What a REAL Inquiry Looks Like

Buona sera. I've been showing you scams and such to give you a warning, and to expose the losers that are doing it. Now I've decided to show you what a real one looks like.

Naturally, I'll delete all of the pertinent information. My changes will be in red, the rest will be what the company sent me. In this case, I got an e-mail from one of those that gets impersonated quite a bit, eBay. Remember, this is a real letter.


Hello **My Name** (Valid account name),------------------------------------------------------------------------------------eBay sent this message to **My Name** (Valid account name).  Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more: http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/name-userid-emails.html---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is a courtesy reminder that the following credit/debit card on file for your eBay account will soon expire:EBay Account ID:  #####Card:  MSC XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-#### [Yes, they did give the real four digits]Expiration Date:  [Real date]Date Reminder Issued:  032410In order to receive uninterrupted service, please update this information.To update your credit/debit card information:1. Go to the eBay Home page.2. Click My eBay at the top of the page, and sign in with your eBay User ID and password.3. Click the "Seller Account" link (beneath My Account in the left navigation menu).4. Follow the instructions for updating your payment method.  Thank you for using eBay.Regards,eBay, Inc.  Learn More to protect yourself from spoof (fake) emails at:http://pages.ebay.com/education/spooftutorial [I've used this link in articles before, it's worth clicking on.]eBay sent this email to you at [My real address that I use to access the account] about your account registered on ebay.com.eBay will periodically send you required emails about the site and your transactions.Visit our Privacy Policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/privacy-policy.html and User Agreement at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html if you have any questions.Copyright © 2010 eBay, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.eBay and the eBay logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of eBay, Inc.eBay Inc. is located at 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
Reference #: *****.***.*
 
 
There are several key differences in this letter that make it stand out from the evil nasty fake stuff:
 
1. They used the name that I gave them 
2. It's my credit card's last four digits
3. It was sent to the correct e-mail account
4. Most importantly, it does not say "click here". Instead, it tells me to go to their main site and log in to take care of business.
One area of suspicion for me is that it makes comments about the eBay logo, but there are no images in the letter. No matter, it was not sent in HTML, but in text-only format.
I should point out that fakers can be convincing, using a company logo and copying text from a legitimate page and pasting it on the fake page. So, watch out for that.
After showing you fake stuff, it's nice to show what a real notice looks like, and the key differences.
One thing I must add, though. Despite my efforts and the efforts of my associates in the organization, New York's E-Z Pass has e-mail notifications that look just like scammers. "To access your account, click here", no freakin' way! I'll go to the main login and take care of business instead of following a link. It's probably legitimate, but I won't take the chance.
And that is a good, safe practice at any time: Just go to the main site instead of clicking on a link, capice?
 
















































Comments








Post a Comment













Popular posts from this blog









The Religion of Atheism




















Image







  In many practical aspects, atheism is a religion.      "How can you say that, Cowboy Bob? Atheism is a lack of belief  in gods".    Yeah, sure. That's the cop-out redefinition, not the real definition . Except not all atheists got the memo , and some are confused.    As I was saying, in many practical aspects, atheism is a religion . It is a philosophy of life and conduct, and has many of the trappings of organized religion. Although atheists will tell you that they believe in "reason", they actually have a religion that is based on faith. A lot of it. I can't go there, Girlfriend.    In the United States, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that atheism is a religion  The US Supreme Court ruled that atheism is a religion .  Secular Humanism (a masque for atheism), received comments from the US Supreme Court that it is a religion  (one of these groups wanted tax-exempt status as a religion)  Atheists adore their religious leaders like Richard "...








Read more










Where Does It Stop?




















Image







 I was going to give these topics a rest, but something came up.   On a previous post, Zach made a comment, and I am excerpting it here. His first sentence is an answer to a question I had asked him. Hope you're not embarrassed, but I want to give you a more complete response than the comments section would allow:   My lack of belief in the supernatural is pretty much complete - I have  never seen any reason to attribute a supernatural cause to phenomena.  I  suppose I rule out supernatural explanations because once you let one  in, where do you stop? I look at an event I do not understand and go  immediately to natural causes. Even if I can't figure it out, I still  would assume it had a natural explanation. I'm worried that if someone  started attributing causes to supernatural events, they would skip over  the whole 'natural cause' thing and go straight for the supernatural,  because technically everything is potentially explainable by an  omnipotent being, no?  ...








Read more










The Amazing Super Powers of the Mighty Atheist™




















Image







by Cowboy Bob Sorensen   Years ago, I wrote "atheist" on Twitter, and one cautioned me about using that word because I risked "calling down the thunder". We know that they can be ornery cusses even on their good days, but I was unaware of the intellectual prowess and wisdom of The Mighty Atheist™, dwarfing that of a mere theist. What I had yet to learn, however, is that they also have super powers that are even magical at times. Now I know better. Christians and creationists, I hope you heed this warning!      Graphic modified from  Clker  clipart   As with other super powers, those of The Mighty Atheist™ are difficult to categorize. Not all atheists and evolutionists have the same powers to the same degree, and there is no special school for gifted atheists under a professor so they can develop their abilities. Like logical fallacies, powers often blend and overlap. Let's saddle up and ride over yonder to Deception Pass where the atheists, atheopaths, anti-crea...








Read more