They DO NOT Have Your Password

That Password They Have is Most Likely an Old One;
They STILL Are NOT Watching You Through Your Webcam

Not too long ago, we discussed the latest e-mail scam, in which they claim to be recording you through your webcam.  Well, the scammers have upped their threats, and you may be the recipient of multiple e-mails threatening to release illicit videos if you do not pay a ransom.  And these latest e-mails have a twist: they include your password! But not to worry; they are NOT legit.

When you see the password they include, you will most likely panic, as you will recognize the password as one you have used.  But most likely, it is not a current password. In my case, the e-mail included one of the earliest passwords I used on the Internet, and one I haven't used much in over a decade.

No Microsoft Refunds, No Camera Hacks: New Scams

The Latest Attempts to Scam You
By Email and by Phone

Microsoft Has NOT Been Ordered to Issue Refunds, No One Has Hacked Your Webcam, and No One is Coming to Arrest You

It has been a while since we've looked at e-mail you should just ignore and voice mail phishing attempts.  A couple of new attempts to separate you from your money have cropped up lately, all involving scare tactics designed to make you act without thinking.  First comes a junk call scam, telling you you're owed a rebate, next comes an e-mail that reports someone is spying on you, and last comes an arrest threat based on a non-existent debt.  Keep reading to find out the details of each, so you'll recognize them and not panic should they come your way.

E-Mail Deactivation Scams

No, Your E-Mail Account Is NOT About to be Closed

Account Closure E-Mails are Another Form of Phishing

 

Account Deactivation E-Mails

Have you received an e-mail stating your ISP is going to deactivate your e-mail account? Did you panic?  Well, you can relax, as these "Account Closure" e-mails are just another form of phishing, and they can safely be junked.

To review, phishing is a form of spam. in which the bad guys try to steal your personal information by impersonating someone trustworthy.  We've talked about phishing many times in the past.  The Bad Guys use sophisticated tactics to try to separate you from your personal information, often so they can impersonate you and/or steal your identity.  E-mails threatening to close your e-mail account if you do not click on a link are no different.

Our Top Post of 2017

Happy New Year from Techlaurels!

As the year 2017 draws to a close, TechLaurels would like to thank all of our readers for taking this journey with us.  Despite the fact we have been publishing for less than a year, our readership continues to grow, and new readers continue to find us every day.

This year, we've learned about Smart Homes, privacy issues, security scams, Alexa, gadgets, software, quick tips, how-tos, and a lot more.  We will continue to explore all of these topics in 2018, as well as anything our readers want us to explore.

Today, to celebrate the end of the year, TechLaurels is reprinting our most popular post of 2017, a quick tip on how to protect your e-mail address.  No, leaving a space in your e-mail address is no longer enough to protect it from harvesting.

If you have anything you'd like to see TechLaurels cover in 2018, please let us know in the comments, on Facebook (facebook.com/techlaurels), or on Twitter (twitter.com/techlaurels). We hope you'll continue to join us throughout 2018.

Delivery Notification Scams

Holiday Shopping Season Brings Out
the Delivery Notification Scammers

Do NOT Get Phished by a Bogus Delivery Notice

Black Friday and Cyber Monday set online ordering records this year.  US shoppers spent over $1.59 billion on Cyber Monday alone. Millions of online orders were placed during the past week. And of course, that means millions of packages will be delivered by UPS, USPS, and FedEx. That also means these companies will be sending out millions of delivery notification e-mails.  But does that mean all of these delivery notices are legit? Of course not. 

The scammers do not discriminate. They pretend to be from UPS, The Us Postal Service (USPS), FedEx, and even DHL.  They may claim to need more information from you in order to deliver a package, or they may claim to hold tracking information.  They may claim there is postage due, and you need to click on a link to arrange payment. They may use official looking graphics, or they may be sent in plain text.  And they may or may not be caught by a junk mail filter.

These scams are so ubiquitous that FedEx, USPS, UPS, and even DHL warn against them on their own websites.   UPS offers an 83 page PDF with examples of fraudulent e-mails.  Today, we're going to look at some of these bogus e-mails, so we can learn what to look out for and avoid getting scammed.

