Scam - WARNING: ICT Email HelpDesk

Phishing and Vishing Identity Theft Scams
The WARNING: ICT Email HelpDesk as prevented the delivery of 21 new emails to your Email inbox Scam

You may have received a phone call about the same subject. It is an attempt to get you to enter confidential information (typically a social security number, name, address, bank account information, etc., to allow the scammers to steal your identity and open credit cards in your name.

This email was sent by a scammer. This is referred to as spoofing (making a fake email that looks legitimate, "phishing" (when by email) or "vishing" (when by telephone). If you receive an email similar to the one below, DO NOT click on the link, and do not enter any information on the forms there.

The website that the link leads to is a spoof; a fake website, not created by any legitimate organization. It goes to the scammer's website, typically on a hacked domain, ,  or other websites (they constantly hack and change destinations), not a real "ICT Email HelpDesk"! When you enter the information they ask for, you will simply be handing the thieves the keys to your bank accounts.  That is how spoofing, phishing and vishing works.

Remember, no reputable business would send you an email or a phone call requesting your personal account information. Any such email you receive asking for this information should be considered phony and brought to the attention of the business being 'phished'.

Anytime you need to go to a website for your bank, credit card companies or other personal, financial or confidential information; do not follow a link in an email; just type their address in your browser directly.

Below are actual phishing emails that started circulating in early 2008. We removed the links to  the phisher's website, which is the scammer's website, typically on a hacked domain,

It is possible that the owners of the website are not involved, and that their server has been hacked, but the fact remains that this is the address the scam  goes to.

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From: Mail Administrator [mailto:Mail Administrator]
Sent: Sunday, March 17, 2019 8:32 PM
To:
Subject: WARNING: ICT Email HelpDesk as prevented the delivery of 21 new emails to your Email inbox () on 03/18/2019

Hello ,

You have 21 new pending email to be delivered to .

Kindly follow the step below to deliver pending messages:

Deliver Messages                  Ignore Notification

This notification was sent to only

Sincerely,


The ICT Security Team

Another version of the scam

Subject: ICT Service Desk

Dear Webmail User,

Due to the strengthening our security system and improving your mailing experience, We have detected your mail settings are out of date. We want to upgrade all outlook mail boxes. To Complete this procedure, Kindly Click Here to upgrade your account to the latest Outlook Web Apps 2019, login to the Exchange outlook Admin System and automatically upgrade your mailbox by filling out the requirements correctly.

If your mailbox is not updated today, Your account will be inactive and cannot send or receive messages in less than 24 hours

ITS help desk
Connected to Microsoft Exchange
© 2014 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

 

What is Phishing?

Phishing is an attempt by an individual or group to solicit personal information from unsuspecting users by employing social engineering techniques. Phishing emails are crafted to appear as if they have been sent from a legitimate organization or known individual. These emails often attempt to entice users to click on a link that will take the user to a fraudulent website that appears legitimate. The user then may be asked to provide personal information such as account usernames and passwords that can further expose them to future compromises. Additionally, these fraudulent websites may contain malicious code.

Learn More About Phishing

The following documents and websites can help you learn more about phishing and how to protect yourself against phishing attacks.

• Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks
• Protecting Your Privacy
• Understanding Web Site Certificates
• Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG)
• Federal Trade Commission, Identity Theft
• Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams

Methods of Reporting Phishing Email to US-CERT

• In Outlook Express, you can create a new message and drag and drop the phishing email into the new message. Address the message to phishing-report@us-cert.gov  and send it.
• In Outlook Express you can also open the email message^* and select File > Properties > Details. The email headers will appear. You can copy these as you normally copy text and include it in a new message tophishing-report@us-cert.gov .
• If you cannot forward the email message, at a minimum, please send the URL of the phishing website.
  

* If the suspicious mail in question includes a file attachment, it is safer to simply highlight the message and forward it. Some configurations, especially in Windows environments, may allow the execution of arbitrary code upon opening and viewing a malicious email message.

For more information about phishing, see this page.

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Recommendations- What to do:

• Only open email or IM attachments that come from a trusted source and that are expected
• Use an anti-virus/anti-spam package (we recommend Norton 360 or Norton Internet Security scan all attachments prior to opening. Click here to see Norton 360 prices, reviews, ordering, etc. .
• Delete the messages without opening any attachments
• Do not click on links in emails that come from people you do not know and trust, even if it looks like it comes from a company you know.
• Keep your anti-virus software up to date
• Keep your operating system up to date with current security patches. Click here for an article that describes how to do this.

And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive.  We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!

 

 

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For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.