Be careful with what you respond to on your Email

I have been getting some suspicious mailings from Microsoftt lately! they say there has been suspicious activity on my account and some one is trying to log in. I get these fairly often. They provide a link for you to go and "verify"
I am pretty sure this is a scam and I have seen nothing odd or suspicious on my account.
NO - I did not use the link - I went straight to my account through my browser
If you as reading this did not notice the way I spelt "microsoft" in the beginning of this note!
This is exactly the way the scammers spell it in their email to you
WATCH OUT FOR THIS AND WARN OTHERS

 

Get proton mail it’s free. You don’t get any of that garbage because everything is encrypted.

 

Yep.

I've also seen stuff about an Amazon order for some large $ amount and other sorts of phishing that tries to generate some sense of urgency and concern.

If one does feel the need to verify something, NEVER use the supplied link or phone number. ALWAYS use an independent known-valid method to reach the service or account you're wishing to check.

 

Scammers are out in full force, not only email but phone as well.

Had one call me a few weeks ago from the power company and told me it would be cut off in 2 hours if I didn't pay our bill over the phone.

I knew it was a scam cause ours is automatically drafted.

I said what address? He said hold on, he came back with my name and address. I said but I don't owe you anything, he hung up on me.

 

The key to this succeeding for them is YOU DO NOT notice this slight mis-spelling of the word.
This so inconspicuous most will not see it and think it is really from Microsoft -when really it is from Microsoftt

 

How would this stop a legitimate Email address? Which is exactly what these scammers have!

 

THIS IS SO TRUE!! And I also get the "large amount" emails as well -I think when you go over 65 the scammers put a big target on your back!

 

I've been getting obvious scam emails to my main account (which is weird because usually gmail is pretty good about filtering out obvious scammers), claiming to be my bank or some service like Norton Anti Virus telling me I've been charged $$$ amount of money and to call and verify account info with them. Lol they wish.

You can always tell based on how poorly worded their emails are, and when you look at the email it came from it says 'Nortonvirussoftware @gmail.com'...as if the actual company is using a Gmail account to send out official emails.

sad thing is that people fall for this stuff all the time

 

This is a copy of the address: NOTICE THE 2 t's in "Microsoftt" the address
DO NOT CLICK ON THIS -- ADMINS --if you can disable this address -please do so
I do not think anyone should do the "wet paint -do not touch" thing
I put some spaces into the address so it may not work -but I ain't trying it out!


"Microsoft account team < Account@Accountprotection41.microsoftt.com >
Sun 2/6/2022 10:10 PM"

 

That’s not even close to a legit email. It’s like the people emailing you saying your Norton subscription is about to expire. People gotta use a little more common sense.

 

You and I would probably be surprised how many unsuspecting people would fall for this not seeing the misspelling

 

Absolutely. But besides misspellings they also would never use that address. Account@accountprotection41. They wouldn’t use a number. It’s sad because it’s usually older people who fall for a lot of these types of scams. People who barely know what the internet is or how to use it. There’s scams all over the place. Email scams, phone scams, door to door scams. Credit card scams. Hell they sign your home over without you knowing. Sick world we live in today. No consequences or severe punishments for this type of behavior. It’ll never stop

 

The link is just a mailto: tag which, if clicked, would do nothing more than open the user's email program and start a blank email to that address.

NSLOOKUP returns a DNS address for Accountprotection41.microsoftt.com and it responds to a ping, so there's definitely a live server at that address. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an SMTP server running on it.

 

Years ago my grandparents were called by someone pretending to be police out in CA, claiming my brother was arrested and gave them their number to use for his bail. Scammers must've used social media to figure out the relationship between my brother and them.

Luckily my grandfather answered and it was before his dementia when he was sharp as a knife, so he didn't fall for it. They should've used me instead of my brother, might've stood a better chance back then

 

Easy. It sends it straight to a spam folder that you can filter it. I’m not gonna tell you about proton mail except everyone should have it

 

I've been in IT for over 20yrs (MCSE + Security & CCNA - I deal with this on a daily basis in my company), and I always tell users this:

Microsoft (or the company you work for), will never ever email you asking you to click on a link to confirm your identity. Scammers are excellent at creating fake email addresses that look legitimate, weblinks that look legit, but will re-direct you to a malicious page. If you get an email like this, click "Report Message"



After you do that, delete the email from your inbox and your deleted items. Do not open it at all.

Spammers will not stop trying, so just roll with the punches. As soon as we come up with a solution to block or stop them, they come with a new solution to bypass our security measures.

 

Scammers are everywhere.

I got a phone call that the IRS was sending agents to arrest me for not paying all of my taxes owed. I laughed and told them I'd be waiting.

They then sent me a very poorly written email basically saying the same thing. I deleted it.

Some scammers are much better at basic English and those are the ones that you really have to beware of.

Basically, I ignore just about every email I get that wants me to do something or click on a link.

 

Scammers will try to create a sense of urgency in order for you to respond without really thinking about it and other techniques:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams

 

100% agree and set up 2 factor authentication for an additional layer of security. I have been using PM for years. I recommend the paid version since you can set up additional email aliases to send and receive email from. I have 15 available email addresses so I use one for business correspondence, one for bills, one for online shopping, one for personal correspondence (etc.). An easy way for me to see of my information has been sold or if a scammer has gone phishing is looking at the email addy they sent it to. I also NEVER use the main email associated to my protonmail account so the only way that email or password gets compromised is if someone gets into Protonmail.

 

And there's a sucker born every minute