Greg's Corner

Tagged: phishing Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Geebo 9:58 am on December 21, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Apple ( 32 ), phishing, Scams ( 1,429 )   

  New phishing scam hitting Apple users 

  

  It’s no secret that Apple has one of the most dedicated consumer bases among the global tech companies. Then it should come as no surprise that scammers and con artists will try to use Apple’s massive brand loyalty to their advantage. Since Apple devices and their accessories usually demand a high price, the scammers believe that their victims will have a reasonable amount of money, making Apple users lucrative targets. If you are currently invested in Apple’s ecosystem you could be a target of this latest scam.

  Many tech news outlets are reporting that this latest phishing scam goes further than the usual phishing scam. In most online phishing scams you’ll get an email posing as a service you may use asking you to update or change your user information. You’ll be directed to a link which takes you to a phony website that asks for your login or financial information. In this Apple scam, the scammers send you an official looking receipt from the Apple App store with phony charges. The receipt also contains shortened links to a fake website that looks a lot like Apple’s and it will ask you for your Apple ID information. It will then tell you that you’ve been locked out of your Apple account and will ask you for identifying information including your Social Security number to unlock your account. After you give them all of the requested information you’ll be directed to the legitimate Apple website.

  Again, the best ways to avoid phishing scams are not to open any attachments that are in emails from people you don’t know, and not to click on any links contained in these emails. If you think there is a legitimate issue with your account for any of these services, type the website’s address directly into your browser and enter your account through there. That way you can keep your information out of the hands of cybercriminals.

  iPhone users receiving spoofed calls from Apple in latest phishing attack | Greg's Corner is discussing. Toggle Comments

   

  Leave a ReplyCancel reply
• 

  Geebo 9:58 am on December 18, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Chrome ( 2 ), craigslist ( 129 ), Edge, Google ( 30 ), Netflix ( 15 ), phishing, Scams ( 1,429 ), shipping ( 5 ), used car ( 35 )   

  Netflix phishing scam returns, Google becomes Microsoft, and watch out for phony shipping companies 

  

  Today we bring you a few consumer protection stories that we think you should be aware of.

  First up is the return of the Netflix phishing scam. This is not a new scam but it seems to be making the rounds again. Reports from all over the country are stating that people are receiving emails that appear to be from Netflix asking customers to update their payment information. If you receive one of these emails do not click any of the links contained in the email. Doing this will take you to either a malware infested site or will try to obtain your credit or debit card information. Anytime some service requests any kind of information change, go directly to the site in your web browser instead of clicking any links.

  A former Microsoft intern is claiming that today’s Google is acting more like yesterday’s Microsoft. The intern used to work on Microsoft’s Edge Browser and claims that Google purposely tries to slow down other browsers than Chrome on some of their services such as YouTube. This is reminiscent of the browser wars of the early internet when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer gained the majority of the browser market by being included by default in Windows. The only difference this time is that Microsoft blinked and they are changing Edge to be a Chromium-based browser. Chromium is the engine that powers the Chrome browser and many of its offshoots like Opera and Vivaldi.

  Lastly, the state of South Dakota is warning consumers to be wary of phony shipping companies that are claiming they reside in the state. The state’s Attorney General is saying that people are being tricked into sending money to phony shipping companies when buying cars off of craigslist. If you’re going to buy a car online we hope that you would purchase the vehicle through Geebo.com, however, we always recommend shopping local when looking for a vehicle and using a safe place to conduct the transaction. However, if you do need to deal with a shipping company for whatever reason, a quick Google Maps search using the company’s supposed address should be able to tell you if the company actually exists or not.

   
• 

  Geebo 9:00 am on September 22, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Netflix ( 15 ), phishing, Scams ( 1,429 )   

  New season for the Netflix phishing scam 

  

  Much like the flu, phishing scams have their own seasons as well. They’ll go away for a while, lay low, then start sending out their legitimate looking emails again. These emails look like they come from legitimate websites and always ask you to update your information. This time around, the phishing emails appear to come from popular video streaming service Netflix.

