18 Sep 2008 | By Graham | Posted under Phishing Emails | 2 Comments »

“A friend has sent you a Walmart Gift Card” email Threat Level: “A friend has sent you a Walmart Gift Card” email is a threat

“A friend has sent you a Walmart Gift Card” email screenshot Guess what? “A friend” has sent me a WalMart card. Sounds good right? Unfortunately there a two problems. First, the nearest Wal-Mart I can go to is a 12 hour flight away and second; this email is a scam that has nothing to do with Wal-Mart.

This “A friend has sent you a Walmart Gift Card” email is a very common type of scam. You’re told that you’ve been sent a gift card and when you click the link in the “A friend has sent you a Walmart Gift Card” email, you’re taken to a fake Wal-Mart web page saying you’ve been selected to received a $1,000 Wal-Mart card. Clicking the “See Details” link takes you to the “Rules,” where you’re told you have to buy “7 Sponsor Offers.” These consist of buying overpriced junk and applying for high-interest loans.

By the time you’ve earned the $1,000 gift card for Wal-Mart, it’ll probably be taken away in your bankruptcy settlement. That’s assuming the Wal-Mart card ever arrives and the things you purchase are “legit.”

Just delete the “A friend has sent you a Walmart Gift Card” email, your bank account will thank you.

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18 Sep 2008 | By Graham | Posted under Phishing Emails | 4 Comments »

“Notification from American Express” email Threat Level: “Notification from American Express” email is a threat

“Notification from American Express” email screenshot Oh dear, I just got a “Notification from American Express” email saying that AmEx have detected changes in my American Express account; the “Notification from American Express” email hints that could be from someone illegally trying to access my account.

It’s really nice that American Express cares about me, but there’s one small problem: I don’t have an American Express Card.

Shocking, eh?

This “Notification from American Express” email is just a phishing email, trying to scare you into giving fraudsters your details so the scammers can use your card and leave you with the bill. There is a link on the “Notification from American Express” email that takes you to a convincing-looking American Express page, however, this site is fake. The information you enter will go straight to the scammers, so they get the information they need to use your card.

Remember, banks and credit card companies will never ask you for your details over email. If in doubt, contact your bank or credit cards company directly. If you received the “Notification from American Express” email and given the scammers your details, contact American Express immediately.

If the “Notification from American Express” email is sitting in your inbox, delete it. You can leave home without it.

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18 Sep 2008 | By Graham | Posted under Phishing Emails | 1 Comment »

“Asia Lotto International Promotion” email Threat Level: “Asia Lotto International Promotion” email is a threat

Guess what? According to an “Asia Lotto International Promotion” email, out of 5 million email addresses, you and nine others have each won $800,000. Just fill out the details the “Asia Lotto International Promotion” email asks for, attach a personal form of identification and the money is yours.

Wait. Before you send them anything , the “Asia Lotto International Promotion” email states that there was a mix up of some names and addresses so don’t tell any one about your $800,000 windfall or those you tell may do something drastic, like tell you it’s a lottery scam.

Go figure.

Lottery scams are common, but they’re easy to identify by the fact you have “won” a lottery you never entered in the first place. All the scammers want are your personal details so they can move onto the next stage of parting you from your money.

In the “Asia Lotto International Promotion” email’s case, you will have given them a personal form of identification to help them with their identity theft and the “mix up of some names and addresses” part of the email gives them an excuse to drag you along and try to get money out of you.

Just delete the “Asia Lotto International Promotion” email and never think of it again.

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17 Sep 2008 | By Graham | Posted under Phishing Emails | No Comments »

“The International Nissan Yearly Awareness Promotion Department United Kingdom Lottery” email Threat Level: “The International Nissan Yearly Awareness Promotion Department United Kingdom Lottery” email is a threat

Guess what? Out of a million email addresses, Nissan has selected yours and you have won 450,000 Great British Pounds in a lottery with the world’s longest name.

Don’t even bother replying this “The International Nissan Yearly Awareness Promotion Department United Kingdom Lottery” email, the only thing you’ll get is a headache from trying to read the email’s Bodoni MT Black font along with its bad grammar.

Lottery scams are common, but they are easy to identify by the fact you have “won” a lottery you never entered in the first place. All the scammers want are your personal details so they can move onto the next stage of parting you from your money.

Just delete this “The International Nissan Yearly Awareness Promotion Department United Kingdom Lottery” email and try not to think of it the next time you’re looking to buy a car.

