Hotmail account scam, don't reply.

I had received an email the other day asking me to validate my account due to inactivity. This wasn't unusual for me because I don't really check my hotmail account anymore. I have been asked to validate it many times before and this email looked just like their regular validation emails so I filled it out. This time I was actually slightly annoyed at it and even doubted it but I did it anyway because I still use my hotmail for certain accounts and didn't want it to get deleted. Well this one was a scam! The only reason I figured it is out is because I have my aol account as a contact for things like this I got an email last night from myself on my hotmail account. I knew I hadn't sent myself an email so I knew something was immediately wrong. I opened it even though I thought of not opening it and it was an email saying I was in England at a seminar and lost my wallet and needed $1800 dollars. I laughed at first because anyone who receives that email will know that isn't me asking.

Here is what the email said

Hello,
How are you doing? hope all is well, I"m sorry that i didn't inform you about my traveling to England for a Seminar.I need a favor from you as soon as you receive this e-mail because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money is and other valuable things were kept, i will like you to assist me with a loan urgently. I will be needing the sum of $1,800 to sort-out my hotel bills and get myself back home.I will appreciate whatever you can afford to help me with, i'll pay you back as soon as i return. Kindly let me know if you can be of help? so that i can send you the details.
Your reply will be greatly appreciated

Source is me

I have since filled out a huge form giving any info I can think of to prove it's mine. Good thing I use it with my other account because I can give exact details on many things in the folders. They did ask me about folders and the topics and content. It should be resolved today but it's a pain.. I can't even access the account. This really freaks me out because I have personal information in that account. Even when I can get back in it, how do I know they didn't copy everything? This really disturbs me. I already have someone using my name in Texas and I don't need anymore problems like that.

WHY do people do this stuff? They need to get a life. I swear I want to hunt this person down and beat them.

I'll laugh if anyone who reads that actually buys it! "I need a loan..." haha!

Honestly, I'd be interested to find out how much these spamming morons actually get in terms of money from pathetic attempts like these.

AH .



I see this is what you were talking about with us .

Many thanks for the heads up and i will be vigilant about this subject in the future .

SnF because i think people should be aware of this .

Hopefully you sorted it out .


Mega

I seldom use my hotmail account, I will check it today. I have no idea why people do this - there are vunerable folks out there that just might fall for this and send them money - I hope not. Hope you get it all straightened out soon and many thanks for letting us know.

This is why you should go to the site involved directly, rather than on any links in the email, as what's written as the website can be wildly different to the actual website it's linked to. You can generally tell by hovering your mouse over the link and seeing if they match or not.

Nine times out of ten if you get an email saying "Please verify your account or we'll delete/ban it." it's a Phishing scam. Thankfully it looks like you'll be getting your account back and hopefully they didn't copy any information.

The common one I see with Hotmail (sadly from a few friends that don't have any virus protection) is one that's set up as a script that logs the account in Windows Live Messenger and says something along the lines of "Hey I found a photo of you, please click this link." and sends that message to any one of your friends online. Even if only one or two people click the link and get infected, you multiply that for each person who's details they now have and it's a pain.

I would highly recommend an upto date Antivirus for anyone plus upto date Antimalware software. If using Windows then make sure you've got the latest updates and I would recommend against using Internet Explorer. That and try to avoid dodgy sites and peer to peer programs.

- Phoenix

Originally posted by phoenix_zephyr
This is why you should go to the site involved directly, rather than on any links in the email, as what's written as the website can be wildly different to the actual website it's linked to. You can generally tell by hovering your mouse over the link and seeing if they match or not.

I didn't know about this before. I don't know all that about how the internet and email works. I have also received the same emails over the years and never had a problem. This time it was different and was a scam. They copied hotmails email exactly.

Nine times out of ten if you get an email saying "Please verify your account or we'll delete/ban it." it's a Phishing scam. Thankfully it looks like you'll be getting your account back and hopefully they didn't copy any information.

If this were any other account I wouldn't even have done but since it wasn't anything unusual for me to get I didn't really think anything of it. Yeah I gave them quite a bit of info to prove it's mine. I have already changed many other accounts. This has been an all morning thing! I can't stand people who do stuff like this.

The common one I see with Hotmail (sadly from a few friends that don't have any virus protection) is one that's set up as a script that logs the account in Windows Live Messenger and says something along the lines of "Hey I found a photo of you, please click this link." and sends that message to any one of your friends online. Even if only one or two people click the link and get infected, you multiply that for each person who's details they now have and it's a pain.

