Liberty Reserve phishing email scam

It’s been a long time since we wrote about examples of phishing emails we have been receiving. We are sharing another one we received yesterday. Be warned! Don’t visit the fake site so you won’t be a victim.

The Liberty Reserve Phishing Email

From: no_reply@libertyreserve.com <no_reply@libertyreserve.com>
Date: Sun, May 24, 2009 at 6:27 PM
Subject: You have received a transfer in your Liberty Reserve account

Dear Liberty Reserve member,

You have been sent a transfer of 1392 USD from  Liberty Reserve account U3983977. However, in accordance to our newly modified Security Policy, valid from today, 24th May 2009, you are required to confirm your identity before you can receive transfer spends of a sum over 1000 USD. This is done to further strenghten the safety of our members and minimize the possibility of a fraudulent transaction.

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Phishing email: Your question from an eBay member

Just a few days after I wrote about eBay scams and scammers, I received an email purportedly from eBay which obviously was a fake email intended on getting my personal information.

How did I know it was fake?

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Download Internet Explorer 7.0 spyware threat

Last week I received an email supposedly from admin@microsoft.com instructing me to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7.0, the latest update to Microsoft’s browser.

If I didn’t know better, I would have automatically clicked on the download link. Instantly, then, I would have made myself a victim of a spyware threat.

Below is a copy of that malicious IE7 email.

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Security Warning email from Google

Yesterday I received a “Security Warning” email supposedly from Google and I must say that if I didn’t know better, I would have been the next victim of this phishing scam.

Here’s a copy of the email.

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More phishing emails from fake PayPal and eBay

Here are some more examples of phishing emails, this time supposedly sent by PayPal and eBay.

It is our hope that our series on Phishing Emails will help you easily identify a fake email from the real one. So next time you see a phishing email, just hit the “Spam” or “Report Phishing Message” on your inbox.

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Phishing email from fake UNICEF

We hope that our series on Phishing Emails have helped you identify fake emails and prevented you from becoming one of their victims.

You probably know by now that phishing emails, also known as fake or spoof emails, are used to direct recipients to a fraudulent website where they are asked to provide personal information. This information is then used for identity theft.

Below you’ll find another addition to our growing list of actual phishing emails we have recently received.

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‘Your eBay Account Has Been Suspended’

A few minutes ago, I cleaned up my inbox and found the following warning email from “eBay” threatening me that my “eBay account has been suspended.”

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Phishing email, fake website: e-buiilon.com

In the tradition of fake Paypal, eGold, E*Trade, Gmail, and YouTube emails designed to steal your personal information, here comes another phishing email that attempts to deceive you into logging to a fake website so it can hack your e-Bullion funds.

The well-designed email comes complete with the logo of online currency e-Bullion.com and a header image that ironically announces, “Eliminate Risks & Fraud.”

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Bonjour! C’est un PayPal phishing l’email

Pardon my French (literally), but a few minutes ago I received an interesting email supposedly from PayPal France.

The polyglot that I am (not!), I had to get help from a Language Translation site in order to decipher the message and, as expected, it is just one of those many PayPal phishing emails.

Phishing is a type of deception designed to steal one’s personal data such as credit card numbers, passwords, account login information, etc. Phishing emails are normally used to direct recipients to a fraudulent website where they are asked to provide personal information. This information is then used for identity theft.

The French PayPal email I got was no different from other spoof emails. All bore the warning that my PayPal account has been restricted and I need to access a certain website in order to lift the restriction.

Now the rule when receiving emails like these that ask you to login to a certain site: if the website’s URL does not appear to be the official URL of your bank, credit card company, or payment processor, don’t go there and don’t log in!

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Another Gmail phishing email

Just a few minutes ago, we received the following “Security Alert” email purportedly from Gmail:

from: Gmail Team <mail-noreply@google.com>
date: Sep 20, 2007 1:44 PM
subject: Security Alert

Your account has been randomly flagged in our system as a part of our routine security measures. This is a must to ensure that only you have acces and use of your Google account and to ensure a safe Gmail experience. We require all flagged accounts to verify their information on file with us.
This is the right link for edit account page
After you verify your information, your account shall be returned to good standing and you will continue to have full use of your account. Please note that if you don’t verify your ownership of account in 2 x 24 hours we will block/ susspend your Google account.

Thanks,

The Gmail Team

Although the header included a line saying the mail was sent by the “Gmail Team,” the server that actually sent the mail was “crater.myserverhosts.com” — definitely not a Gmail or Google server.

Note as well the typographical and grammatical errors in the email (acces, 2 x 24 hours, susspend). If that guy was indeed working in Google, he should be fired for sending a crappy, unprofessional email like that.

More info on how to detect phishing emails in the article What is Phishing?

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