Gmail Scam Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ
76Gmail
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Norton SystemWorks 2008 Standard Edition 11.0
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Scams & Swindles: Phishing, Spoofing, ID Theft, Nigerian Advance Schemes Investment Frauds: How to Recognize And Avoid Rip-Offs In The Internet Age
Price: $6.95
List Price: $11.95 |
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ
Gmail Scam
If someone managed to get hold of your Gmail account, they could also get hold of your other personal details, like passwords, private messages, personal mail and any other details that you may have stored in there.
There is an email in circulation asking for your gmail account details,
I received the email today claiming to be from the Gmail team.
VERIFY YOUR FREE G MAI L ACCOUNT NOW !!!
It asks for my Gmail ID My Password, my date of birth and country or territory where I live.
The email claims that if I don't send these details that my Gmail account will be closed in Seven days.
Below is the text from the email copied and pasted, as is, with no editing.
Screen shot of the fake email
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NEW Phishing and Countermeasures: Understanding the ...
Current Bid: $76.46
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Norton Confidential password protection Anti-Phishing
Current Bid: $.97
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NEW PAPERBACK! THE PHISHING MANUAL - DEAN BUDNICK
Current Bid: $2.99
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ALLUME SYSTEMS IC SPYWARE & ANTI-PHISHING SUITE 4.0 NEW
Current Bid: $.99
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The Email
G MAI L BETA
VERIFY YOUR FREE G MAI L ACCOUNT NOW !!!
Dear G ma il Account Owner,
This message is from Gmail messaging center to all Gmail free account owners and premium account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused Gmail account to create more space for new accounts.
To prevent your email account from closing you will need to update so as to validate our user email database.
CONFIRM YOUR IDENTITY BELOW
Gma il! ID : ..........
Password : ...........
Date of Birth : ......
Country or Territory : ...........
Enter the letter from the Security Image : ........ 859304
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
Thank you for using Gmail !
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ
Thanks,
The Gmail Team
G MAI L BETA
Another scam in Gmail
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|
NEW Phishing and Countermeasures: Understanding the ...
Current Bid: $76.46
|
|
|
Norton Confidential password protection Anti-Phishing
Current Bid: $.97
|
|
|
NEW PAPERBACK! THE PHISHING MANUAL - DEAN BUDNICK
Current Bid: $2.99
|
|
|
ALLUME SYSTEMS IC SPYWARE & ANTI-PHISHING SUITE 4.0 NEW
Current Bid: $.99
|
Do Not Give out Your Personal Details
The text above is pasted from the screenshot you see above, note that there are a few errors,
(why the gaps) G ma il
We are deleting all unused Gmail account ( plural so where is the s)
Gma il! ID : (Again with the gaps)
Enter the letter from the Security Image : ........ 859304
(WHAT LETTER? I SEE ONLY NUMBERS)
The real giveaway that this is someone trying to steal your gmail account is the fact that you can only answer the questions by replying to this email, if Gmail wanted to check an account was active they would send an email which when opened would automatically inform them that your account was being used. And why would Gmail revert to using garish lettering in the logo?
Protect your Gmail account, do not reply to this email if you receive it.
NEVER SEND YOUR PASSWORD TO ANYONE, OR ANY OTHER PERSONAL DETAILS, IT COULD COST YOU A LOT MORE THAN YOU THINK
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Comments
Good alert, thanks for posting this!
It's a shame that phishing has become so widespread, and slightly alarming that it HAS, as it seems it wouldn't unless people were actually falling for these scams.
Typos and bad grammar are always a dead giveaway. You can also hover your cursor over any link and see where it REALLY takes you.
I don't know if gmail/google has a "spoof" department, but many major domains do. For example, I always forward PayPal phishes to "spoof@paypal.com."
Thanks for the heads up
jimmy - good article. if gmail ever wants to check to see if an account is active they will actually not email you they will just check their logs.
Yes the trouble with this sort of email is that most people are honest and gullible and they catch those type of people. They believe they will lose out if they do not do it.
I nearly got caught with ebay like that. Because they told me I would not be able to sell on ebay anymore. And at first I thought it was true because they had all there letterheads insignias etc. But thats how smart they are.
I even had someone get in and say that I had sold them a laptop. I didnt own one at that stage. But ebay soon sorted them out. Everyone needs to be wary and never ever give any details to anyone on the emails. Good hub
Gmail, Paypal, Ebay, bank, credit card company... no one will ask you to send your A/c number/user name/password.
If you receive anything like that, it might be a phishing Scam! Beware!
I have five in three days, I send it tothe authorities and never hear another jingle about it
Great hub
Thanks so much for posting that for all of us. The grammar in that email is laughable, but who knows who might not be paying attention and fall for it anyway?
Great hub, thanks for warning everyone!
And nice Xmas profile pic!
Jimmy, thanks for the warning. I have learned to ignore all such requests and never respond to these emails. I did get tricked by one of these phishing emails when they first started. I was visting family out of town and while checking my AOL email on my brother-in-law's PC I responded to an email supposedly from AOL asking me to update their files with more info which I did.
I had a big scare the next day when I ran across an article about the scam in a newspaper on the plane on the way home. Fortunately, AOL took steps to limit the damage before any attacks were made on my account. Since then, I have always made it a point to open a new browser window and access my accounts directly when I receive such an email and think that it might be legitimate. Of course, I always discover that the emails never are legitimate but this has saved me from divulging information about my PayPal, eBay, bank accounts, credit card accounts, etc. to these characters.
Thans for the great Hub, Jimmy and best wishes from my family to yours for Christmas and the coming year.
Chuck
thanks for the heads up. I almost do what the email asked.
working
Stacie Naczelnik says:
5 months ago
I'm an avid gmail user, so this is good to know.