IRS Notification: Refund/Stimulus Payment
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
United States Department of the Treasury
Dear Taxpayer,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $773.80.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access your tax refund, use the form attached to this email.
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I instantly knew it was fake because I OWE the IRS money, because the IRS doesn't send e-mails, AND because it says "Dear Taxpayer". If it was real (if the IRS sent out these kinds of e-mails) it would have my name on it.
This is just a scam to get you to fill out the form with your Social Security number and bank information!
Don't fall for the BULL DROPPINGS!
When in doubt, check www.snopes.com. In fact, speaking of snopes, here's the link to this phishing e-mail: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/phishing/irsrefund.asp
Showing posts with label phishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label phishing. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Swine Flu Phishing
Oh
My
Gosh
As if we don't think the scammers have sank low enough (see the post I'm writing next over on This Woman I Am), now people are being targeted in a massive phishing scam.
We got this message at work:
Please be aware of a fraudulent phishing program requesting recipients to register with CDC for swine flu vaccination. Upon clicking on the link, a malicious code will download onto the PC. CDC does not require online registration for H1N1 vaccination. Please do not respond to emails with such requests.
Are you kidding me? That is despicable and a bunch of BULL DROPPINGS!
I went to the CDC website and found a sample of the e-mail you may receive:
My friends, don't ever click on links like that. If you're truly concerned, go directly to the website of the CDC and look for that information. Yes, you'll find what you need to know about this e-mail. It's a scam.
When in doubt, look it up on http://www.snopes.com/. Trust me, it's there.
Don't fall for the BULL DROPPINGS. Lord knows there's enough stuff out there in the real world to mess up your life without being scammed here in the virtual world.
Links:
http://www.cdc.gov/hoaxes_rumors.html
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/phishing/cdcvaccination.asp
And for real information on the H1N1 virus, aka the swine flu:
http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
My
Gosh
As if we don't think the scammers have sank low enough (see the post I'm writing next over on This Woman I Am), now people are being targeted in a massive phishing scam.
We got this message at work:
Please be aware of a fraudulent phishing program requesting recipients to register with CDC for swine flu vaccination. Upon clicking on the link, a malicious code will download onto the PC. CDC does not require online registration for H1N1 vaccination. Please do not respond to emails with such requests.
Are you kidding me? That is despicable and a bunch of BULL DROPPINGS!
I went to the CDC website and found a sample of the e-mail you may receive:
My friends, don't ever click on links like that. If you're truly concerned, go directly to the website of the CDC and look for that information. Yes, you'll find what you need to know about this e-mail. It's a scam.
When in doubt, look it up on http://www.snopes.com/. Trust me, it's there.
Don't fall for the BULL DROPPINGS. Lord knows there's enough stuff out there in the real world to mess up your life without being scammed here in the virtual world.
Links:
http://www.cdc.gov/hoaxes_rumors.html
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/phishing/cdcvaccination.asp
And for real information on the H1N1 virus, aka the swine flu:
http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Got A Text Message From Your Bank?
Oh dear, did you get a text message from your bank, telling you to call an 800 number right away?
Hon, it's just another scam.
My credit union actually has fliers posted, warning customers to NOT respond to these text messages. It's just another variation on the phishing schemes that too many people fall for.
If you get an urgent text message from your bank, do yourself a huge favor. DON'T call that phone number that's so conveniently provided in the body of the text. Don't hit reply either. Instead, call your bank on the regular number and let them know what's happening. They may actually ask you to come in, or may tell you to ignore and delete the message.
In any case, don't fall for the BULL DROPPINGS! Never, ever give your personal bank information to anyone. If it really was the bank, they'd have all your info!!
Be smart in the New Year!
Hon, it's just another scam.
My credit union actually has fliers posted, warning customers to NOT respond to these text messages. It's just another variation on the phishing schemes that too many people fall for.
If you get an urgent text message from your bank, do yourself a huge favor. DON'T call that phone number that's so conveniently provided in the body of the text. Don't hit reply either. Instead, call your bank on the regular number and let them know what's happening. They may actually ask you to come in, or may tell you to ignore and delete the message.
In any case, don't fall for the BULL DROPPINGS! Never, ever give your personal bank information to anyone. If it really was the bank, they'd have all your info!!
Be smart in the New Year!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Garbage In My Spam Box
Well, here's more trash from my spam box.
