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General discussion

Are email scams getting more sophisticated?

by Bill Osler Nov 30, 2003 8:51AM PST

My son recently received an email apparently from PayPal that requested he confirm account information since they are (allegedly) about to purge inactive accounts. This is suspicious to begin with since he does not have a PayPal account. I have to say, though, that most of the email message 'looks' legitimate. It is easy to imagine somebody getting fooled by this sort of stuff. I carefully examined the email and discovered several interesting things.

The email looks a lot like a web page from PayPal. The nominal return email address is at paypal.com. Almost all of the links in the email go to legitimate PayPal pages. In other words it looks pretty legitimate on a casual preliminary examination.

There were problems, though. The one link that I could not easily verify by casually browsing around the email was the link embedded in the form's 'Submit' button at the bottom of the email. That link goes to a web page at 843894793847983742987493282479825897425.com and NOT to PayPal.

There were other suspicious things about the email. It asked for information (like an ATM PIN) that PayPal simply does not need to know.

Some of our forum members (like Dale) are unwilling to conduct business over the net because of security concerns. If you are one of them then you aren't at risk for this kind of scam. For the rest of us the take-home message is that you must NEVER EVER submit sensitive information in an email form. Never. If you think an email might be legitimate you should go to the appropriate web site, verify that you are at the correct site, and (if appropriate) enter the information there. If the information is really sensitive you should make sure that you have a 'secure' Internet connection. A certain amount of paranoia is quite rational when dealing with the Internet.

Discussion is locked

19 Posts
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FWIW
by C1ay Nov 30, 2003 8:59AM PST

here's the scoop on 843894793847983742987493282479825897425.com

Domain Name.......... 843894793847983742987493282479825897425.com
Creation Date........ 2003-11-26
Registration Date.... 2003-11-26
Expiry Date.......... 2004-11-26
Organisation Name.... Iolan LTD
Organisation Address. 2342 Haremana st
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. Bangkok
Organisation Address. 24314
Organisation Address. NA
Organisation Address. INDIA

Admin Name........... Markul Daruman
Admin Address........ 2342 Haremana st
Admin Address........
Admin Address........ Bangkok
Admin Address........ 24314
Admin Address........ NA
Admin Address........ INDIA
Admin Email.......... joseff2928@hotmail.com
Admin Phone.......... (019)22833938
Admin Fax............

Tech Name............ Verio Hostmaster
Tech Address......... 5050 Blue Lake Dr.
Tech Address.........
Tech Address......... Boca Raton
Tech Address......... 33431
Tech Address......... FL
Tech Address......... UNITED STATES
Tech Email........... hostmaster@VERIO-HOSTING.COM
Tech Phone........... 888-663-6648
Tech Fax.............
Name Server.......... ns19a.nameservers.net
Name Server.......... ns19b.nameservers.net

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Re:FWIW
by T Lee Nov 30, 2003 9:42AM PST

I have faith that this is legit as much as I do that Martians (or any other foreign "bodies") are soon to land on your (gw) leader's white house lawn declaring that the reason for global warming is because there is too much hot air (LIES) coming from this "popular president".

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Where's that IGNORE feature we've been asking for now that we need it? . . . . . NT
by C1ay Nov 30, 2003 10:39AM PST
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NT Who knows, ask Lee. ROFLMAO
by T Lee Dec 1, 2003 8:04PM PST
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Re:Are email scams getting more sophisticated?
by Sasha Tee Nov 30, 2003 9:38AM PST

Hi Bill,

That type of scam is very common these days and is targeting both PayPal and eBay users. It's best not to even click on the link.

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Agreed. I didn't click on the link ...
by Bill Osler Nov 30, 2003 10:23AM PST

I got the URL for the perpetrator by looking at the email source. I'm considering whether to report the problem to the ISP that hosts the domain.

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nt) Please, do so. thx
by IanC_OZ Nov 30, 2003 10:32AM PST

.

