SCAM ALERT!

[Grecian2K]

Just a warning to fellow Exewebbers. Have just received this text message on my phone - copied verbatim:

Hi its sky, your broadband is due to Cease at your current property in 5 days.
If you wish to change or cancel this date, you need to contact us within the next 48 hours as after this we can no longer action this request

An internet address (which I won't repeat here) is appended for one to click for "more information".

All very "convincing" (apart from the slightly dubious punctuation) except for
1) We are with Vodaphone - not Sky.
2) The account, and all contact details, is in my partners name. There is no way that ANY legitimate provider could have my mobile number or other contact info.

In sure that most, if not all, of my fellow Grecians on here are too savvy to fall for it but does anyone now how and to which authorities notification of any such attempts should be forwarded in the hope of maybe ridding the world of these parasitic vermin?

 

[Banksy]

For ‘Sky’ read ‘Amazon ‘ in the Ashford area. I’m sure they’ll be able to sort it all out if I bung the £300 they want off to them though.

 

[Alistair20000]

Just a warning to fellow Exewebbers. Have just received this text message on my phone - copied verbatim:

Hi its sky, your broadband is due to Cease at your current property in 5 days.
If you wish to change or cancel this date, you need to contact us within the next 48 hours as after this we can no longer action this request

An internet address (which I won't repeat here) is appended for one to click for "more information".

All very "convincing" (apart from the slightly dubious punctuation) except for
1) We are with Vodaphone - not Sky.
2) The account, and all contact details, is in my partners name. There is no way that ANY legitimate provider could have my mobile number or other contact info.

In sure that most, if not all, of my fellow Grecians on here are too savvy to fall for it but does anyone now how and to which authorities notification of any such attempts should be forwarded in the hope of maybe ridding the world of these parasitic vermin?

If you do make a report bugger all will be done.

I regularly report scams to HMRC. You know the stuff “We owe you £432.93. Just sending your bank account details”

But on it goes. These scammers are too quick for the plodding authorities to catch.

 

[Rosencrantz]

Just a warning to fellow Exewebbers. Have just received this text message on my phone - copied verbatim:

Hi its sky, your broadband is due to Cease at your current property in 5 days.
If you wish to change or cancel this date, you need to contact us within the next 48 hours as after this we can no longer action this request

An internet address (which I won't repeat here) is appended for one to click for "more information".

All very "convincing" (apart from the slightly dubious punctuation) except for
1) We are with Vodaphone - not Sky.
2) The account, and all contact details, is in my partners name. There is no way that ANY legitimate provider could have my mobile number or other contact info.

In sure that most, if not all, of my fellow Grecians on here are too savvy to fall for it but does anyone now how and to which authorities notification of any such attempts should be forwarded in the hope of maybe ridding the world of these parasitic vermin?

https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing

Don't know how much help they would be tbh.

 

[Grecian2K]

T

https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing

Don't know how much help they would be tbh.

Thanks Rosey. I did try that but, because it was a text with no actual sender details (SURPRISE SURPRISE) any attempt to report was just - immediately! - bounced back as "uncontactable". Three Mobile must have really strained every sinew to (non) react like that so fast.

As for the "authorities" - it's a bit like if your house was broken into you were advised to contact your estate agent for help. Plod don't want to know - too busy murdering, raping and ungluing protestors from zebra crossings.

 

[Mr Jinx]

Just a warning to fellow Exewebbers. Have just received this text message on my phone - copied verbatim:

Hi its sky, your broadband is due to Cease at your current property in 5 days.
If you wish to change or cancel this date, you need to contact us within the next 48 hours as after this we can no longer action this request

An internet address (which I won't repeat here) is appended for one to click for "more information".

All very "convincing" (apart from the slightly dubious punctuation) except for
1) We are with Vodaphone - not Sky.
2) The account, and all contact details, is in my partners name. There is no way that ANY legitimate provider could have my mobile number or other contact info.

In sure that most, if not all, of my fellow Grecians on here are too savvy to fall for it but does anyone now how and to which authorities notification of any such attempts should be forwarded in the hope of maybe ridding the world of these parasitic vermin?

This is my line of work now. Not the scamming, lol, the other side of it.

It is rife and now usually a question of when you'll get successfully scammed, not if. A few tips:

1) Be vigilant, especially when being asked for details: Name, address, etc. Never ever give anybody your passwords, or things like bank/card details (unless you're buying something and 100% certain as to the validity of the person at the other end of the phone).
2) 2fa/MFA as many things as you can, especially common accounts like email (Hotmail, Gmail, etc), eBay, Amazon, Facebook, twitter, etc, etc.
3) Use different passwords for each and every account.
4) Use long (10+ chars) and complex passwords with a mix of upper/lower case, numbers/letters and special characters.
5) be wary of all emails asking you to click on links or open attachments. If in doubt, just don't.

Here to help.

 

[Mr Jinx]

And so today Microsoft have announced that all their Outlook versions have a vulnerability whereby a new variant of scam/phish email can be triggered without the user even opening it. Having it in a preview pane will be enough to execute its payload (which can then do all types of bad things including credential stealing and ransomware).

Now this is really worrying, especially in the absence of a patch from MS as I type.

I would say be extra vigilant, but given that you don't even need to click open said email, let alone open an attachment or on a link within it, I don't know what to suggest. There are a few things your back end administrators can do, so PM me if you're one of those and can give you more info.

With everything else going on, are we looking at the end of days?

 

[lamrobhero]

Scams used to be my line of work (not scamming lol). Some things to bear in mind when buying online (which may seem obvious but people fall for it).

• If you buy direct from an overseas supplier the product might not comply with safety or other laws.
• Don't part with money for stuff (e.g. household goods or airline tickets) unless you are sure that the trader is legit - it is easy to set up an impressive website.

Action Fraud was the reporting avenue:

www.actionfraud.police.uk/

 

[Grecian2K]

And so today Microsoft have announced that all their Outlook versions have a vulnerability whereby a new variant of scam/phish email can be triggered without the user even opening it. Having it in a preview pane will be enough to execute its payload (which can then do all types of bad things including credential stealing and ransomware).

Are we talking just the outdated Outlook or does it extend to the "Edge" browser as well?
NB: I don't use Outlook myself for emails - the Google Gmail service works just fine for me.

 

[Mr Jinx]

Are we talking just the outdated Outlook or does it extend to the "Edge" browser as well?
NB: I don't use Outlook myself for emails - the Google Gmail service works just fine for me.

Outllook the program. Outlook.com on the web is fine I think.