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WARNING

edited April 2007 in - Reading

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  • I placed a couple of Bids on eBay yeaterday . Today I have received Three phishing attempts. The attempts have supposedly came from PayPal
    so be very careful.

    Over the last couple of weeks an email which looks like a Halifax request for information is also doing the rounds. If in doubt contact your  Bank directly.
  • These are the most common phissing e-mails. They get sent out by the ton, even to people who don't have accounts with that bank. They hope to get someone naive who does have an account there.
    We all need to be suspicious of anything we get and aren't expecting.
    Thanks for letting us know.
  • Good advice Scratch, i didnt know that about the cursor.

    Martin
  • I'd heard about that but hadn't been sure where You would be looking. Thanks.
  • Both personal in boxes and office Inbox are flooded with these phishing emails.  I've had the Paypal one, had all sorts.  Along with the spam, relentless as that is, it all ends up in the Delete box.  And just how much money is there in Nigeria that we can all have a share of it???? that comes in all the time!
  • I thought Nigerian one had did out. I wonder if anyone ever replied to it.
  • Apparently ... according to a report I read in the Mail recently, many people fall for it!  I know someone personally who came very close until my partner and I warned him off. I have also read, in the past, that people have been kidnapped when taking up tne invitation to go to Nigeria and all sorts.  I cannot believe people are that stupid, but then there is the report that goodness knows how many Internet users have the same password for everything, regardless and consider it their bank's responsibily to ensure their security!

    I have so many passwords I have to have a record of them, something different for every site I am linked to.  And, every Nigerian email is marked spam!
  • Also some providers are better at stopping spam getting into your inbox.
    I was reading an article today on this subject, if I find it I'll post the details here.
  • Found it, it was in the Click online BBC section.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6598521.stm

    It came to some interesting conclusions, so worth reading.
  • May I suggest one other way to spot a phishing email is that they are devious in the way the simulate an email looking like it is actually from, say Paypal. The graphics look perfect, trade marks, copyright notice in small print everything. If you move your cursor slowly over the email however you will usually note that the whole of the graphics block is a hypertext link not just the fake words that state they are the hypertext link to Paypal. That may look and read fine to the eye but the whole page is one big hypertext link to scamsville.
  • Aegean, for the less computer literate of us, like me. How would you know it was hypertext? Would a little box say so somewhere, or do we need to look at a certain spot?
  • Carol hypertext is a link. Say when you see a web address on a page and you can click it to take you to that page.
    So if the whole page is a link as Aegean say then it is a scam. Real emails will only have a line of text that will be a link say www.paypal.co.uk. When you move your cursor over a hypertext link it will change from an arrow to a hand with a pointing finger.
  • the other way to tell is that they say things like Dear Paypal Customer, where Paypal uses your full name, so does the bank, they do not write 'Dear Barclays Bank Customer ...' talking of which, I have had more phishing emails from Barclays than anyone else. Only one from my own bank, one from NatWest, one from Alliance and Leicester, all the others, Barclays, and as I cannot stand either Barclays (or Nationwide) it is an insult to think I am a customer!
  • Thanks ST and Dorothy, I understand what you mean now.
    Hubby gets a lot of the Barclays ones, and he's had a couple of Alliance and Leicester too. They automatically get put into his bulk mail box.
    My e-mail provider either sifts them out first or I don't get them, because I've only ever received one.
  • I have had several from Halifax recently
  • Sorry Carol I should have explained better than that. ST is spot on. Apologies for slow reply, just a productive writing day ,with few breaks.
  • What are you writing at the moment aegean?

    Like your profile , sounds like an interesting time
  • And where the heck is Newton Stewart?  Sorry, ignorant townie here.  But yes Aegean comes up with some great points.  Today, I'm luxuriating in a bonkers day where I don't have to get up or anything.  Except mull over a few problems I have with second draft.

    But I don't think either of you will know that much about drag-racing or engines.  Let me know if you do.
  • I actually attended a drag race once and had completely forgotten about it. It was a long time ago when I was a small lad mind. It was fast, fun and very exciting.
  • True.  I am racing for the first time this month. 

    Bit of a trial but a necessary, both for me and for the book.  Will be fun wearing a firesuit and helmet but not if it's a boiling hot day. 
  • Where did you go, Woody?  I will be at North Weald, which will be an easy introduction, in May.  At Stratford-upon-Avon in June when I should really go for it.  Poor Anne Hathaway.  I bet she spins...
  • Mr D

    At the moment I have two main projects underway.
    A script (movie hopefully) called Following Their Hearts.
    Based on a true story set in WW1 where the full team of Hearts of Midlothian FC signed up to fight for "King and Country" swiftly followed within two days by hundreds of their fans. They fought and died together on the madness of the fields of France.Proving tough to complete though as it is something that I want to get as accurate as is possible to do in respect of the men and their families.There has already been a BBC documentary , hopefully the script will add the dimensions and dynamics of the people to the facts.
    The music is in place and there is rumbling of an option but that never means we have won the lottery only a ticket to the lottery, so to speak.
    I tend to shelve projects too often rather than press to the line. This may at the moment head the same way as there are too many factors just not clicking. It is not one to rush or push.
    Project two is a childrens book that only has a working title of The Planters , plot and outline is complete ,unfortunatly we are only at chapter 4.
    I edit/write for a small Church of Scotland regional magazine called "In Touch".
    I cover the occassional race meeting (horses) for former contacts and employers as this was a main source of work at one time as was compiling crosswords for an MGN title,although that could hardly be termed writing.
    Write songs with a friend , she writes the music as being a drummer I am deemed to be musically illiterate (probably true).Try to match up reasonable lyrics to her excellent music.

