Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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You may have received an email like the one below that looks very authentic, like it came from AT&T, or 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 not sent by AT&T; AT&T is a victim as well. 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 AT&T. It goes to www.claudioalvessemcensura.com, not AT&T! 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 (such as www.AT&T.com )
Below are actual phishing emails that started circulating in early 2008. We have put a warning over the links to the phisher's website, which is www.claudioalvessemcensura.com''
It is possible that the owners of the website (www.claudioalvessemcensura.com') are not involved, and that their server has been hacked, but the fact remains that this is the address the scam goes to.
----- Forwarded message -----
Your online bill is ready to be viewed
Dear Respective Customer,
A new bill for your AT&T services is prepared.
Any operations completed after your bill period expires will not be shown in the bill amount listed directly below. If you have made a recent payment, please refer to the current balance on the Account Overview and the Bill & Payments pages.
Service
Account ending in
Bill Amount
Due Date
Home Phone
954
$902.65
02/19/2013
Log in to online account management to view your bill and bill notices, maintain your email account or make a payment. If you are not registered for online account management, you must do so to view and print your full bill and bill notices at www.att.com/managemyaccount.
Log in to online account management to view your bill, maintain your email account or make a payment.
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Thank you,
AT&T Online Services
www.att.com
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Privacy Policy
The links embedded in this email went to the following urls (obviously, not to AT&T) which proves this was a spoofing/phishing scam:
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.
The following documents and websites can help you learn more about phishing and how to protect yourself against phishing attacks.
* 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.
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.