Don't be scammed

Scam Alert! A New Frightening and Effective Gmail Scam

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Don't be scammed

 

Are you aware of the current phishing scam going on with Gmail?

For those of you who haven’t heard, there is a nasty phishing scam going on with people’s Gmail accounts. Sources say if you don’t pay attention to secure URL information when you read an email with an attachment, it’s easy to become a victim of these scammers.

 

What’s the Scam?

Apparently, these scammers get in by sending fake attachments, which often resemble a pdf document attachment. You may even recognize the Google account sign in as usual, but the alert warns us to check the URL before signing into to your Gmail account before entering your password information. When the URL opens up, MAKE SURE the URL for that Google document starts with ‘Secure https://google.com’ and NO WORDS PRECEDE THAT URL SUCH AS: DATA TEXT, this is where the trouble begins. Please read the article below and follow the link for more in-depth examples of what to look for to protect your identity.

 

I found this post by Robert Hackett on Fortune.com 

 

“Here’s how the swindle works. The attacker, usually disguised as a trusted contact, sends a boobytrapped email to a prospective victim. Affixed to that email, there appears to be a regular attachment, say a PDF document. Nothing seemingly out of the ordinary.

But the attachment is actually an embedded image that has been crafted to look like a PDF. Rather than reveal a preview of the document when clicked, that embedded image links out to a fake Google (GOOGL, +1.08%) login page. And this is where the scam gets really devious.

Everything about this sign-in page looks authentic: the Google logo, the username and password entry fields, the tagline (“One account. All of Google.”). By all indications, the page is a facsimile of the real thing. Except for one clue: the browser’s address bar.”  Continue Reading

Source: Everyone Is Falling For This Frighteningly Effective Gmail Scam 

Here’s another source from Huffington Post 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/18/gmail-scam-phishing_n_4986510.html  

48 thoughts on “Scam Alert! A New Frightening and Effective Gmail Scam”

  1. Thanks for the heads up, Deb. Since Google usually notifies us directly when we log in to our accounts (they’re not known for sending alerts via email), I usually just ignore and delete such emails. But I’m glad to know what to look for in the URL. And I’m really glad we have an FBI ~ YOU ~ looking out for us! Geez, I wouldn’t know 3/4 of the techie things I know if it weren’t for you. Thanks for having our backs, girlfriend. I think some of us might be dead fish dangling off hacker hooks if you didn’t 🙂 ?

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    1. Lol T. You know me, I find, I share. I know some people don’t spend near the amount of time reading newsletters and scanning SEO sites where I find a lot of this info, so I hope by sharing, others are doing the same to pass it along. 🙂 ❤

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  2. Debby, I have read about this and it’s scary as they do look legit. Thank you for pointing it out and warning us…having had recent computer problems it’s frightening how easily the helpline people can ‘take over’ the computer to help…makes one wonder how vulnerable it is all the time.

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    1. Thanks Stevie. As I’ve written about before, self hosters don’t have the luxury of a reblog button. You can download the ‘press this’ tool in your dashboard >tools which enables ‘press this’ on your tool bar, allowing you to copy info and links from anywhere on the web into a draft in your dashboard. If you’re interested just go to my search bar and type in ‘press this’ and you can read several posts with instructions. Alternatively you can always copy and paste. 🙂

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  4. Thanks for the warning, Debby. I appreciate the heads up. I’ve become so cautious about scams that I don’t think I’d fall for this, but the warning definitely helps. Ugh. Some people can be so awful.

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    1. Glad to share the word Diana. Yes, it’s easy to overlook when that little Gmail signin box pops up to signin, people don’t tend to double check the URL before entering their passwords. 🙂

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  5. I had not heard of this particular scam Debby but have recieved similar in my email account Some from supposedly google and linked in .. I hover my mouse over the email addressee and often that shows up as not from either.. Both have links within the email asking you to pick up your messages.. I delete and never press a link unless I am 100% sure of who it is from..
    Again thank you for this.. So many devious people around today.. xx

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    1. Grr, sorry to hear about your scammy emails no doubt Sue. Glad you are taking precautions, and this article will help you become a better detective to keep you secure from the evil doers. 🙂 xo

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      2. Oh that is sad. And who could possibly come to your blog of all places and not be nice? Just crazy. I don’t blame you. I moderate all my comments just in case of such people filtering through. 🙂

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  9. While I haven’t heard of a scam going on with gmail, I have found many such emails in my rediff junk account and I never open them! It is quite scary if it seems to be from a known acquaintance. Just a couple of days back I was cribbing about Apple’s security, which is probably more stringent than any top leader’s security. I was locked out of my own account and was asked for authentication for whatever reasons known to them…finally I emerged better thanks to them for making me learn certain things the hardest way!! 🙂
    Thanks for the reminder dear friend.

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    1. Glad I could be helpful Balroop. Yes, even the giants of technology get hit. And these types of emails won’t go to junk because they are from regular recognized email accounts. It’s the attachments you have to look out for. Before signing in, always check the URL is secure with no text in front of the ‘secure https’ 🙂

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  10. I’m not sure what they mean by ‘trusted contact’ but that’s scary. I don’t open attachments from unknown sources but I’d open something from someone I know. Thanks for sharing this.

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    1. That’s the thing Sarah, trust contact is someone Google knows is a regular on your email list that you get notifications from. Thus, the scam, because we think because we know who the email is from there’s no harm in opening the attachment. We never know if one of our regular senders has been phished and a cyber criminal has stolen their password and contacts. So the best way to beware is when Gmail asks you to sign in, check the URL and make sure it starts with ‘Secure https’ and no filler crap before.

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      2. Yes, that is the thing! It’s easy enough to be suspicious from someone we don’t know. But these evil doers are sliding in AS people we know. Just check the URL before looking at anything sent from someone you think you know and you’ll be good to go. 🙂 ❤

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  11. May all phishers sink to the bottom of a bog and be covered in the scum that will ensure that no one will ever be able to find or rescue.

    Thanks for the heads up, Deb. I’m careful (bordering on paranoid), but when email looks like it comes from someone I know, I need to make sure I don’t click absentmindedly.
    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
    – ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
    “It takes a village to educate a world!”

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    1. Amen to that, lol. But seriously Madelyn, it’s the cyber world we live in where evil doers have made a comfortable nest, not having to get off their azzes to create havoc in people’s lives. 😦 xo

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      1. May it happen to them! BIG time. 🙂

        That would be a funny TV series – a couple of the hacked turning into avengers fomenting a huge hacker war where they all turn on each other.

        We’d ALL enjoy watching *their* lives fall apart, one by one – and their frustration trying to dig their way out of the mess that is always created when phishers are successful in their evil doing.
        xx,
        mgh

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  14. All important to remember every day, Debby. Thank you. I don’t open email links or attachments, even from my best friend, unless there is truly personal (not generic “hi, how are you?”) with it. If I’m not sure, I write a new email to sender asking if he/she sent me an email with an attachment or enclosed link. Too many people trying to hurt others for fun. I got a virus once a long time ago, so I’m careful now–lots like I was with birth control more than a decade ago. Be careful!

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