Tinternet scams

[malcolm]

I had that with the car insurance company phoning me up. I actually had forgotten to renew, but told them to save everything on file and I'd phone them back on the number I had for them before I would give them any credit card details. They were quite happy with that and gave me a name to ask for on the switchboard.

Far too many scammers about to take any chances.

 

[jugs]

Most 'phishing' emails will address you by your email address as that's all they have on you. Unlikely (though not impossible) that a scammer would have both your surname and email address.

Erm, we were a bit naive when we did our e-mail address a few yrs ago, so it contains both our names trouble is the amount of effort involved in changing it now so we are ultra careful

 

[Wozzaaah]

Holy cr@p...I see what you mean!!!
I'm sorry to say but that's probably one of the most insecure email addresses I've ever seen.

 

[Sparkey]

Erm, we were a bit naive when we did our e-mail address a few yrs ago, so it contains both our names trouble is the amount of effort involved in changing it now so we are ultra careful

Get an alias then? you can create another email box if you want...blimey, i have 4 different ones!

 

[manicman]

How to get rid of them

I've found a way to get rid of call centre people (works best on women although not wanting to be sexist...)

Phone rings... You answer.... You're then told you've qualified for somehting, been the first out of teh draw etc... What ever the reason they found you via the phonebook....

So you interupt them and say you'd love to hear their offer.... If you could ask one question first... They oblige...

Question... Please could you describe in very great detail the underwear your wearing?

For some reason they then don't want to talk to you?? I don't know why??

 

[Scamp]

For the telephone stuff I have found that the TPS register is very effective for UK based cold calls. But have never received any of the pooter scam calls that people are talking about.

We get about 300 spam / scam e-mails at work each week and I think some of them are because some of our customers have had their e-mail compromised. I found that my Hotmail account had been hacked the other month and was sending random spam mail out to my contacts in the address book But easily solved by changing my password.

It is as has already been stated - be vigilant.

 

[Robotstar5]

When I get "forward this to all your contacts" type e-mails, usually from my sisters, I have a look at snopes first and generally find out it's been doing the rounds for years

 

[restorer]

If anyone is thinking of baiting email scammers, do it from another mail box. They don't check where they have been sent so you can be whoever you want. Never give any details or photo ID that can be traced back to you.

They are not above using a genuine web site as part of their scams. If you think the site is fake just go over to the boys and girls at www.419eater.com and they'll report it and get it shut down buy one of their experts. Sometimes you may even get a bank account in the scam mail they want you to transfer money to. The accounts belong to money mules who have been taken in and are then used to move money around by scammers. Report any you get on Eater as well and they can have those closed down too.

Be careful about winding up phone scammers as they'll have some personal info on you already, that they can use to make life uncomfortable if you get them going. It's tempting to have a go, but just say you're not interested and put the phone down.

If you 1471, (they sometimes ask you to do that to prove they are genuine) you'll get one from a group of spoofed numbers they use. They are all very well known and come up on google as numbers used by scammers. Don't phone any of those numbers back whatever you do.

 

[jugs]

Latest one - Tax Refund

Latest one, 2 days ago...... could be quite tempting to some


Tax Refund Confirmation

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 468.50 GBP. Please submit the tax refund request and click here by having your tax refund sent to your bank account in due time

Please Click "Get Started" to have your tax refund sent to your bank account, your tax refund will be sent to your bank account in due time take your time to go through the bank we have on our list *link removed!*

Note : A refund can be delayed a variety of reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.

Best Regards HM Revenue & Customs


Little rascals

 

[Shox Dr]

Best Regards HM Revenue & Customs

Like them r'soles are going to put that at the end of a letter

 

[Biscayne]

Slightly cleverer than average was an email appearing to be from lloyds TSB. The link was to a fake website at *MALICIOUS LINK REMOVED - PLEASE EDIT THEM OUT BEFORE POSTING!* which was a dead ringer for the genuine site. It was setup to harvest account names, passwords and memorable information. As 't' and 'f' are so close on the keyboard the fake site could even be entered by mistyping.

I reported it to Lloyds & it has since been removed.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Could everyone please be careful what you're posting and edit out any malicious links before submitting your posts? Hit the preview post button and check if anything looks like a URL such as www.scammersarenotnice.com , if it does, highlight the link and press this button

and it should make the link dead so you can safely remove all traces of it from your post.
Even typing that in as I've done, the forum software will automatically create a hyperlink so please be aware.

Ta.