+EraSeek Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 Beware phony PayPal Emails: http://msnbc.com/news/941872.asp?0dm=N18QT "See the wonderous works of Providence! The uncertainty of human things!" Geo.Washington Quote Link to comment
+Og's outfit Posted July 22, 2003 Share Posted July 22, 2003 AACKHKKK!! Thanks for the warning EraSeek! I should sleep well tonight! OG Prophetically Challenged (or is that Pathetically?) Quote Link to comment
+Bilder Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I got one from "Wells Fargo Bank" asking that I send them my social security number as well as bank accounts to process some new super account I had applied for. Sad part is that I dont do business with them and never have. Email said that they were asking for this online because there are no branches in my area. Guess they forgot about the one less than a mile from my house. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have never been lost. Been awful confused for a few days, but never lost! N61.12.041 W149.43.734 Quote Link to comment
martmann Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I don't mean to insult anybody, but how stupid would you have to be to fall for this? _________________________________________________________ If trees could scream, would we still cut them down? Well, maybe if they screamed all the time, for no reason. Click here for my Geocaching pictures and Here (newest) Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I've seen them use PayPal and eBay. As for how stupid...it depends on how it's done. The best so far Iv'e seen was a two stage one. One where the 'hacker' emailed me and said the site had been hacked. They emailed me at an address that I only used for that site so the hack comment was convincing. A short time later they emailed a "we have been hacked email please verify your information by visiting our secure site". The secure site has in it's domain the original website, but wasn't part of it. Pretty creative on their part. After that I changed all my passwords to random conglomerations of junk that are all different. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I received a pretty legit looking one supposedly from Paypal telling me my credit card was about to expire and I needed to supply a new one. The link took me to a legit looking website too. I'm not stupid, but I could have easily fallen for it. The reason I didn't was that I knew none of my credit cards were close to expiring, which made me suspicious. When in doubt, go directly to the website. Don't use any links priovided in an e-mail. "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry Quote Link to comment
Hearts_of_CG Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 My only suggestion to these sort of emails is the following......... Do Not Panic. If and when you ever get a email like that go to the original company that it came from. For example, If its from Ebay go to the "official" EBay site and email them, forwarding the email that they sent you and ask them if indeed they sent it. Most companies will NEVER email you asking you for personal information. They will put alerts on your account page in their actual site. The only reason a company will email you for the most part is if there is a question regarding an order. If they are "Upgrading their data base" They will have you do it the next time that you make an online order. The big companies do not have the time to deal with emailing every user and asking for them to upgrade this is just not possible nor feasible. If it doesnt fit well, then its a hoax. ~places soapbox away~ To cache or not to cache...is there a question? Quote Link to comment
Fakk 2 Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 You can read about the Paypal email theft in PC magazine, they have an article about it. It was really convincing, they even looked at the source and saw that it went to paypal.com etc. was extremely well done. Only 1ce in the email does it have the full webaddress that shows that paypal was not the intended site. I bought a GPS. Now I get lost with style. Quote Link to comment
Dru Morgan Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 The best thing to do if you get an email like that asking for personal financial information is to go to the official database update site here. Put in your confidential information, and you even get a name generated for you when you do. Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan Quote Link to comment
+carleenp Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I got a pretty slick looking ebay one awhile back. I knew it was a scam, but I could see some people falling for it. Some will have the person click a link that goes to a fake site that looks like the real thing. Quote Link to comment
Team Kender Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Dream Alchemist:You can read about the Paypal email theft in PC magazine, they have an article about it. It was really convincing, they even looked at the source and saw that it went to paypal.com etc. was extremely well done. Only 1ce in the email does it have the full webaddress that shows that paypal was not the intended site. I bought a GPS. Now I get lost with style. I guess I can understand someone getting taken in especially if the website looks authentic. But I guess I'm one of those people that take the word at the time of my signup of whatever service that they will NEVER ask for your personal info. Besides, Paypal won't tell you squat about your card being expired, they just reject your charge for whatever you tried to buy. Team Kender - "The Sun is coming up!" "No, the horizon is going down." Quote Link to comment
+pater47 Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Have fun with them. Send it back with bogus info. Visit the Mississippi Geocaching Forum at http://pub98.ezboard.com/bgeocachingms Quote Link to comment
