For the first time someone sent me an email which turned out to be a phishing attempt.
Tried stealing my hotmail password!!!
I had no idea at first, just clicked on the the link, but once the page was loaded. Instead of looking at a card, I saw a user login page (similar to Hotmail login page)
I was like.. Hooo.. stop right there. I went back to check the e-mail I had recieved.
The links in the e-mail look something but are actually something else, take a look:
[thumb=H]phishinlink1689_3371126.JPG[/thumb]
I recived an e-mail with an e-card which was sent from americangreetings website
when I try to pick up the card, it asks me to login to my hotmail !!!
Have a look at the screenshot below.
[thumb=H]phukinphisher1689_5997612.JPG[/thumb]
It looks like anyother greeting card e-mail you receive. But once you click on the link it is a whole different story.
Tips on how to avoid the Internet scam known as phishing.
If you receive an unexpected e-mail saying your account will be shut down unless you confirm your billing information, do not reply or click any links in the e-mail body.
Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar. It means your information is secure during transmission.
If you are uncertain about the information, contact the company through an address or telephone number you know to be genuine.
If you unknowingly supplied personal or financial information, contact your bank and credit card company immediately.
The FTC, the nation’s consumer protection agency, suggests these tips to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam:
If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply or click on the link in the message. Legitimate companies don’t ask for this information via email. If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization in the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address. In any case, don’t cut and paste the link in the message.
Don’t email personal or financial information. Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. If you initiate a transaction and want to provide your personal or financial information through an organization’s Web site, look for indicators that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged security icons.
Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Some phishing emails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the Internet without your knowledge. Anti-virus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files. Anti-virus software scans incoming communications for troublesome files. Look for anti-virus software that recognizes current viruses as well as older ones; that can effectively reverse the damage; and that updates automatically.
A firewall helps make you invisible on the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized sources. It’s especially important to run a firewall if you have a broadband connection. Finally, your operating system (like Windows or Linux) may offer free software “patches” to close holes in the system that hackers or phishers could exploit.
Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.
Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get spam that is phishing for information, forward it to [email=“[email protected]”][email protected]. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft. Visit www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.
What harm can they do from knowing the ip address, I wonder.
I once fell for an email, I admit. I am extremely cautious usually. If they can get me, they can get anyone.
What happened was I purchased something online via paypal by adding my credit card to the paypal account. And the next day I recieved this email…
So obvously, thinking that it is a ligit email, I clicked on the link. Entered my user id and password and it didn’t log me in. At that time, I was freaking out. I looked at the URL address bar and I noticed a URL that is not paypal’s URL. Then I looked at the actual URL behind the html link and it was NOT paypal’s either.
A few seconds later, I open another IE browser with correct paypal URL, entered my id and password, I was able to login. Thanks God I quickly recognized the problem and I was faster than the hacker in this situatin but not everyone can be lucky. I changed my password immediately. I also removed my CC from the paypal account just to be on the safe side.
One thing to always keep in mind… NEVER EVER ENTER YOUR ID/PASSWORD ON A WEBSITE WHICH YOU VISITED BY FOLLOWING AN HTML LINK IN AN EMAIL OR ON ANOTHER WEBSITE WITHOUT FIRST VERIFYING THE URL ADDRESS IN THE ADDRESS BAR.
A false sense of security is the worst of vulnerabilities … that’s all I can say
btw; I got a similar email sometime back from 123greetings.com, and obviously the sender address was spoofed. It was an unprofessional one, cause it redirected me to some free PHP domain hosting site. I sent an email to the webmaster for that domain and after sometime the site was removed …
Tofi u remember this? I sent you the link for the site as well …
Sighhhhhhhhhhh, this is the $hit I was talking about tofi baba…remember that infamous case I told u several months back, that guy was a paki workin in Dubai Internet City…perhaps 1 day I’ll figure it out…till then :bhangra:
That can decieve anyone!
