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Worst (BEST) phishing attempt to date!

By Pat O'Brien

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX ACCESS

October 23, 2011 03:19 PM

Worst (BEST) phishing attempt to date!

I hope there is a special place in hell for these people too! When dad died and I started helping mom, I realized how truly insidious these people are. The people that snail mail things that look like they are from the Government were easy enough for my mom to figure out due to addresses. But in today's world when emails come they look like paypal, a real bank or insurance company.

Here is the best example of this evil that I have seen so far...

Wells Fargo Phishing example

I started to fill this out....they were only asking for last 4 of my social and it had the first 4 of my credit card even thought I know that all, or most Wells Fargo credit card numbers start with 4342. All of the sudden it hit me like a brick...check the true source of the email. Anyone can fake the reply to field in an email, but to fake a URL is beyond these people at least so far.

I thought I would use this to remind everyone that not one reputable company will ask for any part of our account information in an email. There are times that they ask us to log into our accounts, if you click a link in an email, make sure it is the EXACT URL for the institution right after the http:// in the address bar as soon as you get there, and not WELSFARGO or USAAA, etc. The safest thing to do is to go directly to your website from your bookmark and find the page you need. As anyone that blogs here knows, you can label a "click here" link with anything you want to!

Hope this helps!

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Chandler Real Estate Liz Harris, MBA

Liz Harris Realty - Chandler, AZ

#ChandlerRealEstateAgent

I think that this phishing is scary. Don't like how we need to scrutinize everything this days to find out if something is legit or a scam!

Oct 23, 2011 03:27 PM

Larry Bettag

Cherry Creek Mortgage Illinois Residential Mortgage License LMB #0005759 Cherry Creek Mortgage NMLS #: 3001 - Saint Charles, IL

Vice-President of National Production

Amazing....and very sad. I wish that the government could go and just squash these guys....and everyone who acts like them!

Oct 23, 2011 03:42 PM

Charlie Dresen

The Group, Inc - Steamboat Springs, CO

Steamboat Springs, CO e-Pro

uggg. Sorry to hear this.

Oct 23, 2011 03:43 PM

Michael S. Bolton

Michael S. Bolton,Inc. - Zimmerman, MN

MN Appraiser

Hey Pat, I wish you could find out who these sneaky little worms are, and go and knock on their door! They got me one-time when I opened a PDF file, which automatically downloaded a virus. It was a total disaster. They can hide behind their computer and cause destruction with no one going after them. Thanks for the warning!

Oct 23, 2011 03:47 PM

Carlotta Remong

Berkshire Hathaway HS N.E. Prime Properties - Newport, RI

Pat, Thanks for the info on another scam, as this is one of the better more official looking scams.

Oct 23, 2011 04:00 PM

Pat O'Brien

RE/MAX ACCESS - Cibolo, TX

I have a special email that I send them very graphic things that they can do with themselves and I send it from the account I use when people ask for my email address and I don't really want to give it to them...but that is it. Most of them are not in this country, so there is very little our Gov't can do! It is very frustrating.

Oct 23, 2011 04:10 PM

John Pusa

Glendale, CA

Pat - I am a victim of phishing too. I lost time and money by the time I cleaned up my computer from viruses. Thanks for the warning.

Oct 23, 2011 05:00 PM

Dick Greenberg

New Paradigm Partners LLC - Fort Collins, CO

Northern Colorado Residential Real Estate

Hi Pat - That is a very well executed scam e-mail, and I wouldn't be surprised if it fooled a lot of people. And you're right - most of these creeps are far from our shores and our justice system. Posts like yours are an excellent way to raise awareness of the problem.

Oct 24, 2011 07:33 AM

J. Philip Faranda

Howard Hanna Rand Realty - Yorktown Heights, NY

Associate Broker / Office Manager

Yikes- they are getting very slick in these attempts to defraud people. Typically, your bank already has your account number. That was the giveaway.

Oct 24, 2011 01:52 PM

Janet Jones

Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI

Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Pat--thanks for posting this. I have a Wells-Fargo account and this looks completely legitimate to me--well, until you get to that part where they ask for all the personal information. However, it would be easy to be duped if not paying careful attention.

Oct 24, 2011 05:30 PM

Worst (BEST) phishing attempt to date!

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