discussion Scammers

[stillp]

I just received an email purporting to come from the NHS, with the subject line "important Appointment Confirmation Message on 09-February-21 14:57:11 BST Your NHS.co.uk order of "NHS health service Team UK..." and 1 more item(s) has been dispatched"

The sender's address was info@ti-piccolo.com

How low will these scammers stoop?

Pete

 

[scottie3158]

Nothing is to low for for these cretins

 

[Guest]

As long as people keep being fooled, conmen will keep trying.

 

[bilbo]

Unfortunately given that according to one report the rate of return for these scams is around 1500% there is a lot of money in it for people with no scruples.

there is an email address that you can report scam emails to and It goes to gchq for them to sort out. I quitelike the idea of them getting a visit from James Bond.

 

[bilbo]

You should forward phishing emails to:
report@phishing.gov.uk

you can report suspicious text messages to 7726 again just forward the message to them. Every message that is reported helps not just you, but others who may not be so savvy.

 

[stillp]

You should forward phishing emails to:
report@phishing.gov.uk

you can report suspicious text messages to 7726 again just forward the message to them. Every message that is reported helps not just you, but others who may not be so savvy.

Yes, already done, thanks.
Pete

 

[Si Benson]

I’ve had a string of automated phone messages from the ”police”.... to say my NI number is involved in criminal activities and I should press 1 to speak to an officer right away. Needless to say it’s a scam, a rather poor one at that.

Same message from five or six different numbers.

 

[Gern]

I guess that would include the 150+ emails (7 so far this weekend) I've had since Jan 1 saying my virus protection subscription had expired - every one supposedly from either Norton or McAfee - and not one from the company I'm with?

 

[colin m]

We had one from Amazon the other day, it looked brilliant, absolutely spot on, fonts, layout everything. Except the spelt Amazon wrong. Good for a laugh anyway.

 

[Gern]

We had one from Amazon the other day, it looked brilliant, absolutely spot on, fonts, layout everything. Except the spelt Amazon wrong. Good for a laugh anyway.

I was daft enough a few years ago to sign up for Amazon Prime to get some film or other. In less than a week, my emails had been hacked and someone tried to take £600 from my bank account to pay for something from Amazon. It was only because I didn't have that amount in my account that the order had been refused. If they'd asked for something less they may very well have got away with it. This was after some guy in Germany - using my email address had sent me and several of my friends and employers an invitation to join a porn site!

Took me three days to actually close my account, and even now I'm getting calls - anything up to 4 a day - saying either my Amazon subscription is due for renewal or my latest Amazon purchase has been refused by my bank. No way will I ever knowingly get involved with them again.

Having said that though, I bought a kitchen timer last week from a company on ebay. It arrived in an Amazon van, packed in an Amazon box with an Amazon receipt included! No mention anywhere on the listing that I could find did it say Amazon or reference any affiliation with them.

This does bring up a point. Can any of you guys think of a legitimate reason why someone else can use your personal email address - ie pretend that they are you - to send emails? The only reasons I can think of are criminal.

 

[Guest]

A legitimate reason to use your address, or a way to send mails that seem to come from your address?

The only reason I can think of for the former is if you explicitly want them to.

The latter is very, very easy and can be done with any mailer. This because the address above an e-mail is put there by the sender’s mailer, so you can just enter whatever you like and the recipient will think it came from that address.

 

[Gern]

A legitimate reason to use your address, or a way to send mails that seem to come from your address?

The only reason I can think of for the former is if you explicitly want them to.

The latter is very, very easy and can be done with any mailer. This because the address above an e-mail is put there by the sender’s mailer, so you can just enter whatever you like and the recipient will think it came from that address.

Maybe I would want someone else to send mails in my name if I was stuck in hospital or have no access to a device or all my devices have been destroyed or stolen I suppose.

I still reckon the problems it could cause far outweigh the possible benefits. Suppose you get an email supposedly from your brother saying he wants to send you some money for Xmas but he needs your account details ....

 

[Gern]

I guess that would include the 150+ emails (7 so far this weekend) I've had since Jan 1 saying my virus protection subscription had expired - every one supposedly from either Norton or McAfee - and not one from the company I'm with?

5 more since lunchtime today.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Probably telling you how to suck eggs, but have you looked at the bottom of the mails for an unsubscribe tag Dave? Usually if you click that the mails stop.

 

[Bortig the Viking]

Having said that though, I bought a kitchen timer last week from a company on ebay. It arrived in an Amazon van, packed in an Amazon box with an Amazon receipt included! No mention anywhere on the listing that I could find did it say Amazon or reference any affiliation with them.

Hi, I believe that a lot of companies are now using Amazon's network and have to pack etc in Amazon logo packing etc, although the seller wasn't Amazon affiliated, had this happen last week and as I have dealt with him before I asked and that's what he told me, I guess Amazon will be pushing into politics next if they haven't already. Must say though I do use them and you can't fault next day delivery in this challenging time.

 

[BattleshipBob]

I'd shoot the buggers, harsh but fair!

 

[boatman]

I guess that would include the 150+ emails (7 so far this weekend) I've had since Jan 1 saying my virus protection subscription had expired - every one supposedly from either Norton or McAfee - and not one from the company I'm with?

AN YES Dave I get the very same nr every

 

[Guest]

Maybe I would want someone else to send mails in my name if I was stuck in hospital or have no access to a device or all my devices have been destroyed or stolen I suppose.

Yep, that could be a legitimate reason. Rare but it could be.

I still reckon the problems it could cause far outweigh the possible benefits.

Well, yes, but there’s nothing that can be done to prevent it. The way e-mail works is that, essentially, the sender is trusted to use his or her real address, and not spoof it. There is no way to enforce them using their real address.

Suppose you get an email supposedly from your brother saying he wants to send you some money for Xmas but he needs your account details ....

You’re pretty much describing WhatsApp fraud except through e-mail.

 

[stillp]

Probably telling you how to suck eggs, but have you looked at the bottom of the mails for an unsubscribe tag Dave? Usually if you click that the mails stop.

The trouble with doing that is that you've confirmed that yours is a valid email address with a person attached to it, so they can send you even more from other accounts.
Pete

 

[Tim Marlow]

True Peter, but I’ve not had that happen myself. The other way is to block the account or set your account to automatically send any you don’t want straight to spam.