# Internet Fraud



## Gundini (12 March 2008)

I know this is nothing new, but these fraudsters are rampant at the moment. Chech out this latest attempt to access my accounts:

Dear Valude Customer,
St George Security Team observed a recent frauduldent transaction that targeted your account, which results in placing your account on the restricted status. We now require a full verification of your account details you can do this by click on the verify button below. 


Failure to do this within 24hrs will lead to access suspension and freezing of your account still further notice.

Regards
St George Security Team

The verify button linked to a .vn address with the language setting default in Vietnamese  

Then, a follow up email:

Dear Online Account Holder,

Access To Your Account Is Currently Unavailable . 

Please click the link below to restore your account access. 
RESTORE YOUR ACCOUNT ACCESS. 

Thank you. 
Customer Service 
St.George Bank.

Everything looked very authentic, but there was only one chink in their armour:

I don't have an account with St George Bank!

And no wonder these parasites can prey on the gullible. I went to the AFP website to report the Fraud attempt, and they wanted me to burn the email onto CD or DVD. I couldn't simply forward the emails to them. 

This is where they let themselves down.

So, this one goes unreported, like the rest of them I would think...

I also got this one a few days ago:

Dear PayPal Member,

This email confirms that you have paid robertoelectronics (roberto211@aol.com) $439.00 USD using PayPal.

This credit card transaction will appear on your bill as "PAYPAL robertoelectronics*".


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PayPal Shopping Cart Contents 

Item Name:  Nokia 8800 Brand New 
Quantity:  1 

Total:  $410.00 USD 



Cart Subtotal:  $410.00 USD 
Shipping Charge:  $30.00 USD 
Cart Total:  $440.00 USD 



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping Information 

Shipping Info:  Roberto Iank
540 Catherine Road 
New York, NY 10018 
United States

Address Status:  Unconfirmed   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you haven't authorized this charge, click the link below to cancel the payment and get a full refund.
Dispute Transaction  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team 

When you click on the Dispute Transaction Link, they ask for your account details! And the figures don't add up: $410 + $30 = $439?

And this, from the Ivory Coast...

From Mike and Mary Williams
Avenu 14 rue 14 Abobo
Abidjan Cote D, Ivoire.


Telephone: 00-225-0905-1811. 

Dearest One,



It's Good thing to write you, we come to you with due respect and equally with heartful of tears and sorrows since we have not known or met ourselves previously,Please, we mean no harm to you only that we are in a desperate situation and need urgent help,After going through this mail,it will be your decision,whether to help  us or to leave us our  faith, but whatever you decide, bear in mind,we are in trouble and need your help, we are asking for your assistance . we  will be so glad if you can allow and lead us to the right channel towards your assistance to our situation. 

It goes on to say there is $9.5 Mil USD in it for me to help them out...

Then another one metioning $12.5 Mil....

And another saying I just won 1.7 Bil in the lottery 

Do you think I may be on some list? Sheesh!

I'll let you know when I pick up my 1.7 Bil, and I'll shout you all a case of French!


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## disarray (12 March 2008)

you will enjoy Scambaiting. This guy guarantees it ...


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## Gundini (12 March 2008)

disarray said:


> you will enjoy Scambaiting. This guy guarantees it ...




Yeah, good thinking... Become a Spambaiter 

Might fire up a y7 mail address to start foolin' with these jokers.

Not sure I can be bothered, but it might be fun over a couple of beers.

I could be Mr Phil T Rich...


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## cutz (31 December 2009)

Hi guys,

Is it standard practice these days when upgrading a phone with a plan to get your driver licence scanned ?

I didn't think much of it in the shop (guess I was in a hurry to get back to the computer) but I had a think about the implications when i got home, maybe I just gotta move with the times.

Any thoughts ?


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## Putty7 (31 December 2009)

cutz said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Is it standard practice these days when upgrading a phone with a plan to get your driver licence scanned ?
> 
> ...




Last time I changed my plan Telstra photocopied my license, I think it is just part of the identification process to cover their a*se.


