Scam Email Notices
This tutorial contains information that will help you protect yourself from fraudulent email notices, commonly referred to as phishing. Phishing is an attempt to acquire personal information for the purposes of identify theft or domain and email hijacking.
We will never ask for any of the following:
- birthdate
- mother's maiden name
- social security number
If you contact us for assistance with your account, we may need to confirm your username, password, or billing details to assist you with managing your Hover services. We will never initiate the first contact with you to gather personal information that you have already provided to us in your Hover account!
Here are some warning signs that an email may be a phishing scam:
- You are being asked for personal information in an unsolicited email, letter, or phone call. If you haven't contacted us for help with your account, we would have no reason to contact you for your account information.
- The email or letter does not refer to you by name. If we send you an email, we'll address it to the name on your account. We won't start an email with "Dear Webmail User" or "Dear Email Account Owner."
- The name of the company sending the letter is not clearly stated. Scammers will often send email messages from "the administrator" or "the helpdesk" because they use the same email template for sending phishing email messages to customers of many different email and Internet services.
General information on how to report Internet scams in several countries may be found at this website:
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php
Below, are examples of email phishing scams that have been sent to our customers recently. If you have any other examples of Internet email scams you've received, please send them to us as a comment at the bottom of this tutorial so it can be shared with other subscribers.
Webmail User Scam
From: Webmail HelpDesk <info@helpdesk.com>
Sent: Jul 23, 2009 1:03 PM
Reply-To: supportweb@mail2world.com
Dear Webmail User,
This message is from Webmail HelpDesk to all our account owners. We are currently upgrading our Accounts database. We are deleting all unused WebMail account to create more space for new accounts. In other for your account not to be suspended or deleted, you will have to update your account by providing the information listed below:
Confirm Your Webmail Account Details.
Email Address:
User Name:
Password:
Date of Birth:
You will be sent a new confirmation alphanumerical password which will be valid during this period and can be changed after the process.
We are very sorry for any inconveniences this might have caused you.
Thanks for your understanding.
Webmail HelpDesk.
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within seven days of receiving this notice ends up being suspended permanently.
Webmail Administrator Scam
From: WEBMAIL ADMINISTRATOR. <info@webmail.org>
Sent: Oct 6, 2009 7:53 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Reply-To: webmailteamupdat@sify.com
Dear Email Account Owner,
This message is from microsoft email maintenance messaging center to all Webmail/email account owners.We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center.We are deleting all un_used
email account to create more space for new accounts. To prevent your account from closing you will have to update it below so that we will know that it's a present used account.
CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW
Email Username :
EMAIL Password :
Date of Birth :
Country or Territory :
send all information account section
webmailteamupdat@sify.com
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
Thank you for using Microsoft!
Regards
WEBMAIL ADMINISTRATOR.
ISP Renewal Scam
Be aware of email renewal notices from a company called "ISP Renewal." It is an attempt to have you transfer your domain at an exorbitant renewal rate!
Here is an example email from ISP Renewal:
From: ISP Renewal [mailto:renewal@onlinereminder.org]
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 5:18 PM
To: Cresote, Demetri
Subject: Reminder
The domain name www.awesomeroofandtile.com <http://www.awesomeroofandtile.com>; is about to expire 2009-11-20.
If you wish to continue using your domain name please click on the link below.
Click here to renew.
--------> http://www.domainrenewal-online.org/for.php?d=www.awesomeroofandtile.com
Once the payment has been completed the above mentioned domain name will automatically be renewed and a conformation will be sent.
________________________________
Additional information
ISPRenewal consults companies about their ownership of domain names on the internet. We supply information to companies about to their domain portfolios, administer domain addresses and when a domain name is due to expire we inform businesses that it is time to renew a domain name. If you wish to assign ISPRenewal to extend your domain, please click on the link above. If you do not not wish renew your domain, you may disregard this e-mail. Note! No changes will be made in the WHOIS information if you choose to your domain with us. You will still have your current Domain Service Provider. You may also request your resent Domain Service Provider to extend your domain. If you have any enquiries, do not hesitate to contact our customer service center at +44(0)20 33 55 4951 visit us on the web.
US Domain Licensing Scam
A company called "US Domain Licensing" has a sneaky tactic of registering .US versions of existing .COM domain names, then sending a letter, fax, or email to the .COM domain owner to sell them the .US version of their domain name. This is a marketing tactic. You are under no obligation to buy the .US version of your .COM domains.
"For the owner of the (your email address) e-mail account" Scam
Here's another email phishing scam (these scams will often direct you to a third party website which will request personal information or your account log in):
From: info@barber.net
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 10:45 AM
To: bevis@barber.net
Subject: For the owner of the bevis@barber.net e-mail account
Dear user of the barber.net mailing service!
We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox (bevis@barber.net) settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings click on the following link:
http://really_long_URL_containing_your_email_address
Best regards, barber.net Technical Support.
Domain Registry of America / Domain Registry of Canada
You may receive a domain renewal letter from the Domain Registry of America or their sister company the Domain Registry of Canada. This letter is a solicitation to transfer your domain registration services away from Hover, and at a much higher price than we charge! You can disregard any letters in the mail from either of these companies and continue to renew your domain registration services through Hover.
To save trees and reduce the cost of your services, we do not send renewal letters by standard letter mail. Before your domains expire, we will send you several email notices. We may even call you to ensure that your domain names have not expired without your knowledge.
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Article Shortcut: http://about.hover.com/scams
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