Vocal Voices

Although this is at present in Lancashire, it is as well to be aware because these things spread quickly.

Trading Standards officers in Lancashire are warning about a new scam in which criminals are using emails containing malicious software to get hold of personal and financial information.

The emails appear to be genuine and claim to be connected with recent purchases made by the recipient. They invite the recipient to open an attachment which they falsely claim contains more details on the items they have bought.

Examples of the scam reported to the county’s trading standards service involve using ‘sender’ email addresses that appear legitimate and contain summary information about an alleged recent purchase. “These emails are designed to play on people’s curiosity and to get them to download the attachment, said Coun Janice Hanson, Lancashire’s cabinet member for public protection.

Thanks Rodo, its good to be warned.

The golden rule is this: if you are not sure leave well alone and delete.

Say, for instance, the e-mail looks to have come from Amazon ,eBay, a bank; and you think that you might have done business with them recently do not click on the link go directly to the site either by typing the address in the address bar or using a known good bookmark/favorites link.

Yes.........good advice that.

Well, would you believe it?

I have received an e-mail from service @paypal.

It tells me that my card is due to expire - it is. It gives me a link and a button to update my card..... and it all looks kosher.

It probably is correct as my card is due to run out, but guess what? I am not going to use any of the links I am going direct and in my own time.

OK it takes longer, but at least I know that I will be safe.

You can't be too careful. I am going to have to be very careful. It is the usual thing nowadays, when you have bought something on line and it has been delivered, to get an email asking you to complete a review. I am so used to this and it is so easy to just do something they ask without thinking about it.

I blame iPads and Android tablets and the like who try to "help" users by hiding the true email address of the sander.

For instance I received a mail which looked extremely genuine supposedly from PayPal telling me that my account was suspended until I logged in and verified my details.

the email address, which I could see as I used a PC to read it, was service@intl.paypal.global

There is no paypal.global domain. But even I would be hard put to tell the difference on an iPad.

Then only good practise can save you. Unless it is a password reset mail you requested in the last half hour and are expecting, you never, ever, ever click on a link sent you to in an email for security accounts. You close the mail and log into the service from your usual means. As I did with PayPal and determined that the mail was fake.