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## Smurf1976 (31 December 2009)

cutz said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Is it standard practice these days when upgrading a phone with a plan to get your driver licence scanned ?
> 
> ...



I don't know if it's standard practice for that or not, but the idea of license scanning is increasingly common in general (eg even some pubs and clubs scan license on entry).

Identity theft is certainly an issue and one that I'm concerned about. I burn (literally) any documents that I don't want to keep and which show account details or even just my address. I became pretty careful over this sort of thing after police turned up to arrest a friend over what turned out to be completely false charges for a crime that nobody ever committed.

You can't be too careful with this ID stuff these days. If I was any good at such things, I'd produce a fake one simply to avoid giving out my real details to those who don't have an essential reason to know. Sad it is, but I do increasingly feel a desire to break the law (fake ID) in order to avoid becoming a victim of someone else breaking the law. Hmm...


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## gordon2007 (31 December 2009)

Seriously, I feel no pity for anyone who is stupid enough to fall for these scams. 

When they first came out sure enough I could understand and feel empathy. But these type of scams have been out for years now. Every bank tells their customers to ignore them. 

I don't even feel bad when it happens to a pensioner. If they know how to use a computer, then they should be aware that these things exist. It's almost comical to me when I hear about someone who has been swindled via these tactics. 

These are no different than the african emails about an uncle who died and left heaps of money but they need to transfer it to 'your' account for safe being.


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## prawn_86 (31 December 2009)

Smurf1976 said:


> You can't be too careful with this ID stuff these days. If I was any good at such things, I'd produce a fake one simply to avoid giving out my real details to those who don't have an essential reason to know. Sad it is, but I do increasingly feel a desire to break the law (fake ID) in order to avoid becoming a victim of someone else breaking the law. Hmm...




I know a guy that can make some fairly basic ones. 50/50 if they work in clubs, but would probably fool a Telstra etc employee who isn't actually looking at it in detail


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## cutz (31 December 2009)

Hi Smurf1976,

Is that right, 

A full scan of a driver licence is taken at some clubs, where is the data kept ? 

The thing that concerns me is it's easy to keep a tab on yourself here is oz via veda but to the best of my knowledge veda doesn't pick up accounts that may have been fraudulently set up overseas.


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## Krusty the Klown (31 December 2009)

Yes, I don't really feel comfortable letting just anybody have a copy of my license, particularly a pub. What do they need to keep it for?

Do the pubs and clubs refuse entry if you choose not to give them your license?


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## prawn_86 (31 December 2009)

Krusty the Klown said:


> Do the pubs and clubs refuse entry if you choose not to give them your license?




Yes.

Apparently they are deleted at the end of each night, but essentially the scans are there to help identify people who cause trouble via the CCTV footage.


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## treeman (31 December 2009)

I read a post on whirlpool recently about a guy who signed up for a telstra contract at a telstra shop. One of the workers there then used his ID details to produce a fake copy with his own picture and take a loan out at cash converters. Which would not be hard to do with color printers scanners etc.

I refuse to get my id scanned at clubs pubs for this very reason, if i go to 5 pubs a night on a weekend, that is a average of 20 times my id gets scanned a month - odds keep increasing that somebody could use my id especially with the club/pub scene being so shady these days.

I totally agree with the poster who said they would be inclined to use a fake id.

Why should we all suffer because of a few trouble makers that the owners can't deal with?


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## Julia (31 December 2009)

cutz said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Is it standard practice these days when upgrading a phone with a plan to get your driver licence scanned ?
> 
> ...



I've had my d. licence copied whenever I've taken out a new term deposit at a bank where I'm not a customer and I'm quite comfortable with that.

For me, it depends on who wants to scan the licence.  I would not be having a pub scan it, thanks.




gordon2007 said:


> Seriously, I feel no pity for anyone who is stupid enough to fall for these scams.
> 
> When they first came out sure enough I could understand and feel empathy. But these type of scams have been out for years now. Every bank tells their customers to ignore them.
> 
> ...