Oh wow! Yeah I never open stuff like that. I had some scams on FB chat a few times. I was getting chat messages from people asking me to check out site I KNEW they would never ask me to check out. I know many people who would click and would think nothing of it. It's probably a virus or something not good anyway. If I am unsure I contact that person personally and ask via the phone. I don't usually open anything I don't know who it's from. I know many people don't know what to look for and will open anything. I just wanted to let other users with hotmail know about this. I was sent to a secret forum via hotmail admin where it seems it just started happening in the last two days. I saw many other complaints about this particular email scam and people not being able to log in. Hopefully it helps some one else.

I would highly recommend an upto date Antivirus for anyone plus upto date Antimalware software. If using Windows then make sure you've got the latest updates and I would recommend against using Internet Explorer. That and try to avoid dodgy sites and peer to peer programs.

I dont use IE and I don't use anything like Limewire, I am very picky about what I download. If a site asks me to download something so I can view it I won't.

Thanks for your reply.

This may come off very insensitive but if anyone, even for a nano-second, doesn't realize an email like that is a sham then, I believe they need to get scammed in order to learn the universal-cyber lesson.

It's one thing that there are crooks, thieves, liars, cheats and killers out there. Why there are those walking around in human-form like that remains a mystery to me. Perhaps a birth defect.
But to have someone that naive, in the year 2010, sitting at their computer, who would consider this is remotely legit, makes no sense to me.

Lesson one: Don't take candy from strangers.
Lesson two: Don't meet someone in a dark alley
Lesson three: Don't believe your government
Lesson four: Don't give out personal information to strangers on the internet.

reply to post by Human_Alien


If she said that she has filled out the information in the past with the same kind of form, how exactly is she supposed to know it's a scam? She said herself, she had to fill it out in the past to keep the hotmail account active, so why would she suspect anything is going to be any different from this form? These phishing things are exact duplicates...

I know, I know, don't fill out personal stuff, blah, blah, blah... How is she supposed to open any accounts then without the info required to activate it? IMO your statement is silly, and for the most part common sense, but hindsight is 20/20 right?

England eh? Perhaps it is a gremlin that is actually doing this and they are bothering your friends just for fun.

The rise in technological use would make me think that these critters are getting better at what they are doing and can cause more damage. Now that airplanes are mostly electronic in how they work internally it wouldn't take a genius to figure out how to hack into an email account with enough practise of how electronic communication works.

I'd recommend using petri salt in a circle around you with Asian lime juice poured over it. Then you should meditate and try to find your inner demons.

Only this will set you free from the purge of the gremlins.

-m0r

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
I didn't know about this before. I don't know all that about how the internet and email works. I have also received the same emails over the years and never had a problem. This time it was different and was a scam. They copied hotmails email exactly.

Exactly and I've seen some very good copies. It's takes time to get to grips with things computer/internet wise, you don't instantly know everything there is to know about, that comes with experience.

I can't stand people who do stuff like this.

Nor can I but it happens and you're hopefully better armed to deal with this sort of thing in future

Oh wow! Yeah I never open stuff like that.

I know many people don't know what to look for and will open anything. I just wanted to let other users with hotmail know about this. I was sent to a secret forum via hotmail admin where it seems it just started happening in the last two days. I saw many other complaints about this particular email scam and people not being able to log in. Hopefully it helps some one else.

Exactly, a lot of people don't know what to look out for because they generally don't go into that much depth. You check your emails, you go to your various websites and you assume that you're safe, that your Antivirus is doing it's job. Sadly it's never that easy, even with an up to date Antivirus you can still get infected, your Antivirus is only as good as the most recent virus or trojan that has been discovered, it takes time to come up with a way to fight the infection/immunise against it. It's like our immune system in that respect.

I dont use IE and I don't use anything like Limewire, I am very picky about what I download. If a site asks me to download something so I can view it I won't.

Thanks for your reply.

Not a problem, part of my job is working in a PC Clinic so I like to help where I can

- Phoenix

reply to post by phoenix_zephyr


Thanks

Yeah I try and keep track of various things. I usually always catch things before they get like this but since I am always having to validate that account due to inactivity I just validate it.

Here was the email I got. It looked like others I have received from hotmail admin. How am I suppose to know it's a scam? Sure there is a capitalization error but honestly I see many errors in professional emails which bothers me to an extent

Dear Account Owner


This Email is from Hotmail Customer Care and we are sending it to every Hotmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of Hotmail accounts so we are shutting down some Hotmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account.

Confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 48 hours for security reasons.

* User Name: .............................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ..............................
* Country Or Territory: ................

