Hoax
I recently received the following email. I show it to you as an example of the fraudalent emails that may come to you. Note the second sentence intended to alarm me; then the supposed warnings given to make me feel this is legitimate, the goal being for me to click the site given. Think through this. Why would my bank not have contacted me? I went to what I knew was the Amazon website and found warnings and examples of this very email. I hope, by the way, that when you receive forwarded emails revealing incredible stories, that you will not forward them without determining their legitimacy. One site I use to check out stories is hoaxbusters.ciac.org.
Greetings from Amazon Payments. Your bank has contacted us regarding some attempts of charges from your credit card via the Amazon system. We have reasons to believe that you changed your registration information or that someone else has unauthorized access to your Amazon account Due to recent activity, including possible unauthorized listings placed on your account, we will require a second confirmation of your identity with us in order to allow us to investigate this matter further. Your account is not suspended, but if in 48 hours after you receive this message your account is not confirmed we reserve the right to suspend your Amazon registration. If you received this notice and you are not the authorized account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of Amazon policy to represent oneself as another Amazon user. Such action may also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law. Amazon is committed to assist law enforcement with any inquires related to attempts to misappropriate personal information with the intent to commit fraud or theft. Information will be provided at the request of law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
To confirm your identity with us click here:https://www.amazon.com/obidos/flex-sign-in/ref=pd_irl_gw_r-7567864?opt=oa&page. After responding to the message, we ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be investigated. Emailing us before that time will result in delays. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and we would like to thank you for your cooperation as we review this matter.
Thank you for your interest in selling at Amazon.com.Amazon.com Customer Servicehttp://www.amazon.com
Greetings from Amazon Payments. Your bank has contacted us regarding some attempts of charges from your credit card via the Amazon system. We have reasons to believe that you changed your registration information or that someone else has unauthorized access to your Amazon account Due to recent activity, including possible unauthorized listings placed on your account, we will require a second confirmation of your identity with us in order to allow us to investigate this matter further. Your account is not suspended, but if in 48 hours after you receive this message your account is not confirmed we reserve the right to suspend your Amazon registration. If you received this notice and you are not the authorized account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of Amazon policy to represent oneself as another Amazon user. Such action may also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law. Amazon is committed to assist law enforcement with any inquires related to attempts to misappropriate personal information with the intent to commit fraud or theft. Information will be provided at the request of law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
To confirm your identity with us click here:https://www.amazon.com/obidos/flex-sign-in/ref=pd_irl_gw_r-7567864?opt=oa&page. After responding to the message, we ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be investigated. Emailing us before that time will result in delays. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and we would like to thank you for your cooperation as we review this matter.
Thank you for your interest in selling at Amazon.com.Amazon.com Customer Servicehttp://www.amazon.com
posted by M Clark at 10/27/2005 06:19:00 PM
3 Comments:
Here's an article on phishing that's published by the Department of Justice. I just now found it via a Google search. It looks pretty good:
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/Phishing.pdf
The key part of all of those fraudulent emails is that they hide the link that they're actually sending you to. It looks like "amazon.com" in the browser, but if you hover your pointer over the link, or view the plain text of the email, it will have a URL that is bogus (somtimes just a string of IP numbers, sometimes something using amazon in it, like "amazon.badsite.com"
I get regular emails from supposed "Paypal" sites in my university email inbox. I forward them to spoof@paypal.com. They confirm that they are fraudulent and work to disassemble the site.
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