If you have received a text message claiming to be from Netflix, and telling you that “We have a new policy in place, please visit and review today”, along with a link and, possibly, a random set of characters in parenthesis such as “(ybpldcjyop)”, it is definitely a scam, do NOT click on it! The text message may also appear to come from phone number 141-010-0001 or just 410100001, but even if it comes from another number, it is definitely a scam.
Online computer extortion and blackmail is nothing new. You may have heard about big companies being extorted for hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even more, in order to keep their companies from being blackmailed over something, and being brought down by a DDOS, or having some scandal (either real or fabricated) made public. Some such activity comes in the form of ransomware (where your files get locked or wiped and then you have to pay to be able to access them and get them back), and some comes in the form of plain old blackmail, such as the example below.
By now, in 2018, most people know that rental scams on Craigslist abound. But how to tell a Craigslist rental scam is not as well known. Below is an example of a Craigslist rental scam. The scammer calls himself Bob Osell, claims to be renting the house located at 2237 Kay St. in Longmont, Colorado, and to be reachable at (760)2378225.
WARNING: A mass SMS text message scam went out this afternoon that reads basically: “FRM: Account Service MSG: You are required to accept the new Terms of Service now:” and then it gives you a shortened link such as https://goo.gl/hdDpNE. The sample we received is from the phone number 1410200502, but yours may say something different.
If you received a text message or email telling you that “Account might be blocked for your security!” DON’T click on any link or respond to it! The spam message comes from text-pp.com-servicesupport@lsg.org, which should be a tip-off, but in case you’re not sure, it’s a scam!
A new malware scam is hitting email inboxes. The email sample that we have comes from an email address at thomaskeller.com (ours is specifically from gcromwell@thomaskeller.com), and claims to have received an invoice from your company. They even include your company name in the email, making it seem more legit. But it isn’t.
Automated vacation messages are often frowned upon for several reasons, including that they can be a spam vector, that if set improperly (such as being triggered with every single email from every single person) they can actually views as spam, and that they can actually cause legitimate email from you to end up in the spam folder. But as if that’s not enough of a reason to not use an automated vacation message, they can also be used with a bit of social engineering to steal your identity. Here’s how that can happen.
Confused by a confirmation of a new Amazon “Prime Acct Gift” order that landed in your inbox today, when you know that you haven’t placed any such order? You’re not alone. The order with the subject ‘New-order #20953735 – confirmed’ (although the order number on yours may be different) from aaroncasey@realoffersnow.com (although your ‘from’ address may be different) is 100% a scam.
Members of USAA insurance and banking programs have been receiving email that appears to come from USAA (which stands for United Services Automobile Association), but which are actually phishing scams. The scam email comes from the nonexistent domain usaaservice.com (such as from “USAA.ServiceAccount@usaaservice.com”).
As we have noted a couple of times in the past few weeks, spammers and scammers are using the email mailing list confirmation process to send spam. Here’s how that works: someone signs up for a mailing list, and then replies to the confirmation request with their spam. In this case, Amy Happy at amy41211@letmailer.com, seems to be replying to a confirmation message that she, in fact, never received in the first place.
Add blood_love2@aol.com as the newest scammer spamming mailing lists. As we mentioned last week, scammers have started signing up for mailing lists in order to spam the list members with their scams. (Our samples come from Aweber mailing lists.) Last week it was supposedly David Norris, leasing his house in Troy, Michigan, with a contact number of (509) 255-3270. This week it’s the supposed Rev. Gary Williams, with a house in Warwick, New York, with a contact number of (502) 536-8106.
You wouldn’t think that it would be worth a scammer or spammer’s time to sign up for a mailing list, only to be able to reply to the confirmation email with their spam, but sure enough, that is what’s happening.
The Internet Patrol has been alerted to a new email scam which appears to be an invoice from Apple. Of course, they don’t expect you to pay it, they expect you to be alarmed at the supposed charge, so that you log in to your Apple account, and they can steal your credentials. Don’t fall for it.