Author Topic: Your account has been hacked - email scam  (Read 1403 times)

biglouis

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Your account has been hacked - email scam
« on: Feb 09, 2019, 02:35:33 AM »
 
 
I thought I was pretty savvy about email spoofs. It seems a week cannot pass without my Paypal account being limited. And I seem to have accounts in every American bank which have been compromised.
 
Yeah, right!
 
I few days ago I got an email headed "Your email account has been hacked. Change your password now".
 
It was in my spam folder but I made the error of going onto the server to read it (most of my email addresses are provided by my website company 1&1)
 
Well it was quite scary. The assertion was that this hacker had set up a trap on an "adult" website and was going to send the film plus what I was doing on my webcam to "all my workplace associates and friends" unless I paid $1000 into his bitcoin account.
 
At this point I had a good laugh as I don’t visit adult websites and don’t have a webcam on either of my PCs. However I subsequently went on to attempt some financial transactions via Paypal and they kept failing. I sincerely believed there was some connection and went into a full blown panic attack.
 
My nephew (who builds computers and websites) arrived and googled some of the phrases in the email. It turns out that this is a new version of a very old scam that it presently doing the rounds. Many of the words and phrases in MY email were identical to those given in examples.
 
https://www.virusresearch.org/remove-change-your-password-immediately-your-account-has-been-hacked-email/
 
Nephew immediately ran a virus remover program several times but if did not find anything sinister. The entire thing was  spoof.
 
Well that was almost a week ago and I haven’t sent him/her any money.
 
Paypal was just having one of its “wobbly” phases.
 
But the email is really very scary.
 
Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools.

Ashy

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #1 on: Feb 09, 2019, 09:17:26 AM »
Phew!!

Diasi

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #2 on: Feb 09, 2019, 10:00:57 AM »
Virtually everyone who's been scammed starts off by saying they thought they were pretty savvy & this is what the scammers rely on.

Scammers, by & large, rely on two types of persons, those who know nothing about computer security & those who think they know more than they actually do.

It's extremely simple to identify any scam emails, all you need to do is look at the 'full header' details which will tell you the originating ISP address & the route it took to reach you.

I had a shed load of these emails a while ago but mine said they'd hacked my computer & copied all my porn files which they'd send to everyone on my email contact list, which I don't keep.

I did reply, via a double VPN , & asked the scammer to send me a copy of all my porn files as I'd accidentally wiped my hard drive.

After that I never received any more emails.

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/29436?hl=en
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fortyone

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #3 on: Feb 09, 2019, 10:05:32 AM »
The golden rule is to never click links in any email or open any attachments. I never even open most emails I do receive I just look at the title and delete.

biglouis

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #4 on: Feb 09, 2019, 10:17:19 AM »
Of course I know how to look at the source code to see where it came from - a pretty respectable looking website company in Japan
The scary thing about these emails is that the sender uses an email spoofer to apparently send the message from your own email address - to you THINK they have hacked your account.
When you run an internet business (as I do) you have to open some emails even if they look a bit weird.
I once got one with the word COMMANDE in the title line. Just that. A lot of people would probably have deleted it without opening because they might have thought it was something to do with S&M. As it happened it concerned quite a big order from a French speaking buyer who was having difficulty using their Visa to check out their items on my website. I had to talk them through the process.
Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools.

Diasi

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #5 on: Feb 09, 2019, 10:27:35 AM »
The golden rule is to never click links in any email or open any attachments. I never even open most emails I do receive I just look at the title and delete.

That's good advice but I do get emails that appear to be from a genuine address & with genuine content so the only way is to check is via the full header.

They're usually the unpaid invoice scam where the email address appears to be that of a genuine company & the sender's name is a genuine name of a company employee & any phone numbers are the genuine phone numbers for the company.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

Diasi

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #6 on: Feb 09, 2019, 10:33:21 AM »
Of course I know how to look at the source code to see where it came from - a pretty respectable looking website company in Japan
The scary thing about these emails is that the sender uses an email spoofer to apparently send the message from your own email address - to you THINK they have hacked your account.
When you run an internet business (as I do) you have to open some emails even if they look a bit weird.
I once got one with the word COMMANDE in the title line. Just that. A lot of people would probably have deleted it without opening because they might have thought it was something to do with S&M. As it happened it concerned quite a big order from a French speaking buyer who was having difficulty using their Visa to check out their items on my website. I had to talk them through the process.

That's what the full header is for, it tells you the originating ISP address & the route the email took to reach you.

When I identify a scam email I notify the scammer's ISP.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

zoony

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #7 on: Feb 09, 2019, 12:52:50 PM »
There's a TV Licence reminder e-mail that looks the business and, apparently, comes at the right time.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ288
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mick607

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #8 on: Feb 09, 2019, 02:05:29 PM »
I've had the same one a couple of times. It say's from The British Broadcasting Corporation, that's the give away.
If people are so stupid to believe junk mails like this then there is no hope for them. It should read from TV Licensing !

zoony

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #9 on: Feb 09, 2019, 02:29:20 PM »
I'm not sure how many folk would spot that but it's useful to know..
"Listen to the wind, it cleans the mind."

"Never use money to measure wealth, son"

                                           cowboy wisdom.

mick607

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #10 on: Feb 09, 2019, 02:31:56 PM »
I never ever take notice of "Official" emails. Banks, Building Societies etc.

Diasi

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #11 on: Feb 09, 2019, 05:48:40 PM »
I never ever take notice of "Official" emails. Banks, Building Societies etc.

That's good advice, except when the email is a genuine one from HMRC or Companies House or a bank etc.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

mick607

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #12 on: Feb 09, 2019, 05:53:04 PM »
My bank only write to me as per my request, they offer telephone email or normal mail.That's another reason I would not entertain internet banking too.

Diasi

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #13 on: Feb 09, 2019, 05:59:29 PM »
My bank only write to me as per my request, they offer telephone email or normal mail.That's another reason I would not entertain internet banking too.

We don't do internet banking but my wife does do telephone banking.

We use a credit card for all our day-to-day expenditure & it's paid off in full each month & has a low limit of £1,000.

We get emails & texts if we're approaching the limit so we don't go over & incur charges.

Quite a bit of HMRC & Companies House contact is via email.
Make every day count, each day is precious.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal".  (Cassandra)

prestbury

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Re: Your account has been hacked - email scam
« Reply #14 on: Feb 09, 2019, 11:38:10 PM »
With my own bank I regularly get emails, but they always have the last 4 digits of my account number and address me personally.

Having said that I never ever click on a link in any emails. If I need to follow such a link, I would logon to the appropriate website normally, not via the link.