Scam email messages
This article 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.
Domain Services Scam
From: Domain Services [mailto:domain_services@ymail.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 3:28 PM
To: WALLY@DOMAINNAME.COM
Subject: Domain Notification: JOHN - DOE This is your Final Notice of Domain Listing - DOMAINNAME.COM
Importance: High
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ATT: SCOTT - WALLACE |
Domain Name: DOMAINNAME.COM
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Attn: JOHN - DOE |
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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.
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, as pictured above. 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.
CIRA .CA Registry Fake Phishing Email
The following email was sent recently to some .CA domain owners. It is a fake and not really from CIRA:
From: .CA Internet Registry Authority <cira@email.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Subject: domainname.ca is expired
To: <Your Domain Email Contact>
Customer Number for this Account:25119222
domainname.ca
The domains listed below expired on April 25, 2011.
This is your last chance to renew your domain name(s)!You must renew
by May 1st, 2011
or the domains listed below will be cancelled.
domainname.ca
RENEW NOW: http://WWW.CIRA.COM@67.19.214.98/~casupppo/CIRA%20-%20Canadian %20Internet%20Registration%20Authority%20-%20Home.php?dom=domainname.ca
Please note:If you do not renew your domain(s) during the 3-day
Renewal Grace Period, you may incur a fee of $80.00 in addition to the
domain renewal fee. During this time, the domain name(s)
will be moved to parked nameservers and any Website or email services
associated with the domain name(s) may stop working. For further
information about Domain Renewals, review the Domain
Registration Agreement here.
IMPORTANT:The registry will hold the name in a Redemption Period for
30 days. During this time, the domain name will be removed from the
zone files (the list of domains currently in the global
DNS); therefore, any web site or email services associated with the
domain name will stop working. The original domain registrant may
retrieve the domain name from deletion during this period for a
fee of $80. Thanks for choosing a .ca domain name!
Sincerely,
CIRA.CA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority)
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