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02-09-2015, 07:14 PM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,140
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Phishing emails
Someone I know got an interesting phishing email today from the "IRS" announcing that they had a new IP PIN to use for e-filing their 2014 return. File attached.
Subject: Your 2014 electronic IP PIN!
Quote:
Dear member
This is to inform you that our system has generated your new secure electronic PIN to e-File your 2014 tax return.
Please kindly download the Microsoft file to securely review it.
Thanks
Internal Revenue Service
<address given>
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From http://www.irs.gov/uac/Report-Phishing
Quote:
The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.
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It's worth reviewing the IRS website because it also discusses phone scams.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
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02-09-2015, 07:20 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 6,506
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Pretty slick. Bet many will get suckered.
__________________
There must be moderation in everything, including moderation.
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02-09-2015, 07:23 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: East Nowhere, 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 9,037
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TY for the info.
I showed Mr B, who is constantly communicating with the IRS by email, for himself as well as his tax clients.
__________________
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
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02-09-2015, 07:38 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,901
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"Dear member" and "download the Microsoft file" stand out as awkward phrases the IRS would not use.
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02-09-2015, 08:05 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GrayHare
"Dear member" and "download the Microsoft file" stand out as awkward phrases the IRS would not use.
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Easily corrected by a more sophisticated phisher
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
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02-09-2015, 08:19 PM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,901
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1
Easily corrected by a more sophisticated phisher
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Fortunately the phishers are rarely smart enough. "Dear IRS Customer" and "download the computerized file" will also stand out.
OTOH, phishers likely prefer less sophisticated victims, ones who do not notice odd phrasing, and are presumably less likely to notice odd financial activity.
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02-09-2015, 08:46 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,994
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Thanks for the heads up Audrey1. Have passed it on.
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02-09-2015, 08:48 PM
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#8
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,124
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Thanks Audrey.
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Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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02-10-2015, 10:10 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,140
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Yes, often phishing emails are poorly worded, have obvious grammatical, spelling, syntax, or capitalization errors. But they can be clean to. You can't count on "obvious" phoniness to catch it.
This example is from Krebs on Security.
Phishers Pounce on Anthem Breach
Someone following the news may know that neither credit card info nor health data was accessed, but how many folks have paid attention or will even remember?
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Retired since summer 1999.
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02-10-2015, 10:33 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,140
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Never mind ( but still....)
Quote:
Update, Feb. 9, 6:15 p.m. ET: In a somewhat farcical turn of events, it appears that the image above is actually from a phishing education campaign created by a company that helps firms impress upon their employees the importance of cybersecurity. The image above, when clicked, brings users to this page, which warns visitors they’ve clicked on a link design to test awareness. That page is run by Knowbe4, whose CEO Stu Sjouwerman said in response to an inquiry that the image was likely forwarded to Anthem by a cautious employee of one of Knowbe4’s customers who received the phishing test but did not click the link. Full disclosure: Knowbe4 is an advertiser on this blog.
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__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
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02-11-2015, 08:08 AM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,019
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Phishers deliberately make their attempts pretty transparent to immediately weed out all but the most vulnerable; most are more transparent than even the IRS scam from the OP. For scams like the Anthem, I instinctively hover over the URL in the hotlink, and it's immediately obvious that something is phishy.
While were on the topic, has anyone else been getting semi-regular phone calls regarding winning $25,000 in a drawing? I'm kind of wondering what happens to those who follow up (and maybe somebody here has just for fun). I'm guessing the scammer asks for a bank account in which to deposit the winnings.
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02-11-2015, 08:36 AM
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#12
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 252
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