  According to The Guardian, the emails appear to be coming from the email address of supportnetflix@checkinformation(dot)com. That should be your first tip that this is a scam. If Netflix were to send you an email it would be from a Netlfix.com email address. The email tells you that you need to update your financial information which should be another red flag. If you click on the link it takes you to a legitimate looking website with a form to update your payment information, but if you look at the address in your browser bar, it will not be at Netflix.com. If you ever do need to update any kind of user information on any website, always go to the website directly and never click an email link.

  In researching this story, it seems that this exact phishing scam happened around the country about 8 months ago as well.

  Like previously stated, these scams are cyclical and need to be watched out for at all times.

   
• 

  Geebo 9:02 am on September 7, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 109 ), Amazon Prime ( 6 ), phishing, Prime Day ( 8 )   

  Don’t fall for the Prime Day phishing scam 

  

  A phishing attack is when a scammer sends out a mass of emails that look like legitimate emails from such places as a bank telling you to log into your account and offering you a link to do so. Usually they do this under the guise that something is wrong with your account. Instead of sending you to your bank site, the website it sends you to is almost a mirror image of your bank’s site, but it’s a fake. It’s designed to copy your log in credentials in order to steal your financial information.

  More recently, a phishing attack has appeared that purports to be from Amazon. The email looks like it came from Amazon itself and it thanks you for buying an item during Amazon’s Prime Day, its once a year site-wide sale Amazon holds in July for its Prime Members. The email then asks you to write a review for the product your purchased and promises the chance for you to win a $50 Amazon gift card if you do. Then a link is offered to take you directly to Amazon. Much like the bank phishing scam, instead of taking you to Amazon, it takes you to a site which looks almost identical to the Amazon sign on page, but as usual it isn’t. If you enter your log in credentials here, they could be stolen and the perpetrators could use the financial information stored in your Amazon account to buy items for themselves. By the time you notice, the merchandise could have already been delivered to a temporary address and you’re stuck with the bill.

  When dealing with phishing emails like this, never click on any of the links. If you feel it may be a legitimate email, go to directly to the website by typing out the address in your browser. Always make sure the URL is spelled correctly as scammers will often use addresses that are slight misspellings of the actual URL. Also make sure when dealing with any website that needs your financial information, the URL should start with https, not just http. In most modern browsers it should also display a lock icon to let you know the site is secure.

   
• 

  Geebo 10:59 am on February 13, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: court fines, Detroit ( 4 ), IRS ( 26 ), phishing, Scams ( 1,429 )   

  Don’t pay your fines through Facebook 

  

  Recently in Detroit, a new twist on an old scam has reared its ugly head. People posing as city employees are sending messages to people on Facebook telling victims that they owe court costs to the city. Instead of mailing a check to city hall the victims are informed to wire the money in order to receive a discount on their alleged fine. As is usual with the wire scam, when you wire money to someone you don’t know they make off with your money and you have little to no recourse to get your money back, and you’ll still owe your fine if you own one. Unless it’s too a friend or relative that has approached you personally, never wire money for any kind of transaction. It’s too easy to be ripped off.

  This is reminiscent of the IRS scam where people posing as the IRS will call you demanding payment over the phone claiming that you owe back taxes. The IRS has repeatedly told the public that they do not contact taxpayers by phone.

  So please keep in mind that municipal or government agencies will not contact you through social media since social media accounts could actually belong to anybody and not necessarily the person they would try to reach. If you receive any kind of correspondence from a government agency that you believe may be a scam, look up the number for that agency and give them a call.

   
• 

  Geebo 10:24 am on January 18, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Gmail ( 2 ), phishing, security ( 46 )   

  New phishing attack targets GMail 

  

  For those of you who may not know, phishing is a type of scheme where an entity casts a wide net to a number of users in order to obtain the personal information of a few random victims. It’s like fishing but with a ‘ph’ because the internet likes to misspell things.

