The Desert Computer Tutor

AOL Phishing Scam

Written by

Mardi Lynn

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AOL Phishing Scam

One of my clients sent this to me yesterday. It’s a Phishing scam, just as she suspected. Good job Harriett!

AOL HELP.

Your two incoming mails were placed on pending status due to the recent upgrade to our database,In order to receive the messages Click Here

 to Login and wait for response from  AOL Mail

.We apologies for any inconveniences 

Best Regards,

The AOL! Mail Team
I was suspicious because of the reference to holding back only two emails.  A big company like AOL doesn’t have time to notify people of small stuff like this.  (Most of the time, companies don’t even notify us of big changes!  LOL )  Mail held up by a “data base upgrade” would most likely just come through later, after the upgrade was completed.

Of course, being the intrepid, curious researcher that I am, I just had to click on the link to see what would happen.  This is what showed up…

URL Terminated  

The TinyURL (p95eoub) you visited was used by its creator in violation of our terms of use. TinyURL has a strict no abuse policy and we apologize for the intrusion this user has caused you. Such violations of our terms of use include:

  • Spam – Unsolicited Bulk E-mail
  • Fraud or Money Making scams
  • Malware
  • or any other use that is illegal.

If you received spam, please note that TinyURL did not send this spam and we do not operate any email lists. We can not remove you from spammer’s database as we have no association with spammers, but instead we recommend you use spam filtering software.

This confirmed my suspicions.  I let Harriet know and thanked her for letting me know.

You are always welcome to email me when you have a concern like this. My mission is to make your computing experience more enjoyable and to help others as well.

Please forward this to everyone you know so they can be safe and feel relaxed, happy and confident with their computers and techie gadgets.

Thoughts or comments about this topic?
Please comment below.

Thanks!

Comments

4 responses to “AOL Phishing Scam”

  1. Mardi Boettcher Avatar
    Mardi Boettcher

    Comment from Mahara…
    Reall unbelievable,
    What is happening.Are things getting worse or is this par for the course?
    Thank You,
    I will suspect any type of out of the ordinary e-mails.

    My Reply:
    I think it’s par for the course…there is just more awareness of it now so we can protect ourselves.
    People are getting more educated about using technology. Just like driving a car, you have to have insurance and drive defensively. No big deal. Just a matter of education and being conscious.
    Have a great day,
    Mardi

    Like

    Reply
  2. Mardi Boettcher Avatar
    Mardi Boettcher

    Comment from Dee:
    Hi Mardi…I wanted to alert you to what I think is another scam…I have received three calls from “Charlie at Microsoft” calling to tell me something about my acct…I can hear what sounds like a call center in the background and “Charlie” has a very thick accent. I told him to get lost …but just wondering if you have heard about this from anyone else. I’ll just bet it’s another scam. Thx. Dee

    My Reply:
    Hi Dee, great to hear from you!
    Yes! It’s one of the worst out there and some of my clients have gotten taken in. I mentioned it once in techie tips. Maybe I should do it again.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Like

    Reply
  3. Mardi Boettcher Avatar
    Mardi Boettcher

    From Dixie…
    Thanks Mardi, I’ve printed this out and will tell friends. Thanks too for all your help yesterday. Gratefully, Dixie

    My Reply….
    I’m grateful to have you too. It’s always fun working with you.

    Like

    Reply
  4. Mardi Boettcher Avatar
    Mardi Boettcher

    Comment from Nancy:
    I have been buying ink and toner from 1Ink.com for several years – they are cheap and I have no problems with them.
    Lately I have been getting email from 1inkcom – different company.

    Easy to think it is 1Ink.com (which is what they want you to do.) Just to let you know in case you get the look alike emails too.

    Love Ya,
    Nancy

    My Reply:
    Thanks for sharing that Nancy. That is truly a tricky one. Good for you for catching it!

    Like

    Reply

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