Archive for 'Scams & Hoaxes'

Booking Your Next Cruise?

Booking Your Next Cruise?

It’s the perfect time of year to book a cruise because many are deeply discounted during the winter and early spring. Unfortunately, scammers know this as well and they’re sending out spam in an attempt to lure victims into believing that they’re getting a great deal. If you receive an email like the one pictured [...]

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Ameritech Phishing Scam Alert

Ameritech Phishing Scam Alert

There’s an email purporting to be from Ameritech, claiming that due to congestion, all ameritech.net users that don’t verify their accounts will be removed from the system. This is a phishing scam out to steal user account information to be used for unlawful activity. If you receive such an email like the one below, ignore it [...]

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European Bank Phishing Attempts

European Bank Phishing Attempts

In Europe, we are faced with many fake emails purporting to be from legitimate banks that want you to believe that they’re coming from your bank. At my company, we’ve received several phishing emails notifying the recipients to confirm/update their personal information. The text looks rather official and it’s supposedly coming from ING bank or [...]

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PR9 Backlink Guarantee Scam

PR9 Backlink Guarantee Scam

Have you come across marketing emails that guarantee you link placement on a PR9 (PageRank) web site? It’s highly unlikely that your link will be included on a PR9 page and in most cases they will place your link on a highly ranked web site, but your link will be placed on deeper pages inside [...]

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Beware of Malicious Postal Delivery Emails

Beware of Malicious Postal Delivery Emails

There’s an email purporting to be from the U.S. Postal Service, claiming that a package couldn’t be delivered and the recipient is instructed to click on a link in the email to find out more information about the expected delivery of the package. This email is NOT from the U.S. Postal Service, it’s a scam [...]

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Yahoo Mail Notification Phishing Scam

Yahoo Mail Notification Phishing Scam

There’s an email purporting to be from Yahoo, claiming that you must confirm your account or it will be permanently closed due to inactivity. This email notification is not from Yahoo!, it’s a phishing scam out to steal users’ personal identifiable information to be used for illegal activity. The link in the email “Click Here” [...]

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Beware of COSTCO $500 Gift Card Scam

Beware of COSTCO $500 Gift Card Scam

There’s an email purporting to be from COSTCO, claiming to offer a free $500 gift card if you qualify. Once you qualify, which everyone usually does, you are taken to an online form to enter personal identifiable information in order to receive your gift card. This is a phishing scam that sells and or distributes [...]

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American Express Security Notification Phishing Scam

American Express Security Notification Phishing Scam

There’s an email purporting to be from American Express, claiming that during a recent scheduled account maintenance procedure that customers’ need to update their contact information. This is a phishing scam and if the recipient clicks on the link inside the email, they will be taken to a phishing web site that collects personal identifiable [...]

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Southwest Airlines Free Ticket Scam

Southwest Airlines Free Ticket Scam

There’s an email (spam) purporting to be from Southwest Airlines, claiming to giveaway free airline tickets. This site is not connected in any way with Southwest Airlines. In order to receive these so-called free tickets, you must complete a number of purchases and applications, and like all scams, good luck in receiving any airline tickets. [...]

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Beware of the Life Insurance Scam

Beware of the Life Insurance Scam

There’s an email purporting to be from a legitimate insurance broker, claiming you can save 70% on life insurance. The link in the email goes to a malicious web site that drops a Trojan onto the computer without the users’ knowledge or consent. This type of Trojan virus can record users’ keystrokes and share that [...]

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AT&T Free Phone & Accessory Phishing Scam

AT&T Free Phone & Accessory Phishing Scam

There’s an email purporting to be from AT&T, claiming that if you sign up for a two-year contract you will receive a free Smartphone and accessories. This is a phishing scam engineered to collect personal information including credit card information. The scammers set up a fake AT&T web site that looks like the real site [...]

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Beware of McDonalds Free Gift Card Phishing Scam

Beware of McDonalds Free Gift Card Phishing Scam

There’s an email claiming to give away a free $100 McDonalds gift card just by providing personal information such as; your full name, address, phone, date of birth and gender. This is a phishing scam out to steal personal information from users and to use that information for unlawful activity. The website (http://elitegiftoffers.com) is dangerous [...]

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