  A new phishing attack has appeared throughout a number of GMail accounts. If you use Google’s free webmail service the phishing email appears to be from someone on your contact list. That probably means that their account has probably been compromised. The fake email will have an attachment included in the email and when you click the attachment a new tab or window will pop up asking you to reenter your GMail login info. However, the new tab or window does not take you to GMail but rather takes you to a webpage designed to look like GMail, but in actuality is a fake page waiting to steal your login info as soon as you enter it.

  Some of the tips to avoid phishing attacks include not clicking on random attachments from strangers and in some cases from your friends. If it’s an unsolicited attachment there’s a pretty good chance it could be part of a phishing attack. Also, when logging in to your account check the URL, or web address, in your browser’s address bar. If it doesn’t belong to the service you’re logging into you could be compromising your info.

   
• 

  Geebo 11:04 am on January 13, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Netflix ( 15 ), phishing, scam ( 22 )   

  Beware of fake emails pretending to be from Netflix 

  

  Internet security experts are saying that there is a new scam happening that purportedly targets Netflix users. In what’s known as a phishing attack, people are receiving emails claiming to be from Netflix saying that they need your personal info to be updated. Of course, the info they’re asking for are your credit card information and your social security number.

  How the scam works is that you receive and email that looks like it came from Netflix telling you that your payment information is outdated and provides a link to update your info. If you click that link it takes you to a site that may look like Netflix but isn’t and if you enter your personal information there it will more than likely be stolen.

  The best way to combat these kinds of attacks is to never click the links provided in the emails. Instead, always go to the website that is supposedly requesting the information, in this case that would be Netflix.com. Even if you receive a legitimate email asking you to update your information, always go to directly to that website in your browser rather than clicking the link in the email whether it’s your bank, utility company or what have you. This way you can be fairly certain that your information isn’t being intercepted by a third-party.

   
• 

  Geebo 11:00 am on January 11, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: browsers, phishing   

  Why you shouldn’t store your credit card info in your browser 

  

  Some web browsers, like Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari, have a very convenient feature that allows you to store your credit card info in them so you don’t have to repeatedly keep entering your credit card info while shopping or doing business online. Unfortunately, in order to use this convenience you’re giving up security.

  A report recently came out where a web developer and white hat hacker noticed an exploit in these browsers that would allow your credit card info to be stolen without your knowledge. All it would take would be for a user of these browsers to visit a malicious website and all your info would be exposed.

  Not all is lost however as there are steps you can take to prevent this from happening. A few extra seconds of extra keystrokes can save you several headaches in the future.

   
• 

  Geebo 10:50 am on December 23, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Nintendo ( 3 ), phishing, Scams ( 1,429 ), Super Mario Runner   

  Super Mario Scammers 

  

  The character of the little Italian plumber Mario has been a mainstay of video games for over 30 years ever since his introduction as ‘Jumpman’ in the arcade classic Donkey Kong. So it should come as no surprise that when Nintendo released a Mario game for Apple devices recently, that it broke download records for iOS devices. It should also come as no surprise that scammers were immediately trying to take advantage of the game’s popularity.

  The game, called Super Mario Runner, comes in two versions. There is a free stripped-down version and a deluxe version that unlocks the full game for $9.99. Several places online are offering to unlock the game for free but as the saying goes there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Most of these offers are nothing more than phishing attacks that ask you for your personal information with the promise of unlocking the game for free on your iPhone or iPad. Of course that never happens and now you’ve just provided and identity thief with all the information they could ever need.

  Many of us have fond memories of Mario somewhere in our childhoods. Leave it to the lowly scammers to take something so cherished and innocent and corrupt it. While not the lowest of the low, these scammers are at least in the top ten of the low, or bottom ten depending on your perspective.