Read the URL carefully. The URL is the address shown at the top of your web browser. If it’s not the exact name of a legitimate company then be suspicious.

If you get an email telling you that your credit card is locked and that you need to click on the link to unlock it, treat it as a scam. It’s an example of email scams where they start with a story that sounds urgent (your credit card is locked), and that you need to click on the link right now (before you have time to think or research the email).

What usually happens is the link they give you is fake. It might look like a real company’s link, but if you hover your mouse pointer over the link you’ll be able to see where it really points to. And usually it’s a scammer’s web site in places like China or Russia.

Then when you get to that page, it’s been designed to look just like a real company’s site, and it prompts you to enter all your personal details including passwords. This information goes straight to the scammer who set up the fake site. He then sells it on a black market. Then someone buys your account details and uses it to commit fraud. It’s a large complex network that steals billions of dollars a year.

Below is an email claiming to be from Visa. When you receive emails like this, copy and paste it into Google, then Google will show you web sites like FraudO telling you if they’re scams.

Your Visa card is temporarily locked and the last transaction is on hold. Please understand we work to ensure your account safety. To restore your card and regain access you are required to register your Visa card in the Verified by Visa program, its a free, simple-to-use service that confirms your identity with an extra password when you make an online transaction.

It’s easy and only takes a few moments to activate your card. You can do it by clicking on the link below that will take you to Visa secure website.

[link removed – it looks like a Visa web site]

This is an outbound message only. Please do not reply to this email. If you have any questions, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), or contact us. You will receive a response within 2 business days.

Thank you for using Visa Cards.

If in doubt just call your credit card company on the phone. They’ll reply immediately, not in 2 days, and you can be sure you’re speaking to a legitimate company.

Thanks to Erik for sending this one in. If you find other scams or fraud attempts you can send them in using our contact form.

Phishing is when someone sends you an email designed to trick you into handing over personal details such as your passwords. Below is a new phishing email. At first glance it looks like it came from PayPal. It’s designed to trick you into clicking their link – it does this by coming up with a story about your account being locked.

Below is the email. At the end of this post I’ll explain what you can do to avoid falling for these things.

We are constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience.
Why is my account access limited?

Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-0XD2-0XBC-0XDA-0X37.)

How can I restore my account access?

Please visit the Resolution Center and complete the "Steps to Remove Limitations."

Be aware that until we can verify your identity we will have no other liability for your account or any transactions that may have occurred as a result of your failure to upgrade your account as instructed above.

Sincerely,
Account Departement.

What can you do to avoid phishing emails?

1. Do you have a PayPal account? If not then you should immediately suspect it’s fake.
2. Is the email poorly written? If you look carefully you’ll find grammatical errors in the email shown above. Scammers generally have poor English skills.
3. Use one of the newer web browsers. For example, I clicked on the link in the email to see what happens. Google Chrome immediately identified it as a phishing email and displayed a large red screen with a large warning that this is a phishing site. Opera does the same. Internet Explorer didn’t try to stop me (80% of Windows users still use Internet Explorer, it’s time to upgrade). So alternative browsers are safer to use.
4. Install a good anti-virus package. For example, Trend Internet Security checks which web sites you’re visiting and it will stop you from going to known phishing sites. There’s a small subscription fee to buy and keep using Trend Internet Security and I think it’s a good investment (it’s cheaper than having someone take all the money out of your bank account).
5. When you see a suspicious email, don’t click on the links they provide. If you’re really concerned about your account being locked, open a new tab in your browser and type in the address yourself. Then you know you’ll be going to the real PayPal site (or your bank, etc).
6. When there’s a link embedded in an email you can place the mouse pointer over the link and wait a second. Usually you’ll be shown the address it points to. If the address isn’t exactly what you expect then it’s fake. Read more here about recognising fake addresses.
7. Some email services include spam filtering. Sometimes you have to pay extra for this service. Spam filtering usually also filters out phishing emails. This removes these bad emails before you even get to see them.
8. When you see a suspicious email, copy some of the text and paste it into Google. Then look through the results to see if it’s a known scam. (This is why I copy & paste all these bad emails into FraudO, to help Google find them).