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17 Sep 2008 | By Graham | Posted under Phishing Emails | No Comments »

“Federal Bureau of Investigation” Email Threat Level: “Federal Bureau of Investigation” Email is a threat

According to the “Federal Bureau of Investigation” Email, a “thorough” investigation conducted by the FBI has found that you’ve been seen doing business with impostors claiming to be people you’ve never heard off. The “Federal Bureau of Investigation” Email gets confusing after that because of poor writing, but it seems that you’re entitled to $800,000 for some reason. All you have to do is pay $150 so someone can send you an approval slip, and the money is yours.

Yeah, right.

This “Federal Bureau of Investigation” Email is a classic scam designed to appeal to people’s greed and hope. After the scammers have received your money, you’ll never hear from them again unless they want to try and get more money out of you. What you should do instead is delete the “Federal Bureau of Investigation” Email.

Case closed.

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15 Sep 2008 | By Graham | Posted under Phishing Emails | 3 Comments »

“80 %off WSJournal” email Threat Level: “80 %off WSJournal” email is a threat

“80 %off WSJournal” email screenshot Want to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal? According to the “80 %off WSJournal” email you can get the well-known business newspaper for $99 a year. Clicking the link in “80 %off WSJournal” email takes you to a website called ThisIsLegit.com, only there is nothing legit about this site. All the details you enter into ThisIsLegit.com — email, name, credit card — will be given to the scammers so they can move onto the next stage of parting you from your money.

If you have given ThisIsLegit.com any financial details, alert your bank and credit card company immediately.

If you want to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, visit its official website WSJ.com, and look for instructions. But before you do that, we’ll show you how to block “80 %off WSJournal” email.

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12 Sep 2008 | By Kristopher | Posted under Phishing Emails | No Comments »

“Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email Threat Level: “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email is a threat

“Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email screenshot “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email is a classic phishing email. “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email tells you your Equifax account needs to be restored, and links to a scam webpage that tries to trick you into giving con artists your Equifax login info.

If you accidentally log into the site “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email links to, you’ll give scammers access to your bank account and a chance to steal your personal identity. If you’ve logged into any sites that “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email links to, alert your bank and credit card companies. You might need to close your accounts.

Whenever you see an email like “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email, never click any links. If you’re concerned the email might be real, type your bank’s website address into a fresh browser window, and login from there.

Let me show you how to block “Equifax AIert: Unauthorized Login Attempts” email.

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12 Sep 2008 | By Kristopher | Posted under Phishing Emails | 1 Comment »

“eBay Unpaid Item” email Threat Level: “eBay Unpaid Item” email is a threat

“eBay Unpaid Item” email screenshot “eBay Unpaid Item” email is spam that links to a scam site, http://203.177.75.19. The site that “eBay Unpaid Item” email links to poses as an eBay page. Like other phishing pages, the goal of http://203.177.75.19 is to steal your login info, so hackers can steal your personal and financial information..

Bastards.

If you signed into the fake eBay page “eBay Unpaid Item” email links to, alert your credit card carriers and banks.

And even if you didn’t click the link, let me show you how to block “eBay Unpaid Item” email.

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11 Sep 2008 | By Kristopher | Posted under Phishing Emails | 1 Comment »

“You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email Threat Level: “You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email is a threat

“You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email screenshot “You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email is spam that links to a scam site, http://211.147.214.79. The site that “You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email links to poses as an eBay page. Like other phishing pages, the goal of http://211.147.214.79/ is to steal your login info, so hackers can steal your personal and financial information..

Bastards.

If you signed into the fake eBay page “You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email links to, alert your credit card carriers and banks.

And even if you didn’t click the link, let me show you how to block “You’ve received a question about your eBay item” email.

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11 Sep 2008 | By Kristopher | Posted under Phishing Emails | No Comments »

“Citibank Authentication Process” email Threat Level: “Citibank Authentication Process” email is a threat

“Citibank Authentication Process” email screenshot “Citibank Authentication Process” email is a classic phishing email. “Citibank Authentication Process” email tells you your Citibank account needs to be restored, and links to a scam webpage that tries to trick you into giving con artists your Citibank login info.

If you accidentally log into the site “Citibank Authentication Process” email links to, you’ll give con artists access to your bank account and a chance to steal your personal identity. If you’ve logged into any sites that “Citibank Authentication Process” email links to, alert your bank and credit card companies. You might need to close your accounts.

Whenever you see an email like “Citibank Authentication Process” email, never click any links. If you’re concerned the email might be real, type your bank’s website address into a fresh browser window, and login from there.

Let me show you how to block “Citibank Authentication Process” email.

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