How to Spot a Spoof
Spoof e-mails are all too common these days ...
here are some ways to spot them.
The sample fradulent e-mail shown below is an example of some of the messages that are being sent out by people who are trying to steal other people's money. Messages, such as this one, can arrive in your inbox at your e-mail account with the intent to make you panic so you click on the button and proceed to submit personal information. They are normally disguised to look as though they are from ebay, Amazon Books, Paypal, and other major companies, but they are NOT!
We are posting this message as an alert to our customers and visitors in order to make you aware just in case you have not seen these before. Most companies have a "spoof" department where such messages can be forwarded. One way to determine the true origin of the message is to save the message as a .txt or .doc file and then open it in a Notepad, Wordpad, Word, etc. ... then you can read the otherwise hidden header information.
Below are some examples of one of these type of messages. Note that most of these messages will say something like "Dear Member" rather than your name.
We hope this information helps you to be more aware while on your computer ... be careful out there!
The sample fradulent e-mail shown below is an example of some of the messages that are being sent out by people who are trying to steal other people's money. Messages, such as this one, can arrive in your inbox at your e-mail account with the intent to make you panic so you click on the button and proceed to submit personal information. They are normally disguised to look as though they are from ebay, Amazon Books, Paypal, and other major companies, but they are NOT!
We are posting this message as an alert to our customers and visitors in order to make you aware just in case you have not seen these before. Most companies have a "spoof" department where such messages can be forwarded. One way to determine the true origin of the message is to save the message as a .txt or .doc file and then open it in a Notepad, Wordpad, Word, etc. ... then you can read the otherwise hidden header information.
Below are some examples of one of these type of messages. Note that most of these messages will say something like "Dear Member" rather than your name.
We hope this information helps you to be more aware while on your computer ... be careful out there!
[An actual logo will appear in the corner]
Dear Member,
This email confirms that you have paid acompany@todayscam.com $$ USD
This credit card transaction will appear on your bill as "(A Company Name)"
Payment Details
(Price of product will be shown, with shipping details, etc., along with a hotlink to an actual item.)
If you have questions about the shipping and tracking of your purchased item or service, please contact the seller.
Do you confirm this transaction?
If this transaction was not made by you, please immediately take the following steps:
"CANCEL TRANSACTION!"
(The above will be a hot link ... DO NOT click on it!!!)
Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log into your account and choose the Help link located in the top right corner of any page.
Dear Member,
This email confirms that you have paid acompany@todayscam.com $$ USD
This credit card transaction will appear on your bill as "(A Company Name)"
Payment Details
(Price of product will be shown, with shipping details, etc., along with a hotlink to an actual item.)
If you have questions about the shipping and tracking of your purchased item or service, please contact the seller.
Do you confirm this transaction?
If this transaction was not made by you, please immediately take the following steps:
- Login to your account by clicking on the link below
- Provide requested information to ensure you are the owner of the account
"CANCEL TRANSACTION!"
(The above will be a hot link ... DO NOT click on it!!!)
Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log into your account and choose the Help link located in the top right corner of any page.
Dear Member,
It has come to our attention that your billing information records are out of date. That requires you to update the billing information. Failure to update your records will result in account termination. Please update your records within 24 hours. Once you have updated your account records, your session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Failure to update will result in cancellation of service, Terms of Service (TOS) violations or future billing problems.
You must click the link below and enter your login information on the following page to confirm your billing information records.
~Click here to activate your account~
(The above will be a hot link ... DO NOT click on it!!!)
You can also confirm your email address by logging into your account at https://www.looksreal.com/us/. Click on the "Confirm email" link in the Activate Account box and then enter this confirmation number: 1542-9210-4796-0162-9135
Note that they point out some very good advice! ...
Protect Your Account Info -
Make sure you never provide your password to fraudulent websites.
To safely and securely access the website or your account, open a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the URL to be sure you are on the real site.
We will never ask you to enter your password in an email.
For more information on protecting yourself from fraud, please review our Security Tips.
Protect Your Password -
You should never give your password to anyone, including employees.
It has come to our attention that your billing information records are out of date. That requires you to update the billing information. Failure to update your records will result in account termination. Please update your records within 24 hours. Once you have updated your account records, your session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Failure to update will result in cancellation of service, Terms of Service (TOS) violations or future billing problems.
You must click the link below and enter your login information on the following page to confirm your billing information records.
~Click here to activate your account~
(The above will be a hot link ... DO NOT click on it!!!)
You can also confirm your email address by logging into your account at https://www.looksreal.com/us/. Click on the "Confirm email" link in the Activate Account box and then enter this confirmation number: 1542-9210-4796-0162-9135
Note that they point out some very good advice! ...
Protect Your Account Info -
Make sure you never provide your password to fraudulent websites.
To safely and securely access the website or your account, open a new web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the URL to be sure you are on the real site.
We will never ask you to enter your password in an email.
For more information on protecting yourself from fraud, please review our Security Tips.
Protect Your Password -
You should never give your password to anyone, including employees.
Dear Customers:
Your Bank is constantly working to increase security for all Online Banking users. To ensure the integrity of our online payment system, we periodically review accounts.
Your account might be place on restricted status. Restricted accounts continue to receive payments, but they are limited in their ability to send or withdraw funds.
To lift up this restriction, you need to login into your account (with your username or SSN and your password), then you have to complete our verification process. You must confirm your credit card details and your billing information as well. All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until you have updated your billing information on file. To initiate the billing update confirmation process, please follow the link bellow and fill in the necessary fields: ~Click here to activate your account~
(The above will be a hot link ... DO NOT click on it!!!)
About Your Bank | Employment | Report Email Fraud
Privacy, Security & Legal | Home
Your Bank is constantly working to increase security for all Online Banking users. To ensure the integrity of our online payment system, we periodically review accounts.
Your account might be place on restricted status. Restricted accounts continue to receive payments, but they are limited in their ability to send or withdraw funds.
To lift up this restriction, you need to login into your account (with your username or SSN and your password), then you have to complete our verification process. You must confirm your credit card details and your billing information as well. All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until you have updated your billing information on file. To initiate the billing update confirmation process, please follow the link bellow and fill in the necessary fields: ~Click here to activate your account~
(The above will be a hot link ... DO NOT click on it!!!)
About Your Bank | Employment | Report Email Fraud
Privacy, Security & Legal | Home
Beware of spoof e-mails such as the examples shown above!
Some of them may look very real, but usually if you
read between the lines, you will find typographical
or grammatical errors, or other "tip-offs"
that you can be assured are signs of foul play!
