Scammers alert - timely reminder, if it were needed?

[I like Skol]

Christmas is coming and Mrs Skol has been busy this last week ordering stuff in time for the expected (fingers crossed) festivities. A couple of Amazon orders have been placed over the weekend and then this morning this arrived....

Shockingly poor attempt to impersonate the real thing but still, suppose they don't need a very high success rate to make it worth their while?

I don't know how they do it, seem to have a knack of timing the scams with actual legitimate activity. If We have been dealing with Hector then a false tax refund email arrives, buy something with Paypal then the account is suddenly mysteriously hacked and will be locked (never has been, despite me ignoring the threats ).

I guess this means my computers are riddled with spyware and the scammers know exactly where I have been? Funny how they don't scam me for cycling related things though?......

Anyway, to misquote a common warning, Stay alert - Control the scammers - Save [your] money

 

[CanucksTraveller]

It's a good reminder, because it can happen to all of us, no matter how good we think we are at spotting scams. Consider that I worked in law enforcement, did loads of work with online fraud, and my hobby used to be 419 scam baiting. And yet a combination of timing, circumstances, and a really good fake email that "I was expecting" still caught me out.

Recently I'd ordered something from Amazon late at night, then woke up in the morning to a perfectly legit looking email from Amazon saying there had been an issue with the payment card, could I please log in to my account to rectify it etc... (and again, consider that I know how to check who the sender is, analyse email headers etc).... but I was bleary eyed, half awake, on my phone rather than the laptop, and this seemed right, so before I had thought properly about it I'd "logged on" (i.e. provided my password to a convincing phishing tool). I realised within seconds that I'd made a daft mistake, so passwords were changed everywhere immediately and no harm was done, but it was a foolish slip.

they don't need a very high success rate to make it worth their while

Indeed, they send out many thousands, and while we mostly laugh ("It's so obvious, I don't even have an Amazon account"), you only need a couple of occasions where it (a) fits what the reader is expecting and (b) catches them at a distracted moment.

 

[DCLane]

You've got many other scams; I've noticed an increase in scam calls from overseas "press 1 to be connected to ..." which are reported every time.

A friend recently was 'contacted' by someone she knew by text asking to help with a hospital bill. She didn't check with the individual and it was two payments later before she told my wife about it. We immediately thought scam and advised her not to - but she was going to pay. Fortunately she hasn't.

 

[rockyroller]

my account password stopped working w/ no explanation. had to reset it w/ a new one. after some googling, Amazon does this sometimes when they think there may be trouble brewing w/ an account. I didn't see any fraudulent orders once I got back in. Wifey doesn't like the new password. "what's that? that's dumb, doesn't make any sense" not worried, she didn't like the last one either

 

[Drago]

Good news! Turns ou my Uncle was a Nigerian Prince, and he's passed away and left 10 million quid to me. I've sent them the £5000 admin fee so should be rolling in lolly any day now.

 

[stephec]

Good news! Turns ou my Uncle was a Nigerian Prince, and he's passed away and left 10 million quid to me. I've sent them the £5000 admin fee so should be rolling in lolly any day now.

We must be related, you must be the favourite nephew though as he wanted £7500 from me.

 

[Illaveago]

I had one yesterday in my eBay messages saying that PayPal would no longer be used and that payment would now be through eBay's own system which would save me money .

 

[fossyant]

I had one yesterday in my eBay messages saying that PayPal would no longer be used and that payment would now be through eBay's own system which would save me money .

ebay's own system.......... which is paypal

I get regular paypal ones - so much harder to spot on a phone screen rather than the PC

 

[oldwheels]

You've got many other scams; I've noticed an increase in scam calls from overseas "press 1 to be connected to ..." which are reported every time.

A friend recently was 'contacted' by someone she knew by text asking to help with a hospital bill. She didn't check with the individual and it was two payments later before she told my wife about it. We immediately thought scam and advised her not to - but she was going to pay. Fortunately she hasn't.

I once got an email allegedly from my brother saying he was stuck in Turkey and couldn't leave as the hotel was withholding his passport and he had no money to pay the bill as his wallet had been stolen. Please forward a direct payment asap to help him out. He certainly could be anywhere in the world as he travelled widely for work purposes but the rest did not ring true.

 

[Milkfloat]

ebay's own system.......... which is paypal

I get regular paypal ones - so much harder to spot on a phone screen rather than the PC

Actually eBay is replacing PayPal as their payment provider with Adyen.

https://tamebay.com/2020/02/new-ebay-payments-experience-coming-to-the-uk-this-summer.html

 

[Drago]

I once got an email allegedly from my brother saying he was stuck in Turkey and couldn't leave as the hotel was withholding his passport and he had no money to pay the bill as his wallet had been stolen. Please forward a direct payment asap to help him out. He certainly could be anywhere in the world as he travelled widely for work purposes but the rest did not ring true.

I'd have replied, "tell my Brother he's a tw@t."

 

[bagpuss]

e mail to today saying that I had got £18000 my bit coin account . which I do not have .

 

[stephec]

e mail to today saying that I had got £18000 my bit coin account . which I do not have .

That must have been a nice surprise for you then? 😄

 

[GetFatty]

I never use the button or link included in the email. If the email looks genuine, I’ll login separately. I do sometimes get genuine emails like this because of my VPN (although most sites rely on a combination of device and IP address)

 

[All uphill]

Of course it's right to be cautious. My recent story is the other way round. I got a dodgy looking email from my major UK bank telling me that there had been unexpected use of my account and would I contact their investigator on a mobile number.

Sounds very dubious, doesn't it?

I contacted the bank and was told it was genuine and someone had used my card details repeatedly on an online gambling site. They put me through to the fraud dept and I got a new card and money refunded.