    A little bit of PR work here and there.
    Basically thats it at the moment MrD.
    How about yourself ?
  • Hi Tessa

    It is in Galloway , south west Scotland. Wonderful part of the country, I am though totally biased on that.I will switch the place to Galloway on the profile as nobody has ever heard of the town itself. We are only a few miles from Wigtown which is Scotland's "Book Town".
    Roughly every second shop is a book shop both secondhand and new. They also have some huge warehouse based businesses there working via the net. Solway books being the biggest. Wigtown has a twice yearly book festival with some high profile writers attending throughout the weeks events. You would enjoy it. Next one is this month (May).

    I have taken my eldest kid to see drag racing when we were on holiday at Skegness years ago and we loved it. Unfortunatly I do not have any knowledge of the sport other than a spectator.
    As for engines they are a mystery. I prefer horses by a long way.

    I had an 8th share in a decent little gelding with Martin Pipe just before he retired last season. It was a competition prize of a sort with a small writing based piece. My wife and I had a lot of fun following him.He did not win for us but was only beaten a short head at Musselburgh, was disqualified for taking the wrong course at Fakenham , ran 6th at last years Cheltenham Festival and a 3rd at Sandown.
    Since I have not been a shareholder of him he has of course won twice. As long as the horse stays safe and well thats all that matters though. He is entered in the Chester Cup next week on the flat which I hope he goes for as his other entry is a novice chase on Friday.He jumped hurdles cleanly but I felt physically sick every time he ran. I just wanted him back in the box safe. If he goes novice chasing it will be even worse.

    You must be buzzed by going for the dragster racing ? I have never experienced anything like that acceleration. I did ride horses though and at full lick roughly 35 mph on half a ton of horse was pretty exciting when younger and more stupid than now. May not seem fast but on a horse it feels electric.

    What kind of training do you do for dragster racing? I would imagine you will have to have your nuero transmitters at high pitch for rapid reaction. I am not sure of the physical training for that.

    Could you let us know how you do ?

    Have fun and if you see a gap kick on and go for it.

    Aegean
    -------
  • Thanks Aegean but it's not a dragster (hmmm).  A great muscle car, though.

    The Bloke was British Champion for the class in 1989/90 and is teaching me.  He treats it like an occasional hobby now and sees teaching his son and me as a natural extension. 

    I'll be nervous as heck but it's a necessary for my book.  He'll be teaching me - and has already started merely in a still car - the way to do a decent burnout (prepping the tyres), reaction to the lights and then it's up to me.  Firstly, at North Weald for my first trial run, then up at Avon Park (Shakespeare County Raceway).

    Didn't really want to hijack this phishing thread with it but it's good to have someone interested.  I'm amazed at the reaction I get with this.  There have been some awesome female drag-racers. 
  • I thought I was phishing-proof. I thought I was really wised up on it. Then this happened: I got an email from someone on ebay asking me if I had any others of something I'd just sold. I clicked respond, logged in with my password.... and just like that I gave my password away to a scammer! Luckily I realised it at once and changed my password immediately.
  • That's peculiar, I thought about that and realise I always go to REPLY and not RESPOND when I hear from an ebayer, that way I don't connect with Ebay, just respond to the question that way.  Then when I next go into ebay I empty the Message folder.  Never thought of doing anything else!
  • Not going to believe what just arrived, forget Nigeria, now it is Saddam Hussein's money they are moving out of Iraq, email purporting to be from an American soldier who got his hands on the fortune ... really! Absolutely true! I hit the DELETE button about 2 minutes ago ...
  • Yeah but that one just might be true , Well it might
  • Where would he hide it?.  You think his comrades would get a little suspicious . . .
  • just a little, Stirling, for sure!
  • Scammers think we're stupid. Reminds me of someone else. Now, who can it be ...?
  • Naughty!  Not that African prince who's sending my millions any day now, by any chance?
  • TT, haven't you had your money yet?  Shame, thought it would have been here by now ...
  • The King is off up the bank as we write.
  • I wonder If I  sent one from Ireland asking for help with "The Little Peoples " Gold ,cant spell Leprehaun, would people send me loads of Cheques. I think I could make money in America with that one
  • That really made me laugh.  I'm a quarter Irish and half French.  Probably accounts for wicked sense of humour.
  • If you dont mind me asking TT whats your other quarter?
  • Apparently, Welsh!
  • Plenty of celtic ancestery there , what a mix, it must be where you get all your talent from 
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