Um, what actual scams are you talking about, gordon?   
Cutz was describing what happened when taking out a phone plan.  That's hardly a scam, is it?


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## Krusty the Klown (31 December 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> Yes.
> 
> Apparently they are deleted at the end of each night, but essentially the scans are there to help identify people who cause trouble via the CCTV footage.






treeman said:


> I refuse to get my id scanned at clubs pubs for this very reason, if i go to 5 pubs a night on a weekend, that is a average of 20 times my id gets scanned a month - odds keep increasing that somebody could use my id especially with the club/pub scene being so shady these days.
> 
> I totally agree with the poster who said they would be inclined to use a fake id.
> 
> Why should we all suffer because of a few trouble makers that the owners can't deal with?




Talk about the biggest avenue for identity theft. Most pubs and clubs wouldn't do police checks when hiring their staff - particularly Kings Cross.

Yes I bet no pubs are owned by or linked to the mob/organised crime or anything.......

They get a fresh list of ID's every night.....

Gentlement the opening bid today is $$$$$$$$???????????

You only need to use one.


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## Krusty the Klown (31 December 2009)

Does anyone know if this ID for pubs/clubs thing is a state or national or voluntary thing?

Being NYE I will be able to test out tonight what happens if I refuse!!


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## prawn_86 (31 December 2009)

Krusty the Klown said:


> Does anyone know if this ID for pubs/clubs thing is a state or national or voluntary thing?
> 
> Being NYE I will be able to test out tonight what happens if I refuse!!




I think its a voluntary thing, with the premise being, if people know their IDs have been scanned and they can be easily identified, they wont play up.

The club in adel that does it, if you say no you dont get in, simple. Why would they care, there is always others lining up.


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## gooner (31 December 2009)

prawn_86 said:


> I think its a voluntary thing, with the premise being, if people know their IDs have been scanned and they can be easily identified, they wont play up.
> 
> The club in adel that does it, if you say no you dont get in, simple. Why would they care, there is always others lining up.




Krusty should be OK - most clubs make exceptions for celebrities


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## Airfireman (2 January 2010)

I live in Alice Springs where your license is scanned everytime you go to a bottleshop, no photo ID no booze.....this is because of the drinking problems we have with the indigenious populations,,,no selling of wine cartons until 6pm, 2 lts size only and you can only buy 1,,,and if you buy more than $100 of booze you are asked where you going to drink the product... to begin with you want to say Todd River but the outlet can refuse you service....The other night i went to Coles liquor and it was like zulu dawn outside and inside, standing in the line waiting to be served the checkout guy was saying, no your pissed, nop youve been here before, no your banned, and taking the flaggins off them... getting back to the question though is what happens to your scanned license, the checkout people have no idea,,,,,its linked to all of town and who ever???????


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## cutz (2 January 2010)

Yep it's certainly getting out of hand, licence scanning to buy booze.

I freaked out when I realized my licence was scanned upgrading a phone. 

Handing over a licence to get into a club or pub is wrong considering this is a primary form of ID which opens a lot of doors, I wouldn't do, rather walk away. Scratch a little below the surface and as a previous poster alluded too can the owners of some establishments be trusted with such sensitive data.


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## Krusty the Klown (2 January 2010)

gooner said:


> Krusty should be OK - most clubs make exceptions for celebrities




LOL, yes but you don't know how many places I've been thrown out of and been banned from!! :

Well, I was asked for the ID to be scanned at one establishment, which I refused and was denied entry.

Interestingly, on NYE, there were about 5 pubs in close proximity to where I was, one of which scanned the ID's - it was about half full - on *NEW YEARS EVE.* 

The other four pubs did not scan ID's and were totally packed. What a shock!!!!!!


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## pixel (11 October 2011)

Warning!
This is a new one - at least to me.
Received an email from Westpac - yeah, right!


> Subject: Westpac Bank Survey
> 
> Westpac Bank will add $35.00 AUD credit to  your account just for taking part
> in our quick 5 question  survey.
> Download Survey and complete the form. It`s fast and easy!