Look, don't be fooled. These are a dime a dozen phishing schemes. Never, ever, ever get sucked into responding to an e-mail like this one!
Just hit the forward button and send it straight to spoof@paypal.com. Then delete the message. No further action is needed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Account Locked !
Dear PayPal Member, Due to the number of incorrect login attempts, your PayPal Account has been locked for your security. This has been done to secure your accounts and to protect your private information in case the login attempts were not done by you.. At PayPal we care about your security so, for your protection we are proactively notifying you of this activity. If you did not trigger this lockout, follow this link to Log on to your PayPal Online Account :
Click here to unlock your account !
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience.Thank you for using PayPal!
Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.
Look, don't be fooled. These are a dime a dozen phishing schemes. Never, ever, ever get sucked into responding to an e-mail like this one!
Just hit the forward button and send it straight to spoof@paypal.com. Then delete the message. No further action is needed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Account Locked !
Dear PayPal Member, Due to the number of incorrect login attempts, your PayPal Account has been locked for your security. This has been done to secure your accounts and to protect your private information in case the login attempts were not done by you.. At PayPal we care about your security so, for your protection we are proactively notifying you of this activity. If you did not trigger this lockout, follow this link to Log on to your PayPal Online Account :
Click here to unlock your account !
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience.Thank you for using PayPal!
Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.
Friday, November 16, 2007
"Forced To Suspend Your Account"
It must be the holiday season.
I got not one, but TWO e-mails yesterday, one from eBay and one from PayPal, telling me that there was fraudulent activity on my accounts and thus I needed to log in and verify my information or they'd be "forced to suspend your account" (IE my account). Conveniently, each e-mail provided a link to take me to the respective "website".
LOL! Yeah, right!
I call: BULL DROPPINGS!
By merely waving my cursor over the link, it was obvious that it was going somewhere other than eBay and PayPal.
Obviously, these jerks must have some successes, because they keep sending this garbage to me, and I keep forwarding them to spoof@paypal.com and/or spoof@ebay.com. The return e-mail always says the same thing, that the message did NOT come from PayPal or eBay.
Look, to protect yourself, NEVER use a link provided in an e-mail. It's easy enough to open a new window and go directly to the website, log in, and check your messages. There is ALWAYS a message if it's a real e-mail.
There's no need to panic, any e-mail that threatens some horrible event, whether it's suspending your privileges, freezing a bank account, or bad luck for the next seven years, is a FAKE!
As always, you don't have to believe me.
In fact, don't believe everything you read or hear, it's just too, too easy to be fooled. Even my own mom got sucked in on a phishing (fake) e-mail. Luckily, just after she finished putting her info in, she realized what she'd done and called me. I was able to jump into her account and change the passwords before the thieves did, so all was well...
Sigh. Thank God Mom is a smart woman!
eBay Protection Tutorial: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tutorial/accountprotection/js_tutorial.html
PayPal Security Center: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_security-center-outside
I got not one, but TWO e-mails yesterday, one from eBay and one from PayPal, telling me that there was fraudulent activity on my accounts and thus I needed to log in and verify my information or they'd be "forced to suspend your account" (IE my account). Conveniently, each e-mail provided a link to take me to the respective "website".
LOL! Yeah, right!
I call: BULL DROPPINGS!
By merely waving my cursor over the link, it was obvious that it was going somewhere other than eBay and PayPal.
Obviously, these jerks must have some successes, because they keep sending this garbage to me, and I keep forwarding them to spoof@paypal.com and/or spoof@ebay.com. The return e-mail always says the same thing, that the message did NOT come from PayPal or eBay.
Look, to protect yourself, NEVER use a link provided in an e-mail. It's easy enough to open a new window and go directly to the website, log in, and check your messages. There is ALWAYS a message if it's a real e-mail.
There's no need to panic, any e-mail that threatens some horrible event, whether it's suspending your privileges, freezing a bank account, or bad luck for the next seven years, is a FAKE!
As always, you don't have to believe me.
In fact, don't believe everything you read or hear, it's just too, too easy to be fooled. Even my own mom got sucked in on a phishing (fake) e-mail. Luckily, just after she finished putting her info in, she realized what she'd done and called me. I was able to jump into her account and change the passwords before the thieves did, so all was well...
Sigh. Thank God Mom is a smart woman!
eBay Protection Tutorial: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tutorial/accountprotection/js_tutorial.html
PayPal Security Center: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_security-center-outside
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