+cachew nut Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team Kender: Besides, Paypal won't tell you squat about your card being expired, they just reject your charge for whatever you tried to buy. Paypal does send you a notice about 2 weeks before your card is going to expire, reminding you to go update your card information. Quote Link to comment
+Web-ling Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by pater47:Have fun with them. Send it back with bogus info. Or your mother-in-law's info. Quote Link to comment
+Marky Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 You shouldn't click on any link in an e-mail unless you verify the URL is the one you are expecting. If you look at the URLs for these fake e-mails, they usually take you to some dumb aol.com account set up to look and act like Paypal or eBay. In most browser based e-mail readers, you can see the actual URL in the normal browser ways... --Marky "All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr" Quote Link to comment
+RainDog Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 PayPal has a link on their site to report things like this to help them prosecute the scammers. How do the Angels get to sleep when the Devil leaves his porch light on? Quote Link to comment
+Bilder Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Just got this one. I love this type of scam email. Always worth a chuckle. MR. Thambo Avis. taa9549@email.com DEAR DR, I AM AN OFFICER IN CORPORATE BANKING DEPARTMENT OF RENNIES BANK S.A. MY DEPARTMENT RELATES MORE WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THE STATE. VERY LATELY AN AMOUNT OF MONEY WAS DISCOVERED BY US IN A SUSPENSE / AN ABANDONED ACCOUNT TO THE SUM OF US$15.300, 000.00 (FIFTEEN POINT THREE MILLION US DOLLARS ONLY). AN ACCOUNT THAT BELONGED TO ONE OF OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMERS WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY ON NOVEMBER 1994 IN A GHASTLY PLANE CRASH. SINCE WE GOT INFORMATION ABOUT HIS DEATH, WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING HIS NEXT-OF-KIN TO COME OVER AND CLAIM HIS MONEY BECAUSE WE CANNOT RELEASE IT UNLESS SOMEBODY APPLIED FOR IT AS NEXT-OF-KIN, OR RELATION TO THE DECEASED AS INDICATED IN OUR BANKING GUIDELINES. UNFORTUNATELY, NOBODY HAS COME FOWARD TO CLAIM THIS MONEY. IT IS BASED ON THIS THAT SOME OFFICIALS IN MY DEPARTEMENT AND I HAVE DECIDED TO ESTABLISH A CORDIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU, HENCE MY CONTACTING YOU. WE WANT YOU TO PRESENT YOURSELF AS THE NEXT-OF-KIN OR RELATION OF THE DECEASED SO THAT THE FUND CAN BE REMITTED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. MOREOVER, WE DO NOT WANT THE MONEY TO GO INTO THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT AS UNCLAIMED BILL. THE BANKING LAW AND GUIDELINES HERE STIPULATE THAT ANY ACCOUNT ABANDONED OR IS DORMANT FOR A PERIOD OF YEARS IS DEEMED CLOSED AND ALL MONEY CONTAINED THEREIN FORFEITED TO THE GOVERNMENT TREASURY ACCOUNT. NOW IT IS BEING SPECULATED THAT THE ABOVE SUM WILL BE TRANSFERED INTO THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT AS AN UNCLAIMED FUND ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 2003. THE REASON FOR REQUESTING YOU TO PRESENT YOURSELF AS NEXT-OF-KIN IS OCCASIONED BY THE FACT THAT THE DECEASED (CUSTOMER) WAS A FOREIGNER. THE MODE OF SHARING AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF THE MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT: 75% TO MY COLLEAGUES AND I; FOR THE ROLE YOU WILL BE EXPECTEDTO PLAY IN THIS DEAL, WE HAVE AGREED TO GIVE YOU THIRTY PERCENT (20%) OF THE TOTAL SUM, AND 5% FOR THE EXPENSES WE ARE GOING TO ENCOUNTER BY THE TWO PARTIES AT THE COURSE OF THIS TRANSACTION.THEREFORE YOU ARE EXPECTED TO REPLY THIS LETTER INDICATING YOUR READINESS AND INTEREST TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS BUSINESS. AFTER RECEIVING YOUR REPLY, YOU WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO WITH THE EXACT STEPS TO TAKE. I EXPECT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE EITHER BY EMAIL TO: taa9549@email.com OR PHONE WHICH SHALL GIVE YOU WHEN YOU ARE SET. NOTE ALSO THAT FOR SECURITY REASONS I WOULD'T BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO YOU DURING OFFICE HOURS HENCE I SHALL GIVE YOU MY PRIVATE NUMBER WHERE YOU CAN ALWAYS REACH ME AT THE PROPER TIME. PLEASE TREAT THIS BUSINESS PROPOSAL AS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL FOR SECURITY REASONS. AS ALL THE TOP OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN THE BUSINESS HERE DO NOT WANT TO GET INTO TROUBLE AS A RESULT OF INDECENT PUBLICITY. KIND REGARDS, MR. Thambo Avis. taa9549@email.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have never been lost. Been awful confused for a few days, but never lost! N61.12.041 W149.43.734 Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 quote:75% TO MY COLLEAGUES AND I; FOR THE ROLE YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO PLAY IN THIS DEAL, WE HAVE AGREED TO GIVE YOU THIRTY PERCENT (20%) OF THE TOTAL SUM, AND 5% FOR THE EXPENSES Thirty = 20?? No wonder these "bankers" think this might work. "Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:I received a pretty legit looking one supposedly from Paypal telling me my credit card was about to expire and I needed to supply a new one. The link took me to a legit looking website too. I'm not stupid, but I could have easily fallen for it. The reason I didn't was that I knew none of my credit cards were close to expiring, which made me suspicious. When in doubt, go directly to the website. Don't use any links priovided in an e-mail. _"Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he'll sit in a boat and drink beer all day" - Dave Barry_ I got the same one. I was okay with it expiring... in the six months that it would. Cheers! TL Quote Link to comment
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