OT AOL Hoax warning

Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:01
ThreadID: 42082 Views:2260 Replies:7 FollowUps:6
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Some mongrel's out to get your credit card info.Had an email from "AOL billing centre" asking for me to update my details including my credit card.Being suspiciuous I contacted AOL direct. They inform me its an international hoax.They are now trying to trace where the scam originates from and have taken action.So be warned! Id better tell the wife as well she a little more trusting than me.
Niffty
Perth
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Reply By: Hairy - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:09

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:09
I get the same sort of email from the National Australia Bank quite regularly.
The give away was they wanted me to update my internet banking details............I dont do internet banking!
Cheers
AnswerID: 220410

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:15

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:15
I get half dozen of these a day like Hairy from banks I never heard of let alone had accounts with...
AnswerID: 220411

Reply By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:19

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 16:19
There is NEVER any reason for any company or financial institution to request an update of your personal details via the internet. There are a MULTITUDE of these scams going around at any one time (no real point in warning people about only one...I could list several dozen O/S banks that I have NEVER had any contact with asking me to update my details). NEVER click on any links they provide (even "for a look") as this tells them that the email address is active and can be used by other spammers/phishers.

Best thing to do is to IGNORE all requests, as trying to actually catch one of these "fly-by-night" operators is basically impossible, as they can "hijack" a computer from another country to do all the dirty work (usually a third world country using an unsecured computer/network), then harvest the data and move on to the next unsecured site...all from home several thousand km away. If the phishers see thay are being ignored on a large scale then they may decide their activities are not worthwhile.

Only thing that will fix it is the next generation of internet (IPV6) which has all security inbuilt into the data protocols and will be substantially more difficult to "crack".
AnswerID: 220412

Follow Up By: Member - MrBitchi (QLD) - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 09:11

Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 09:11
Sorry mate. IPv6 will do absolutely nothing to stop phishing as it relies on 'social engineering', not cracking IP security.
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FollowupID: 481134

Reply By: Motherhen - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 18:01

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 18:01
Yep, like Truckster i get loads of them "from" every bank, credit union, etc on the planet, "from" eBay, paypal etc. Have been getting them for years and years, but like all spam, it is just getting more and more in volume.
Motherhen

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AnswerID: 220432

Reply By: mfewster - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 19:26

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 19:26
The latest versions of Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer can detect and give a warning of these phishing sites. But you wouldn't want to completely trust the browser to identify phishing sites.
If you are brave and have some time to kill, you can respond to these bastards by sending false details to them. and then enjoying the picture of them wasting their time trying to crack your fictitious accounts. This is becoming quite a pastime on some areas of the internet. Recent reports had someone reversing the trick and conning a Nigerian scammer out of $ by saying they needed a deposit before they could send the asked for details.
AnswerID: 220455

Follow Up By: Member - Jack - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 20:48

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 20:48
There's a guy from the UK who is very good at scamming the scammers.

Link. Best laugh you will have had in a while.

Jack
The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll-Alice In Wonderland)

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Follow Up By: babs - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 01:08

Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 01:08
Jack, that was fantastic!

Regards,
Babs
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FollowupID: 481112

Follow Up By: Ozboc - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:09

Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:09
DAMN YOU !!!! - followed your link , and i have now been reading through the webpage for the past 2 hours !!!!

This woul d have to be the funniest thing i have seen on the net in a while - everyone should visit this page - i am certainly keen to see how the carved head story turns out :)

Boc
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Follow Up By: Member - Jack - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 14:20

Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 14:20
Hi Ozboc:

Yeah - it's pretty addictive stuff. I am still going through it. It has been my regular nightly read for some months now ...
Glad you are enjoying it.

Jack
The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. (Lewis Carroll-Alice In Wonderland)

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Reply By: Member - Banjo (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:22

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:22
The following is copied from the recent BigPond newsletter and explains a few things re Spam.

Noticed an increase in spam lately?
If you’ve noticed an increase in spam lately, you’re not imagining things.

Spammers are finding new techniques to sneak past filters and end up in your inbox. The latest techniques are more advanced than we’ve ever seen, but as always, we’re working with cutting-edge technology to help reduce the clutter in your mailbox.

Spam has doubled over the past year

In October 2005, it’s estimated that spammers sent 31 billion unsolicited bulk emails every day. In December 2006, it’s 61 billion – that’s over 700,000 every second.

While email is always gaining popularity, the growth in spam doesn’t match the growth in email generally. What’s more, as the world becomes cleverer at filtering spam, spammers become more creative in the techniques they use in an effort to fool spam filters. The most successful technique they’ve found recently is image-based spam.

Image spam is unsolicited email that relies on an image to communicate its message. It may include a graphic of the objects it’s trying to sell, or might simply be text saved as a graphic. It’s estimated that 40% of image spam is health-related (i.e. trying to sell a vitamin or health products) and about 20% recommends stocks or shares. According to BigPond security partner Sophos, at the beginning of 2006, image spam made up 18% of all spam. But now it’s estimated that it makes up to 40% of all spam.

Why image spam is so successful

The key to most image spam campaigns is that each email is unique – the images are changed for every email. Spammers set up ‘zombies’ on their PCs or those of unsuspecting users through Trojans or viruses, which include programs that alter the image slightly on each send. This may be by changing colours, or simply by adding a few small dots or lines in the image. Spam filters that are trained only to block known spam based on content will probably be fooled.

Image spam also rarely contains a URL, another common criterion for an image to be blocked by a spam filter. It may contain a URL or a link to a URL in an image, but because it’s not actually text, it may be allowed to pass through.

Banjo (WA)
AnswerID: 220480

Follow Up By: Willem - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:30

Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:30
Yep, having my own website doesn't help either.

I have my Spam filter cranked up to its max through the webmaster but still get around 8 Spams a day. This includes stock and shares, viagra et al, microsoft products, job offers and the occasional Rolex watch offer.

I had been receiving my emails through my ISP who has a very strong Firewall. This unfortunately led to many of my personal emails including EO stuff being blocked. I had to whitelist a few addresses. But it got worse so I changed back to the spam filter with the webmaster through my website.

Shift/Delete thats all I do. Go away for a week or two and then spend an hour on your return clearing the Inbox.

Its a pain!!!

Cheers
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FollowupID: 481148

Reply By: mfewster - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:34

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:34
Thank you for that Jack. Just magic. I knew it was happening but hadn't seen the details. I am not sure that getting $ from such scum isn't an offence in itself, even if donated to charity. I sometimes enjoy thanking telephone marketers for returning my (non existent) call and then insisting on trying to interest them in buying life insurance from me rather than talking about their product. the stores on the site you gave are priceless. This could be the start of a wonderful new hobby.
AnswerID: 220483

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