Fake Virgin

[trackerjack]

Today I received an email informing me I would be cut off by Virgin if my billing failure was not sorted out.
The alarm bell went off in my head and we contacted Virgin through the correct business channel (phone).

The "real" Virgin told us not to connect to or to follow instructions contained within this email and to delete the email and delete again from trash.
You have been warned.

[Tony Burd]

Not had that one yet but I get fake emails from

Paypal
HMRC
Barclays

Some of them are obvious due to the poor English, but the HMRC one nearly had me as it used a .gov email address!

You really have to be careful.

[Mahesh]

I get around 30 fake emails a day, not including the ones that go in the junk folder automatically.

Worse ones,

CC London, look just like the ones for congestion charge billing, we have an account.
HMRC, they are getting better at almost getting you.
Fuel card bills, luckily we closed the account and gone back to credit card payment or cash.
Ourselves, somehow we get fake emails from ourselves, but there is no virus on our computers or server, or
even at the webfusion server, but they manage to make it look like us.

One day, one day, it will become a international mortally punishable crime, or at the very least I can invoice them
for my time.

[tinweevil]

I knew mine from 'HMRC' was a fake instantly, it said I was due a rebate

[Carledo]

I've had the paypal one, it told me my new card needed to be verified as the old one had expired, all well and good except that the last 4 digits they quoted did not belong to any card i've had! Sometimes a semi photographic memory comes in handy! Plus I am still paying for stuff with paypal, no problem!

Steve

[Galileo]

I won a BMW today, the address was a bit of a giveaway though, BMW UK, Griffin House, Luton. Now that address rings a bell, definitely a car manufacturer but one perhaps with a Griffin as a logo?!

[trackerjack]

The older I get the more sceptical I become and literally I don't trust any organisation since the RAC got found out replacing batteries at inflated prices when they were not even needed.
They are all out to get me.
Paranoid? who me?
Who said I was paranoid?

[Toledo Man]

I've had my fair share of these phishing and spoof e-mails. The funniest ones are those from organisations that I've never dealt with. I once got caught out with one claiming to be from ebay. I'd gone past the point of no return (clicked on the link and entered my username and password before I'd realized) so I logged on to the real ebay and immediately changed my password.

[GTS290N]

I've had a couple of calls from those lovely and caring people at Microsoft.

It's amazing how they know I've been having problems with my computer, and great that they can fix it over the phone.
First up was Kevin. He sounded more like a Deepak or Azif, but anyway, it was Kevin.

After I opened up some windows on my PC Kevin got excited, poor fellow, and went to get his manager John. John also sounded like he should be called Deepak or Azif, but anyway it was John. I spent some time congratulating him on his excellent English language skills and in particular his pronunciation, and wondered if he had attended Eton.
He declined to illuminate me on his education, so keen was he to fix my PC.

After I opened some more windows on my PC for John, he was very excited and asked me to read what it said on the screen.
At this point I claimed the screen questioned his sexuality, his mother's virtue, how many fathers he shared, indeed if had really been called Deepak I would possibly be branded as racist, but of course it was John, so that's OK. I also likened his intellect to that of a very dim witted slug, and suggested that a dog would have a higher social standing than him, his brothers, his sisters, his whole family.
He was trying to tell me he really would put a virus on my PC and that he would call every day, several times a day, but I was in mid-flow and not to be stopped. Eventually he hung up.
I've not had a nuisance call since.

Should I contact Microsoft and thank them for fixing my computer?

[trackerjack]

I have had an email from a great looking Russian lady who wants to come and see me, all I have to do is send her some money
Is anyone able to get money from me?

[soe8m]

I have had an email from a great looking Russian lady who wants to come and see me, all I have to do is send her some money
Is anyone able to get money from me?

Also a fake virgin.

Jeroen

[Sundowner]

Nearly every day I get at least one fake message with the logo of a well known company. PayPal, Australia Post, Microsoft etc, etc. (Most I've had dealings with, which makes it doubly difficult)
I also get a heap of that blatantly fake Nigerian crap, telling me I've won a bucket-load of cash or been left a small fortune in somebody's will, but those seem to be on the decline of late.
The ones that are really worrying are where a friend has had their list of contacts hacked and I receive a message from them with a link to another site. This is on the rise here down-under and I'm glad I have a strong anti-virus and anti-malware?
Recently a mate opened one and had his business's computer held to ransom. He didn't pay the ransom, instead he took the 'puter to an expert who, although it was all encrypted, managed to retrieve most of his info.
Stay Vigilant,
Rob

[NickMorgan]

I've had a couple of calls from those lovely and caring people at Microsoft.

It's amazing how they know I've been having problems with my computer, and great that they can fix it over the phone.
First up was Kevin. He sounded more like a Deepak or Azif, but anyway, it was Kevin.

After I opened up some windows on my PC Kevin got excited, poor fellow, and went to get his manager John. John also sounded like he should be called Deepak or Azif, but anyway it was John. I spent some time congratulating him on his excellent English language skills and in particular his pronunciation, and wondered if he had attended Eton.
He declined to illuminate me on his education, so keen was he to fix my PC.

After I opened some more windows on my PC for John, he was very excited and asked me to read what it said on the screen.
At this point I claimed the screen questioned his sexuality, his mother's virtue, how many fathers he shared, indeed if had really been called Deepak I would possibly be branded as racist, but of course it was John, so that's OK. I also likened his intellect to that of a very dim witted slug, and suggested that a dog would have a higher social standing than him, his brothers, his sisters, his whole family.
He was trying to tell me he really would put a virus on my PC and that he would call every day, several times a day, but I was in mid-flow and not to be stopped. Eventually he hung up.
I've not had a nuisance call since.

Should I contact Microsoft and thank them for fixing my computer?

Poor old Deepak. He phoned me one morning a few weeks ago. He had previously phoned my 87 year old father who luckily was savvy enough not to fall for his charm, but Dad said he was very rude to him and ended up shouting at him and telling him that his computer would be useless now! Anyway, I spoke to Deepak for a while, then put the phone on a shelf while I made a coffee. I returned about five minutes later and said "hello" and was surprised to find he was still on the other end of the phone. I let him talk a while and then he asked if my computer was switched on. I said I would switch it on, but that it was very old, so takes a while. I put the phone back on the shelf and went and had a shower. Unfortunately he had hung up when I returned!!

[Steve28]

I keep getting Emails from various banks (that i've never been with) about accounts i've never had, also the paypal etc ones.