'Tis the season to be concerned about taxes, filing papers, paying. An email purporting to be from the Urban Institute had links to open to change your password on tax forms. Before you click to give anyone any such information see what the IRS has to say: IRS Completes the "Dirty Dozen" Tax Scams for 2015 and see http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing
Watch Out for This Email
David Passell alerts us to another scam now making the rounds in our area. It involves an email complete with phony tracking number informing you that there was a package delivery error. It purports to come from one of these delivery companies: UPS, FedEx, DHL, or USPS. In the phony email you'll be instructed to open an attachment and print out a correct delivery label that you're supposed to take to the nearest (UPS, FedEx, DHL, or USPS) office.
Open the attachment, however, and you'll open your computer to malware and virus attacks. Delete the phony email. The FedEx website posts this information.
Lawyer's Advice
Ginger Carlson sends this link to a site with advice from Steven Weisman who is an author, lawyer, and college professor who posts warnings about scams being circulated.
Test Yourself: Can You Find It?
Here's a quick quiz that can identify in a few minutes how good you are at telling the difference between a phishing attempt and a legitimate website. Thanks to John Carter for finding this helpful opportunity to outsmart the scammers.
Beware of These Scams
The Prescott Crime Prevention Specialists sent this info to David Passell, and he shares it with us. The BBB names the top 10 scams of 2011 and offers new scam resource. Keep informed to keep safe!
Avoid the MobileMe/iCloud Email Scam
If you use MobileMe or .Mac here's an important article forwarded from Jim Hamm. He explains the problem, "If anyone, or any company, or any bank, sends you an authenticate-looking email asking for a credit card #, delete that email and move on is my recommendation."
This Looks Phishy
Always alert for scams, this comes from David Passell who writes, "This is an E-mail I received that I wouldn't think of answering. What do our other readers think??? Here is my copy/paste of the message with some [additions].
From: "test"
Date: August 14, 2011 12:12:31 AM MST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: IMPORTANT EMAIL UPGRADE
Reply-To: techupgradearfarf@#% bitscn.net [I have deliberately messed up the address; no, I am not going to Reply-To]
Dear Email Subscriber,
This is to inform all Subscribers that our server upgrade/maintenance is scheduled for September 1st 2011. [Who dat? I have five different E-mail accounts]
You may experience login problems during this period. We are having congestion due to various anonymous account registrations and on this note, we are deactivating some accounts that are no longer active and your account may be deactivated if no action is taken. To confirm and keep your account active during and after the upgrade and maintenance, you are advised to provide the below details to confirm your account.
Email Address:
Confirm Email Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
Date of Birth:
Your E-mail account will remain active after we have successfully upgraded our server. This is to help us serve you better. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your swift response to this notification.
Technical Support Team
Copyright ©MPI 2011 All Rights Reserved
Looks Phishy to Me
With a careful scrutiny David Passell detected another phishing scam. An email purporting to be from some entity called "Usaa Military" and asking for him to verify his "account" had some tell-tale evidence. First, he does not have an account with such a place, and when he viewed the ending of the long header he saw "nomad-tg.kz." This Net URL page shows kz to be the Internet address abbreviation for Kazakhstan. Another good site for checking URL endings is wikipedia. Yes, David, it does look a little phishy!
Watch Out For Scams
Continuing to follow the news of Haiti we are all concerned. But scammers are already at work. De Prez Allen Laudenslager advises, "Please put a post on the club blog warning against responding to email requests for Relief to Haiti and recommending that anyone who wishes to help give only through charities they recognized as established charities or check with the Better Business Bureau to be sure the charity is not a scam."
David Passell writes, "Hi All: According to the news some 400 sites purporting to be for Haiti Relief have sprung up. Many are SCAMS designed to profit the originator or worse to collect personal information. I suggest we ignore this email and advise others to do the same. I wonder if our members might also be getting this?
"I suggest that to donate, go local; give to Salvation Army, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, Red Cross and many others we may know in Prescott."