Phishing

A couple of interesting things happened this week which we have talked about before, but since Carol and I both received these emails, we’ll talk about it again.

First, Carol got a disconcerting phone call from the IRS. It wasn’t really the IRS, and it was just a recording, but the person said there was an issue with her tax forms and that her tax ID number was going to be withdrawn and that her bank accounts would be seized. Oh, and have a nice day!
 
That last part didn’t happen, but even though she knew it was fake, it did bug her.  She hung up and of course did not give any information.   I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done, as the phone company isn’t helpful at all, and the phone# that comes up is fake. The important thing to remember is that the IRS, Federal Marshals, and Microsoft do not operate this way. It’s a scam, just hang up.
 
The FBI does want information on this sort of thing and urges folks to report phone or email phishing attempts.  For more information read online.
 
Second, the thing we both got the same morning was the same exact same email, purportedly from Windstream. I actually got two of them that morning, here they are:
 
Secure Email Notification
Some incoming emails are pending delivery. You have used up to 85% of your email quota and income emails above 160 KB will be pending delivery
 
To receive incoming messages we recommend that you follow the step below and your email will be sorted shortly.
 
(BAD LINK) Please note this process is free.
© 2019 Windstream Webmail, All Rights Reserved. 
 
And the second one:
Dear subscriber,
 
Your mail has been temporarily blocked for security reasons. To continue using our services, please follow the procedure.  (BAD LINK)
 
Thank you for using our services.
The Accounts Team
 
I don’t know what would happen if you clicked on the links, BUT DON’T!

Just delete the emails, they are fakes, and not very good ones. The most obvious thing to check is the sender, and neither sender email address made any reference to Windstream. Also, Windstream wouldn’t send something like that, because that doesn’t happen. Why would using only 85% of your quota do anything, that doesn’t even make sense. By the way, that URL of https:blah blah blah.windstream is unrelated to Windstream. You can have ANYTHING in the URL over there. Windstream’s URL would be more like https://windstream.net/blah blah blah. Don’t trust emails that tell you gloom & doom stuff. If you really aren’t sure, ask someone you trust for advice.   Call the company but do not follow links in these emails.  There’s no hurry, so don’t do anything right away.If you are not sure, verify it first.