I've opened the attached html file with Notepad instead the Browser; and analysed it.
Surprise, surprise: It asks some silly questions about Internet speeds, followed by your name and address, Credit card details - so they can give you the $35, of course - and, for verification purposes, your mother's maiden name and the place you were born.

If it hadn't been sent to an email address of mine that's NOT aligned with Westpac, I might easily have fallen for it. Instead, I forwarded it to online@westpac.com.au


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## Julia (11 October 2011)

Would a bank like Westpac ever offer customers a fee for completing a survey?


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## noco (11 October 2011)

pixel said:


> Warning!
> This is a new one - at least to me.
> Received an email from Westpac - yeah, right!
> I've opened the attached html file with Notepad instead the Browser; and analysed it.
> ...




I had a similar one from the Bank of St. George.


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## noco (11 October 2011)

CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS BEFORE LEAVING THE CHECK-OUT

They do not automatically hand you a receipt anymore if the sale is under $30. you must ask for it 



An associate bought a heap of stuff the other day while on holidaying in Melbourne (over $450), &  when he glanced at his receipt as the cashier was handing him the bags. He saw cash out of $20.
He told her he didn't request any cash and to delete it. She said he'd have to take the $20 because she couldn't delete it. 
He told her to call a supervisor. Supervisor came and said he'd have to take it.. he said  “NO Bloody way!” 
Because taking the $20 would be a “cash advance” against his Credit card and he wasn't paying interest on a cash advance!!!!! 
If they couldn't delete it then they would have to delete the whole order. 
So the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order and re-scan everything! 
The second time he looked at the electronic pad before he pinned in his number and again cash-back of $20 popped. 
At that point he told the cashier and she deleted it. The total then came out right. 
The cashier said that the Electronic Pad must be defective. Obviously the cashier knew the electronic pad was defective because she NEVER offered him any cash after either of the transactions. 
Can you imagine how many people went through before him and by the end of her shift how much money she pocketed?
His wife went into a “Coles Warehouse” last week. She had her items rung up by the cashier. The cashier hurried her along and didn't give her a receipt. She asked the cashier for the receipt and the cashier seemed annoyed but gave it to her.   
She didn't look at her receipt until later that night when back at their Hotel. The receipt showed that she had asked for $20 cash. 

SHE DID NOT ASK FOR ANY CASH, NOR WAS SHE GIVEN IT!
So she called “Coles” who investigated but could not see the cashier pocket the money. 
When back in NZ they then spoke with a friend who works for one of the banks; they told them that this was a “new scam” that was bound to come to NZ, especially around Christmas time. 
The cashier will key in that you asked for cash and then hand it to one of her friends when they next come through the check-out queue.
This is NOT limited to Coles; they are just one of the largest retailers so have the most incidents.
I wonder how many "seniors" have been, or will be, "stung" by this one ?????
To make matters worse ....  THIS SCAM CAN BE DONE ANYWHERE, AT ANY RETAIL OR WHOLESALE LOCATION!!!
IT COULD HAPPEN ANYWHERE. CHECK YOUR RECEIPT BEFORE LEAVING THE CHECK-OUT. ......... CHECK YOUR RECEIPT!!!!!. 
I've since seen people do just that…... SO NOW START!
PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS, KIDS, LOVED ONES - let’s not get ripped off.


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## pixel (11 October 2011)

Julia said:


> Would a bank like Westpac ever offer customers a fee for completing a survey?



 Unlikely, Julia; and I made the point in my fwd to online@westpac.com.au: It's out of character.
What's possible though is this: you find an attachment and open it - because that's the usual way how Westpac send out contract notes. If you do that and see what looks like a genuine Westpac page, you may easily start typing. They don't even ask you to logon.


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## skc (11 October 2011)

noco said:


> CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS BEFORE LEAVING THE CHECK-OUT
> 
> 
> SHE DID NOT ASK FOR ANY CASH, NOR WAS SHE GIVEN IT!
> ...