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Sincerely,
The Windows Live Hotmail Team

Hotmail is part of Windows Live.
* This assumes a reasonable growth rate.
Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our online Privacy Statement.
For more information or for general questions regarding your e-mail account, please visit Windows Live Hotmail Help.Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA © 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Source is my account.

I was told by my friend to check the address in the box but how does one know what to look for? Now I am skeptical of emails from my school or other companies I get constant validation emails from. My school at least I can call them but other sites I can't. I had to have my ATS and various other sites all reset through admin. It has taken me all morning to get all my various accounts corrected. My hotmail has been reset and I am able to access it now.

Originally posted by m0r1arty
England eh? Perhaps it is a gremlin that is actually doing this and they are bothering your friends just for fun.

The rise in technological use would make me think that these critters are getting better at what they are doing and can cause more damage. Now that airplanes are mostly electronic in how they work internally it wouldn't take a genius to figure out how to hack into an email account with enough practise of how electronic communication works.

I'd recommend using petri salt in a circle around you with Asian lime juice poured over it. Then you should meditate and try to find your inner demons.

Only this will set you free from the purge of the gremlins.

-m0r

Thanks for the reply I don't believe gremlins are sabotaging my email account. I think it's some lonely idiot who is preying on the weak and guliable.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I'm sorry but you have to supple proof that it is not some gremlin sabotaging your email account.

There is nothing to say that it is not!

Gremlins are a paranormal being that the powers that be don't want you to talk about and you are merely conforming to their pressure by not doing so.

Set yourself free!!

-m0r

Originally posted by m0r1arty
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

I'm sorry but you have to supple proof that it is not some gremlin sabotaging your email account.

There is nothing to say that it is not!

Gremlins are a paranormal being that the powers that be don't want you to talk about and you are merely conforming to their pressure by not doing so.

Set yourself free!!

-m0r

Um sorry but I don't believe every sabotage is related to the paranormal and believe me I believe in paranormal beings. If I were the only one affected then sure possibly but very slim possibility, this affected many other hotmail users.

I am not conforming to anyone thank you.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Okay!

But maybe you are being picked on.

Gremlins are mischievous and are known to be as problematic as possible without being caught or seen by anyone.

It's a lot more likely than you giving away your info during one of these many reports to be filled in which then followed up with an identical one to make sure you are who you said you are.

I don't know about you but I am always honest on the internet so that no-one can steal my identity.

Only a fool wouldn't be!!

-m0r

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Watch out, Mblah - m0riarty sounds like he just may be that gremlin hiding in plain sight...

Haha right on!

Same damn thing just happened to mine.

I didn't even think about those verification prompts.

I think it came into my account after I clicked on an email from one of my older contacts from school that I have rarely talked to, but for some reason I just thought they might have wanted to strike up a conversation or something...

Epic fail... it was a viagra ad - again.

Hotmail blows now, but I have had it for so long it is almost sad.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
How am I suppose to know it's a scam?

* User Name: .............................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ..............................
* Country Or Territory: ................

How are you supposed to know?

THAT. No website worth it's salt will ask you IN EMAIL for your password. It's just not done. If at any time you are asked for your password it will be from the Actual Website when you're logging in, and you will be able to tell from the URL whether it's valid or not.

If anyone gets an Email from any website asking you in Email to reply with your password, Ignore it. Go to the main website manually and log in. Don't follow any links in the Email.

It's all over the internet and has been for years, who can you be unaware of that one rule?

Hotmail Security

How to tell it’s a scam?
· It asks for your personal information. No legitimate company, especially Microsoft, will ever ask you to provide you username, password, date of birth and/or country, credit card information, etc via email.

Yep, this.... learn it, internalize it, never forget it.

It's all over the internet and has been for years, who can you be unaware of that one rule?

Hotmail Security

How to tell it’s a scam?
· It asks for your personal information. No legitimate company, especially Microsoft, will ever ask you to provide you username, password, date of birth and/or country, credit card information, etc via email.

Sorry about the issues MB, but live and learn and don't forget. Next time it could be your bank or credit accounts...

Sorry to hear this happened! These scammers get better and better at what they do as time goes by.

A family friend I know recently settled on eBay outside of the site. He decided he was going to take his £2000 laptop off the auction upon request from another user. Then he sent the computer off to an address in Africa before receiving payment. He was assured by the contact the payment was under way before he sent it.

So don't worry it could be a lot worse!

Apparently folks do this kind of stuff on Xbox live too nowadays. They hack your live account after inviting you to play a 1V1 match. Then raid your credits!