Aug 27 2010

Odd Email from USAA Bank

Category: Uncategorized — admin @ 11:24 pm

Well, these are common, but we wanted to share the latest in the bank scam emails.  Most of the bank scams are sent in an attempt to have you log on to a site and update your bank information.  The only problem… these are not from your bank! If you ever receive an email that is similar to the example below, it is best to call your bank directly.  Don’t click the link!

Dear USAA Savings Bank customer,

We recently reviewed your account, and we are suspecting that your USAA Online Banking account may have been accessed from an unauthorized computer.

This may be due to changes in your IP address or location. Protecting the security of your account and of the USAA Savings Bank network is our primary concern.

We are asking you to immediately login and report any unauthorized withdrawals, and check your account profile to make sure no changes have been made.

To protect your account please follow the instructions below:

* DO NOT SHARE YOUR PASSWORD WITH OTHER USERS

* LOG OFF AFTER USING YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT

Please click on the following link, to verify your account activity:

https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_logon/Logon

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your support in helping us maintaining the integrity of the entire USAA Savings Bank system. Please login as soon as possible.

Thank you,

USAA Savings Bank Security Advisor.



Tags: , , ,

Aug 26 2010

Online Promotional Scams

Category: Uncategorized — admin @ 5:09 pm

As we already know, scams come in a wide range of sizes and styles.  Now, they even come in the way of email promotions!  This scam depends on a company that is well-known so readers feel that it is legitimate.  The scammer will tell you that you are the winner of a cash prize and try to gather some important personal information from you in order to grant you the money.  This is actually a type of  Nigerian email scam.   Don’t give them any information!  This type of email, just like any type of Nigerian email scam, is set up to start a dialogue with you the victim and the scammer on the other end of the email.

Read below for an example of the email promotion scam.

MICROSOFT CUSTOMER SERVICE
REFNO.:MS/75-A08055161/2010

Batch: 044/05/ZY369

Dear E-mail Owner,

You are a winner of the just conclude Microsoft Online Email Promo.  You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds (£500,000.00). Please this informations are required for verification.

Name:……………….
Address:……………
Country:……………
Age:………………
Gender:…………….
Occupation:…………..
Phone and Fax:……………
Winning E-mail Address:…………….

Please contact:
Owens Gibson
Email: msoftdpt10@w.cn
Telephone: +44-704-570-7201

Jade Ray
Annoucer For Microsoft Online Email Promo


Tags: ,

Aug 26 2010

Low Down and Dirty

Category: Uncategorized — admin @ 4:10 pm

Today marks a unique day in which we receive an email variation we have never, ever seen before. We recently got an email from a man named Hoecker Moreb, a man that we obviously do not know.  The subject line was quick, simple, and down right creepy.  It read, “Your Wife Photos Attached”.  Clue one… improper English.

Immediately, we became suspicious and of this obvious piece of spam.  After clicking on the email we again found a similar quick, simple, and extremely creepy line.  The only text inside the body of the email read, “Your wife photos”.  The only other thing the email contained was a zip download.  And, there we go! Wow, who wants to be the first to guess what that zip folder is?  Can you say MALWARE!?!? And to think,  Hoecker thought he could trick us!

Now, kudos to the scammer for freaking us out so much that we immediately had to click on the email.  And, kudos to us for reconizing the potential dismise we would of faced if we downloaded the attachment.  Crash! As we mentioned before, scammers will try to take any angle to get you to download a virus, malware, or send back personal information.

Tags: , , , ,

Aug 20 2010

It Happened!

Category: Uncategorized — admin @ 6:09 pm

As much as you tried to avoid it, it finally happened to you.  Your email was hacked.  Now, you are receiving calls and response emails from your friends, family, and co-workers about the crazy messages that have been filling their inboxes from your account.

How did this happen?  You never give your email address out unless it is completely necessary and you monitor your sent messages daily.  Regardless of how it has happened the first thing you need to do immediately is CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!!!!  This should hopefully stop anyone from getting back into your email account.  The next thing you can do is email everyone on your contact list and let them know that you are aware that your account was hacked and you have everything under control.

Getting hacked is a frustrating and sometimes unavoidable issue.  If you have any old email addresses that you don’t use anymore it is best to close the account and/or still monitor its activity.  An old email address with thousands of unread messages may seem harmless to you, but is an ideal email account for hackers.  Most often they can hack and use your old email address without detection for a long period of time since you rarely check it.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Aug 17 2010

Malware Didn’t Get Us!

Category: Uncategorized — admin @ 2:33 am

Hello faithful readers!  We are back from our short summer vacation and of course, our inbox was full with latest and greatest scams.  To welcome back the blog, we thought we could share a classic email scam that includes a download. Below is the simple text included in the email.

To Whom It May Concern:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Kindly download the attachment it contains vital information regarding your claims.

Regards,

Grace Morgan (Mrs.)

Attached came a PowerPoint presentation that was titled, “morgan letterhead”.  As you might have suspected, we didn’t dare open the attachment.  If we had, malware might have actually got us!

It is important to remember that attachments can be dangerous regardless of whom the email is from.  The attachment could contain a form of malware that has the potential to infect your computer.  Malware can be used to gather information such as bank account numbers, social security numbers, addresses, and more. On the off chance that the download does not include malware, it could offer additional information to bait you in for any other type of scam.  It’s best to just avoid any attachment that you are not expecting via email.

Now, that we are back, please don’t forget to check back with us.  Happy End of Summer!

Tags: , , , ,