This is relatively smart but also not likely to last... it seems pretty easy to trace as long as a few customers report unauthorised cash out on the same check out chick...


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## captain black (11 October 2011)

noco said:


> CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS BEFORE LEAVING THE CHECK-OUT




This particular email warning began in the US back in 2004, spread to the UK and is now doing the rounds in Australia. 

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/cash-back-scam-warning.shtml


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## AubreyThompson (11 October 2011)

Krusty the Klown said:


> Yes, I don't really feel comfortable letting just anybody have a copy of my license, particularly a pub. What do they need to keep it for?
> 
> Do the pubs and clubs refuse entry if you choose not to give them your license?




what I do to avoid this, "better pay in cash", they will never ask anything from you if you pay in cash.


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## young-gun (11 October 2011)

Julia said:


> Would a bank like Westpac ever offer customers a fee for completing a survey?




Would any bank give you any amount of money for doing anything other than giving them your hard earned cash into a term deposit?


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## young-gun (11 October 2011)

I have never actually received any fraudulent, scam emails(although i do get A LOT of emails trying to sell me little blue pills). I'm just curious as to how these people get your email address? Do some users mistakenly click on phishing links? or do they enter their email into a lot of subscriptions and things of this nature? surely you would have to give your email out to the wrong person at some point UNLESS these fraudsters are hacking email address - which is probably quite likely. 

I like to think I'm pretty careful and yet i still get a hell of a lot of spam, however 99% of the time this winds up in my junk box.

Just curious is all.


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## bellenuit (11 October 2011)

young-gun said:


> I have never actually received any fraudulent, scam emails(although i do get A LOT of emails trying to sell me little blue pills). I'm just curious as to how these people get your email address? Do some users mistakenly click on phishing links? or do they enter their email into a lot of subscriptions and things of this nature? surely you would have to give your email out to the wrong person at some point UNLESS these fraudsters are hacking email address - which is probably quite likely.
> 
> I like to think I'm pretty careful and yet i still get a hell of a lot of spam, however 99% of the time this winds up in my junk box.
> 
> Just curious is all.




I tend to be fairly choosy in who I give my email addresses to.  I have a rubbish email address that I use for most websites that insist on an email address or for promotional offers that I know are going to be followed up by regular spam. I have another email address that I use just for financial sites and never use anywhere else. I also have a third email address for friends and family. Although I try to keep access to the latter limited, I have a few (dumb) friends who constantly respond to the frequent "alert emails" that warn of a virus and at the end ask you to forward the note to "EVERYONE YOU KNOW". I'm sure that these alerts are one of the means the spammers harvest addresses. If your friend has included you on the address list of one of these and forwards it on to you and the others, then there is the potential when one of the others likewise forwards the email on for your email address to be now in hundreds of emails of people you do not know.

Another trick is a machine that generates millions of email address (almost 99% invalid) and sends some email or other to all these people. Invalid email addresses will get a response from the server saying the address is invalid, so they can then exclude these. Of the others, they know they are probably valid but are not sure if they are actively used. Should anyone of these recipients respond to the email, perhaps simply to ask to be taken off the email list, then they know that those are both valid and active email addresses.


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## awg (11 October 2011)

Yes. I have 5 email accounts like the previous poster, to identify and filter spam.

Yes. I have recieved a bank survey questionaire..(mine was only $5 for Rabo)

I take other precautions, and have not had any trouble.

Until I signed with Apple Itunes. 

My account was instantly hacked and my credit card defrauded.

I had to cancel the card.

This fraud is very commonplace, but no-one will tell you anything


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## pixel (11 October 2011)

young-gun said:


> I'm just curious as to how these people get your email address? Do some users mistakenly click on phishing links? or do they enter their email into a lot of subscriptions and things of this nature?
> Just curious is all.



 Have you ever received one of these funny/ funky/ smoochy/ pious emails that urge you to forward them to your friends?
Many forward them with previous distribution lists still inside. Even if you delete them, the person that sent one to you did so openly to all their contacts. It only takes one to do as told...
In some cases - e.g. collections of signatures in support of some worthy cause - you even have to place your name and email at the bottom of a long list that is then sent to Ban Ki Moon. 
Well - imagine the return address is given as bankimoon@yahoo.com - and Bingo!