Avoid Phishing: Learn to Spot Sham Domains

Phishing Attacks Depend on Sham URLs;
Understanding the Parts of a URL Can Help You Avoid Phishing Attacks

To reiterate, phishing is an attempt to gain someone's personal data by pretending to be someone reputable. Phishing attacks are often carried out via e-mail or social media postings.  These attacks depend on registering domain names CLOSE to those of the real company or person, or by "spoofing" a familiar contact.  Learning to spot sham domain names and e-mail address is key, so you can avoid falling victim to phishing.

Today's article is going to review the parts of a domain name, as well as it's construction.  Then, we have a quiz on domain names: Is the URL Legitimate? If you can learn to spot a sham URL, you will be able to avoid most e-mail phishing attacks. And if you haven't read them yet, our previous articles on phishing can be found at http://techlaurels.blogspot.com/search/label/phishing.

Mail that Should NOT Be Opened

Not All E-Mail Should Be Opened

Avoid Malware by Avoiding Malicious E-Mail

The longer you have had an e-mail address, the more probability you'll receive spam. If you read any of our series on The Privacy Implications of Internet Quizzes, you know that there are many unscrupulous folks out there, eager to harvest your information. Facebook like scams, phony giveaways, and the like are all set up with the express purpose of harvesting your e-mail address. Once harvested, those addresses are often sold. That results in spam.

By definition, Spam means unsolicited commercial e-mail. It is usually sent to a large number of recipients.  It has come to connote scams and shams. It is actually illegal. The US passed the CAN-SPAM Act in 2003, regulating commercial e-mail. But the Bad Guys are not known for following the laws.  Legitimate companies always include opt-out information in order to comply with the law. Spammers use it to their advantage, often including links that look like legitimate opt-out links, but that only lead to malicious content. Additionally, unsubscribing from a SPAM e-mail only confirms to the bad guy that you read your e-mails, making your address even more valuable.


Now much spam is actually harmless. By harmless, I mean it's just attempting to sell you something. That something is probably counterfeit, if it even exists to begin with. More spam actually tries to cause harm to you or your equipment. That spam is not as harmless. It may plant malware on your computer. It may try to steal your credentials, so the crooks can steal your money and/or pose as you and ruin your reputation.

Today's post is going to focus on e-mail you should not open. ALL of this mail landed in my inbox within the last week. Some of these were correctly filtered by my spam filter; others landed in my inbox, and I had to manually mark them as junk. All e-mails have been converted to screenshots, due to their malicious content. (Remember, you can click on the images to open them larger, in an "overlay.")

IRS Scams: Don't Get Phished!

Tax Day Brings Out the Scammers Every Year!

Be Vigilant! Do Not Fall for an IRS Hoax

Happy Tax Day!  Tax Time always seems to bring out the Scammers.  They inundate unsuspecting victims with e-mails, claiming to be from the IRS, in an attempt to steal your money, your identity, or both.  Most entice you to open an attachment or click on a link.  Doing either will only fill your system with malware.

Quick Tip: Protect Your E-mail Address

Make YOUR E-Mail Address Harder to Harvest

You probably know that your e-mail address is worth something.  Nefarious types LOVE to harvest your e-mail address and sell it.  Next thing you know, you're getting more canned meat than you are legit communications.  You start to wonder what you did to bring this on.

Ever notice how I type my e-mail address in this blog?  techlaurels [at] gmail [dot] com.  I don't do that to make it harder for you all.  I do that SPECIFICALLY to make it harder to harvest.

Bots are trained to look for patterns.  The first thing they look for is word@word.tld.  (TLD stands for Top Level Domain.  Dot com is the most well known TLD.  .net, .biz. and .org are other popular TLDs.)  Of course, webmasters have been trying to fool scammers since the web began.  It used to be enough to just exclude the @ sign.  But now, the bots are sophisticated enough to harvest the domain name, as well as the characters that come before.  Now, it is best to exclude both the @ sign and .com.