Scams like these

[chelzmalee]

Our work SPAM filter just keeps filling up with 'deals' for luxury watches. Apparently they're all 50% off!

 

[medhead]

Googling that number leads to this warning from Consumer affairs.

Warning - Hang Up On Scam Calls Re Tax Office Debt Consumers Threatened With Arrest Warrants | Department of Finance, Services and Innovation

I love this bit of the warning:

The ATO does not threaten jail or arrest if a person fails to transfer funds.

Maybe not. But there are plenty of news reports about the ATO trying to bankrupt people who are still in court disputing the tax assessment. Dare I suggest such actions by the ATO makes the threat of arrest or imprisonment plausible for scammers to use.

 

[NM]

Just received an email purporting to be from Optus with the subject "Your Optusnet Account is Overdue".

Dear Valued Customer,

This e-mail has been sent to you by Optus Billing Department to inform you that we were unable to process your most recent payment of bill.

This might be due to either of the following reasons:

A recent change in your personal information ( i.e.change of address).

Submiting invalid information during the initial sign up process.

An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within our processors.

You will need to update your payment details within the next 2 days to avoid any interruption to your Broadband or telephone services. You can do this by clicking the link below:

The link implies its to memberservices.optuszoo.co.au to login to "myaccount". But hover the mouse over the link and it reveals the real destination which is obviously nothing to do with Optus.

And of course I know I don't have an overdue account with Optus.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I really wonder how many of these scams are the result of companies selling their souls by "outsourcing" key customer interaction points to the lowest bidder..

 

[whatmeworry]

I really wonder how many of these scams are the result of companies selling their souls by "outsourcing" key customer interaction points to the lowest bidder..

IIRC a call centre in the Philippines was selling CC details to scammers.

 

[SeatBackForward]

IIRC a call centre in the Philippines was selling CC details to scammers.

Think about how much was spent trying to make Indian Call centres appear to not be Indian, those operators want to use their new found skills...

 

[whatmeworry]

Here is the article.

Philippines call centre worker stole Australian Citibank customer details for Sydney crime gang, police say

 

[wandering_fred]

I wonder if they know something I don't
Apparently one of my "sign up" email addresses got picked up by spammers. Enough to put in a re-direct rule in the mail application.

Happy wandering

Fred

quote
Icm_fred Congratulations,

You were recently chosen as a potential candidate to represent your state and profession in the upcoming edition of "Women of Distinction" for 2015.
Very Few are selected each year to be included into "Women of Distinction Magazine".

Please Confirm your Invitation.

 

[drron]

So tonight I have an email from VA re a survey.It says it is a survey about a hypothetical trip.Address is [email protected]
Is it genuine?

 

[whatmeworry]

So tonight I have an email from VA re a survey.It says it is a survey about a hypothetical trip.Address is [email protected]
Is it genuine?

Looks fake. If you google the address other people also question VA.

 

[rogerkambah]

So tonight I have an email from VA re a survey.It says it is a survey about a hypothetical trip.Address is [email protected]
Is it genuine?

cbr.com.au entered as a URL search redirects to the website colmar brunton - Australian owned market research agency. Colmar Brunton is a market research company, based in Canberra which has/had Virgin Australia as one of its clients.

I'd say the address to respond to is genuine, however without seeing the context, perhaps they should have been more transparent in telling you whom you were responding to.

 

[drron]

Thanks for that.

 

[Cynicor]

So tonight I have an email from VA re a survey.It says it is a survey about a hypothetical trip.Address is [email protected]
Is it genuine?

"From" addresses are easily faked. It is more important to look at the hyperlinks, context and content of the email. Spam emails need to be generic to catch as many people as possible.

Good signs you have a legit email:
A company you actually deal with in some way- very basic, random chance means you will receive spam "from" a company you use at times
Uses your name- generally very good chance of actually being from the company, or a very detailed scam
Uses specific contemporary info on your dealings with the company- best chance. Very hard to get up to date info on your dealings
No links in email and doesn't ask for a reply- pretty hard to scam without getting you to do something.

In your case DrRon, if the link to the survey is to a legit company then that is a good sign. If it refers to a specific flight then almost 100% it is legit. If the survery asked for odd personal details, then always be wary anyway.

 

[serfty]

I have received survey emails from that cbr address before specifically citing a VA flight I had very recently taken.
..

Still I do check the URL ...

 

[drron]

My worry with this one is that it is not about a flight I made but-

Unlike previous Virgin Australia surveys asking about your most recent flight experience, this one will be based on a hypothetical journey with various hypothetical products presented for selection

As well instead of my full first name which I use for airlines because that is in my passport this one was to "Ron".That was why I checked.

 

[robd]

Boss got one yesterday (can't remember the email address) but it stated that his mailbox had exceeded it's limits and required validation to re-activate it (link was provided). Funny that we had just been discussing email addresses and as I was passing his office, he mentioned that his email inbox needed attention. We run our own mail server at work, so I knew it was a scam. Deleted it and reported it to Mailguard.

Boss is a serial non deleter of emails. When he has read an email, he "deletes" it, but won't empty his deleted folder in case he needs to re-visit an old email. The last time I saw it, he had something like 13,500 emails in the "deleted" folder, several thousand in the "Junk" folder, which I don't think he's ever looked at, and thousands in "sent" and "inbox". Understandable that someone could target him with a "your mailbox is full" email.

 

[Cynicor]

My worry with this one is that it is not about a flight I made but-



As well instead of my full first name which I use for airlines because that is in my passport this one was to "Ron".That was why I checked.

No worries DrRon, just hoping to help out others with a bit more of a checklist. Most useful to post on here though is the link to the survey. Generally obtainable via right-clicking and this cannot be spoofed.

 

[RAM]

I have receded survey emails from the cbr address before specifially citing a VA flight iI had recently taken
..

Did you type this up on a phone perhaps?

 

[eastwest101]

I got the same email as well - It looks legit. Right click and link attached:

http://survey.euro.confirmit.com/wix/p1844124244.aspx?r=23042&s=QNKQOCWG

The invitation email could be worded a bit better and personallized so it appears to look as "spammy".

 

[Boca68]

These guys left a message on the answering machine at home. The call back number they left is 02 6145 2247. Just putting it out there in case anyone wants to hassle that number. Make sure you turn off caller ID before calling them.

When I called the number straight to message bank. I did: silence, "Who is this?", silence, "This number is being tracked", silence, "We're coming to get you"

Not only is there a serious tax case against me, well I assume it's me since they didn't leave a name on the phone message, for not paying tax. But in the email today I have a $318 refund due, if I update my details. Perhaps I should call the above number and tell them to take the liability out of the refund.

Yes the number appears on some websites. But it's most likely a Skype bought number. I have one for personal use. But I noted when I bought the number, I could choose just about any country and/or area code in the world. Hundreds of choices. And Skype calls been almost impossible to trace to a specific location, makes the scammers job much easier.