It will disappoint a few people, who champion what's in their opinion "worthy causes" and keep including me in their distribution lists to fight Logging, to save the Whales, or to make a sick boy's last days bright by getting him into Guinness records for the most emails received. But those well-meaning fools aid and abet the spam artists by providing them with ever more live targets.


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## sails (11 October 2011)

This one is not even subtle - although I can imagine curiosity might get the better of some:

But then now I am surprised.  I copied and pasted the email contents and what I have coloured in blue below did not show up in the email - any techies know how that works...

(And I removed the link and replaced it with Xs)



> Payment Notification #89630705
> The ACH transaction (ID:89630705 ), recently initiated from your checking account (by you or any other person), was canceled by the other financial institution.
> Rejected transaction
> Transaction ID: 89630705
> ...


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## So_Cynical (11 October 2011)

young-gun said:


> I have never actually received any fraudulent, scam emails(although i do get A LOT of emails trying to sell me little blue pills). I'm just curious as to how these people get your email address? Do some users mistakenly click on phishing links? or do they enter their email into a lot of subscriptions and things of this nature? surely you would have to give your email out to the wrong person at some point UNLESS these fraudsters are hacking email address - which is probably quite likely.
> 
> I like to think I'm pretty careful and yet i still get a hell of a lot of spam, however 99% of the time this winds up in my junk box.
> 
> Just curious is all.




My 5 year old email address was on a list of email addresses published on several hacker sites..was stolen along with 36000 other addresses and password hashes from a Forex service providers site that was hacked about 3 months ago.

Within days i went from maybe 1 scam email per week to about 8 a day.


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## pixel (11 October 2011)

sails said:


> This one is not even subtle - although I can imagine curiosity might get the better of some:
> 
> But then now I am surprised.  I copied and pasted the email contents and what I have coloured in blue below did not show up in the email - any techies know how that works...
> 
> (And I removed the link and replaced it with Xs)



 Analysing an email is quite easy:
In your email program (e.g. Outlook, Outlook Express, or LiveMail) right-click on the header and select "Properties"; click on the "Details" tab and then the "Message source". As a result, you will see the text in a Notepad window.
If it's formatted as html, pay special attention to the links, return addresses, especially where the contents of commands and visible text differ. 
The text may for example claim to link to http://anz.com.au... but the <a> command may link to the href="http://www.myredirection.com".

Hidden text like the one your example showed in blue is often the result of a cut/paste job, where the fraudster adapts a "template" for his own purpose; there are scores of websites and "User Groups" that share these tools. Some use tags just like grafitti vandals do; or it may simply be laziness, where the layout was ripped out from a website script without bothering to remove the underlying text.


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## sails (11 October 2011)

Thanks Pixel...

Yes, I had a look at the message source and it was formatted as html  The text which I coloured blue and hidden in the actual email was printed twice in the message source.  

It often amazes me how these people get our emails that are given to trusted sources.


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## Garpal Gumnut (12 October 2011)

Is Tysonboss' nanny in a slot yet for being internet scammed?


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## pixel (6 January 2016)

hmm Our Tax Office seems to be outsourcing reminder services to Brazil. 
I did my BAS reporting yesterday via the "secure" Business Portal into ATO; using AUSkey, no emails.
Surprised to receive an email this morning, advising that my payment had been delayed by 7 days, and I was required to pay in 48 hours "to avoid aditional (sic!) costs" - "Please click attachment" to see details. *yeah - rright!*
Even more surprisingly, the sender's address ends in *.com.br - it's in Brazil! * 

Oh, and another thing: this time I don't have to pay a cent, but am about to receive a GST refund..
I have forwarded the whole thing to ReportEmailFraud@ato.gov.au
They'll be happy to deal with it, I'm sure. Helps beat the New Year's boredom


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