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Re:Agreed. I didn't click on the link ...
by C1ay Nov 30, 2003 10:36AM PST

What's to consider? I'd report him in a heartbeat just for sending spam, with or without the the intent to defraud. With his/her IP address I'd also see if he/she has any open shares and if so I'd map a drive and start corrupting files just to ruin his/her day for sending me spam in the first place. Can you tell how much I dislike spammers, especially the crooked ones?

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I don't have the skills to attack the system ...
by Bill Osler Nov 30, 2003 11:01AM PST

My only hesitation is that the attempts I've made to report spam have sometimes appeared to result in increased spam. Also, it is not entirely clear who this should be reported to. For example, in examining the WHOIS listing, it is not always clear to me who the registrar for the domain is. There is certainly no value in reporting the problem to the administrator of the company itself, and that whois listing does not include an address for abuse reports. Also, I don't know how much of the whois information is actually reliable. Maybe I need a tutorial on reading whois results?

IOW my hesitation is not from a lack of willingness but rather from a perception of the futility of doing so.

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Re:I don't have the skills to attack the system ...
by C1ay Nov 30, 2003 11:17AM PST

Why not paste the whole header here (minus your son's email addy) and we'll see what we can find about who to report it to?

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Here's how to report it.
by Kiddpeat Nov 30, 2003 11:25AM PST

Forward the email to:

spoof@paypal.com

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(NT) Thanks, I'll do that
by Bill Osler Dec 1, 2003 7:43AM PST

.

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Another trap.
by Kiddpeat Nov 30, 2003 11:30AM PST

Also, don't click on links or load attachments in emails from Microsoft. If in doubt, click on Windows Update in your own system. Or, go to www.microsoft.com which has both Windows and Office Update options in the menu on the left side of the screen.

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Re:Another trap.
by C1ay Nov 30, 2003 11:40AM PST

Then again, if you're worried about securing Windows your only real option is to remove all wires, including the power cord, and lock the PC in a safe. As lonf as the safe is unopened and the PC is not powered on the data within will be secure.

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A true believer
by Kiddpeat Nov 30, 2003 1:46PM PST

Which is it, Apple or Linux?

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Re: Are email scams getting more sophisticated?
by Dave Konkel [Moderator] Nov 30, 2003 12:16PM PST

Hi, Dr. Bill.

The problem is with the verification that you're actually at the correct site! How, precisely, do you do that? Scammers are getting more sophisticated at setting up fake sites. BTW, not just scammers -- NBC's Dateline had a frightening story about how easy it is for crooks to buy an ATM machine, hook it to the network, and use it to steal your account information (including password) while doling out some cas, then emptying your account.
-- Dave K.
Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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Yup...
by Keith Marcotte Nov 30, 2003 2:45PM PST

there was a recent scam where you really were sent to the host site but the popup that appeared with it (that requested your account info) came from a bogus site. Nobody has a legitimate reason to ask you for passwords or pin numbers so don't hand them out.

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(NT) You'd think the banks would secure their own network!
by Bill Osler Dec 1, 2003 7:50AM PST

.

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Re:Re: Are email scams getting more sophisticated?
by JP Bill Dec 2, 2003 2:50AM PST

No need to access bank site

1. Buy, steal or make a Bank machine.
2. Attach Logos or signs from a popular bank or financial institution (or use a generic machine that accepts all cards.).
3. Customer inserts card and enters PIN number.
4. Machine reads card number and PIN number.
5. Machine dispenses money.
6. Duplicate card made and used to withdraw money from account.

The machine does not have to hooked into any "system" It can be a freestanding unit not connected to the outside world. Have a maximum withdrawal limit of $20 or $40 and the ATM owner of would get the card number and PIN for the card for the small fee of 20 or 40 dollars. Use duplicate card to drain bank account.

In the past two months I have received fraud e-mails, supposedly from banks, requesting that I visit their sites and confirm my passwords.

When I copied the url and displayed it in wordpad I could tell that I would be redirected to a site other than a bank.

Bill

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