Weird E-mail

[Bird]

I've been getting a lot of e-mails that read:

"Thank you for your loan request, which we recieved yesterday. We'd like to inform you that we are accepting your application. We are ready to give you a $272,000 loan (Approved refinance) for a low month payment. Approval process will take only 1 minute. Please visit the confirmation link below and fill-out our short 30 second form."

I'm getting this same message nearly every day, sometimes several of them a day, exact same wording, but show to come from different individual's names, and have different links. I've not clicked on the links because I don't want to encourage them, but I've made NO loan requests of anyone.

Are others getting this same thing, and does anyone know what or where it comes from?

 

[Farmwithjunk]

No emails, but in the last 2 weeks, I've been flooded with PHONE CALLS much the same theme. Also getting calls to my cell phone that say "This is your credit card company. (I don't have a credit card) There is no problem but we need to update your account to extend your available credit. Please give us verification of your name, address, and ss# and we'll send you a new upgraded card". Message is a recording. They never mention a bank name or type of credit card, just "your credit card company".

I often wonder just how many people respond with the requested info.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

It is most likely just another scam where people get people to fill out personal information that they can use to steal from them somehow. Just keep deleting them.

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin Bird,
Well, see what happens when your retired ! They target you retired folks cuz they think you may be boarderline senile ! Darn, I wish they would start targeting me, maybe that would be a sign that Im gettin close !

Sorry Bird, you just left yourself wide open on that one !

 

[riptides]

Please take the loan and give me the money.

Thanks.
-Mike Z.

 

[anojones]

It's a standard phising scam- they are hoping you will fill out the form and give them personal info they can use. The criminals who do this have co-opted regular computer users (by way of viruses and spyware) and send the email out using those computers which is why the same email comes from different email accounts. Eventually you will get one of these that looks legit, for instance, it will look like it comes from your bank, or ebay or paypal. The best way to protect yourself is to never click on the link in the email. If you think the email is actually from someone you do business with just type the name of the webiste into the address bar of your browser and login that way- if you click on the link in the email it will take you to a site that looks legit but isn't. While your at it, don't download any email attatchments your not expecting (even from friends) and turn off HTML email. These scams can look very real- don't click on the link in the email!

 

[RonMar]

It is called "Phishing"(fishing). They are trolling for personal information. best case they are just looking for a response so they can add your E-mail to an address list they are selling. Worst case they are trying to either access your account or steal your identity and establish a line of credit in your name. DON"T follow ANY provided links.

My primary rule that has served me well for quite a while now is:

1. Conduct NO business over the phone unless YOU initiate the call. IE: You call the vendor using their published number to place an order. You call the bank customer service department using their published number. Do not use the number provided in the suspect E-mail or letter that you have received to make changes to your account.

This same rule also applies to electronic information. Don't click on a link and fill out any information. A legitimate business or financial institution will not do this.

There has been a recent PayPal scam going around where you receive an E-mail from a fraud/theft division of the organization in question saying something to the effect that "Your account has recently been charged X ammount of money. Is this a legitamate charge?" Well if this E-mail was received by a person with a paypal or E-bay account, they would be interested. The message then goes on to say something like "click on the provided link to view your account information". That link goes to what looks like the normal login page and you are asked to provide username and password to access your account information. The site walks you thru a process to confirm or deny the incorrect charges and supposedly fix your problem. You leave the site happy that you avoided possible problems.

IT IS ALL FAKE. You have just given them your account username and password and probably before you have finished logging off, someone is accessing your real account and using your stored default credit card info to transfer money to a dummy/front account. If you receive an E-mil like this, close it, get on line and using the bookmark in your personal list to get to Paypal and access your account(same way you usually do) and I bet that you will find no such activity.

Which brings me to my second point. Don't store personal information on public websites, such as a default credit card in a Paypal account. I know it is handy, but any breach in their security and someone else is using your info. If you must do this, get a set limit(low value) debit card on a separate account and use this for your online purchases. You should be able to transfer money to the account online as needed. That way if that info is compromised, you are only out a few hundred $ instead of a few thousand $.

As long as crime pays, there will be people taking the job!

 

[RoyJackson]

I get the same e-mails, Bird.

Not much you can do to prevent it since their e-mail addresses change so often.
One thing I do to minimize this stupid crap is use a hotmail address for any sites I want to register on (TBN was a rare exception).
Keeps the majority of the spam out of my real e-mail.

 

[redlevel]

I keep getting emails, phone calls, snail mail messages that say "if you don't make the last three month's payments by tomorrow night we will repossess everything you own! What could this mean?

 

[MossRoad]

Maybe the sender gets paid for click throughs, where each time someone clicks on a link, they get a couple pennies. I once read an interview with a professional spammer that had some servers in his basement pumping out millions and millions of spam messages each month. He said that if only one person in 200,000 clicks on a link, he breaks even. Any more than one and he makes a profit. And that was over five years ago, so imaging the effeciency increases in the spam industry that have taken place since then. Pretty scary!