Another slick scam

[oosik]

My internet provider is Hughes Net. Got a email from Hughes Net this AM saying the data on my autopay program would not allow my monthly payment to be processed. They wanted me to click on their provided Hughes web page and enter and reconfirm all my info. This, of course, would be all my banking info also.

Sounded fishy - checked my on-line bank account and the payment had been processed. Check my billing account on the official Hughes Net web site - it showed the funds had been received.

Called Hughes Net and advised them of this scam. They get trickier every day.

 

[cqaigy2]

Wow, nice scam! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[LMychajluk]

You (the general 'you', not the OP) really need to be able to identify if an email is coming from who it says it's coming from. It's easy to show one name and not the actual email address of the sender, so saying you got an email from 'HughesNet' may not actually be accurate - it may just show as coming from HughesNet. (Technically, you can even send emails without even having an email account.) It's also important that you recognize where a link will take you. When clicking on a link in an email, look very carefully at the URL that it takes you to (usually hovering over it with the mouse pointer will show the actual URL you are being directed to). Once the site is open, most browsers now will have some type of indicator in the address bar that the URL is verified safe, but even then, beware. The OP did the right thing by ignoring the link and going directly to the HughesNet website to log into his account. (It's basically like a scammer calling you and telling you they're calling from your bank, and then giving you a phone number to call back so you can confirm who they are - NO! Call the bank's number from your statement or that you looked up yourself.)

 

[oosik]

There is one other thing I noticed. On the Hughes Net web site they provided and wanted me to use to enter and confirm all the data - none/not a one of the links on that web page worked. Click on the link - nothing happens - takes you nowhere - zip/zingy/notta.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've been getting phone calls; "Congratulations, your credit is SO GOOD that you qualify for 0% interest on ALL of your credit cards!"
Who'd have thunk that there was a clearing house that could do that for all of the banks.

 

[LMychajluk]

There is one other thing I noticed. On the Hughes Net web site they provided and wanted me to use to enter and confirm all the data - none/not a one of the links on that web page worked. Click on the link - nothing happens - takes you nowhere - zip/zingy/notta.

That's not a HughNet website, it's a copy, and please don't do things like click the 'links'. You never know what they may do or where they may take you.

 

[marchanna]

I got a fake Paypal email today and a real one. It was uncanny how well done the fake one was, but when I checked the sender it was not a real Paypal email address.

I get almost one scam email a day now. It gets tiring.

 

[bunyip]

We get them with monotonous regularity from banks, ebay, paypal and supermarket credit card providers, I carefully look at the source of the email which are surprisingly good, it worries me that someone else at home may open them and click on the link to have a chance to win $1000 just for taking the survey.
One that has dropped off as late are the offers of 75% of the $50,000,000:00 of Colonel Bongos' cousins wifes sisters boyfriends daughters fathers bank account.

 

[Wagtail]

We get them with monotonous regularity from banks, ebay, paypal and supermarket credit card providers, I carefully look at the source of the email which are surprisingly good, it worries me that someone else at home may open them and click on the link to have a chance to win $1000 just for taking the survey.
One that has dropped off as late are the offers of 75% of the $50,000,000:00 of Colonel Bongos' cousins wifes sisters boyfriends daughters fathers bank account.

Colonel Bongo! Let me know if there's a problem... I have a mate [a Nigerian Prince, in fact] who owes me a huge favour.

 

[oosik]

The REALLY SAD thing about all of this - the scams must be working a percentage of the time or "they" would try something else.

 

[MarkF48]

That's not a HughNet website, it's a copy, and please don't do things like click the 'links'. You never know what they may do or where they may take you.

If I'm suspicious of a website with links, usually if you hover the mouse over a link it will expose the real address destination in most browsers. Most times will give a clue whether you want to go there or not. If in doubt, don't click.

 

[marchanna]

Good rule of thumb, be skeptical of any email you were not expecting. Never click on a link in an email that is regarding financial or account (any type of account) information.

 

[mark02tj]

The REALLY SAD thing about all of this - the scams must be working a percentage of the time or "they" would try something else.

Mostly target the elderly - which makes it even sadder. Emails and phone calls which are designed to fool them into thinking that a grandchild is in some sort of trouble and needs "bailed out." About a year ago we had an elderly gentleman in the Township that fell for this. The "cops" had him go to the Apple store to get an iTunes gift card for about $1500 or so. They convinced him that they had to do it this way because their police department only had Apple computers. He bought the card, called them back and gave them the card info. They called him back a few minutes later and told him that the judge had increased the bail amount. It was only when he went back to the Apple store to buy a second card that someone there figured out he was being scammed. Very sad. I know of a few more that fell, or nearly fell, for similar scams.

The CBS sit-com show, Life in Pieces, had a "story" on this last week. Click on the little dot around the 15:30 mark. Would have been funny if it weren't so true.

 

[forgeblast]

ebay and paypal spoofs get sent to me, I send them (forward them) to spoof@ebay.com or paypal. They have a crew that looks into them.

 

[MacLawn]

NEVER, never click on an email link. Never.

Y'all wonder when to click on email link? I'll tell you...look above.

 

[drizler]

My steadfast rule to completely avoid this is simple. Any query or request from ANY site or organization like this i never respond to from the furnished link. Just use what you have saved in your favorites or google it up and go into your account that way. Then you never risk sending information to some Nigerian phisherman.

 

[cqaigy2]

My steadfast rule to completely avoid this is simple. Any query or request from ANY site or organization like this i never respond to from the furnished link. Just use what you have saved in your favorites or google it up and go into your account that way. Then you never risk sending information to some Nigerian phisherman.

That's a good point. I'll use a few different search engines to see what kind of results i get.

 

[Mendonsy]

Another simple thing you can do is to place the mouse pointer over the link. Most browsers will display the contents of the link and it is usually obvious that the link does not belong to any legitimate site.

 

[jmc]

The REALLY SAD thing about all of this - the scams must be working a percentage of the time or "they" would try something else.

I couldn稚 help overhearing a conversation between a bank teller and a 30-something immigrant who was in there trying to comply with an obvious scam promising free money. The teller was great and gently told her it was almost certainly a scam. The customer had an odd look on her face when she left. Maybe disappointment, or maybe anger at the bearer of bad news.

 

[EddieWalker]

A guy in Austin Texas was arrested last year from scamming people online. He made over $7 million by the time they caught him. For all the people that don't fall for the scam, enough do to make it worthwhile. Sadly, most are elderly who are too trusting or wanting to help. Same thing with most charities. They target the elderly with their fund raising. To me, they are all scams too. Number one donor for animal groups are widowed women. The more you can make an animal suffer in a video clip, the easier it is to get money from them.

Most popular scam going on around here is a phone call from the IRS demanding payment or else. Then they get you to pay on a credit card of some kind.