Spam email

[Stanley]

I agree entirely Pluggy, the genuine ones will get hold of you if they need you and will not mind being checked because they will be doing the same thing.

[Tizer]

....A phone call from an unknown number I might answer it and then say "If you are whom you claim to be there will be no problem contacting me in writing" unsurprisingly I never get mail from said party querying why I wouldn't speak to them on the phone.......

That's our response too, Pluggy.

[Stanley]

I got this this morning....

Dear User,
All email accounts finishing in **@talktalk.net Please tap the button underneath to sign in and confirm your mail to dodge any benefit interruptions.
Verify Your Account:
Sincerely,
Help from TalkTalk Support,
Webmail Client Benefit

Guess what I did with it.....

[Big Kev]

I got this this morning....

Dear User,
All email accounts finishing in **@talktalk.net Please tap the button underneath to sign in and confirm your mail to dodge any benefit interruptions.
Verify Your Account:
Sincerely,
Help from TalkTalk Support,
Webmail Client Benefit

Guess what I did with it.....

It's always worth forwarding it to phishing@talktalk.co.uk prior to deleting it. This will allow TalkTalk's security team to identify where it's coming from, stop it from even hitting the network and potentially identifying who sent it in the first place.

[plaques]

You have greater faith TalkTalk than I have. About a year ago I closed my account with TalkTalk and rejected the option to continue with the email account at about £50 per year. The email @talkTalk is still open although I never use it. It appears to be nothing more than an opportunity for them to flood me with adverts.

[PanBiker]

I would concur with Kev in reporting it to Talk Talk. No chance of anything being done if you just dump it.

[Big Kev]

You have greater faith TalkTalk than I have. About a year ago I closed my account with TalkTalk and rejected the option to continue with the email account at about £50 per year. The email @talkTalk is still open although I never use it. It appears to be nothing more than an opportunity for them to flood me with adverts.

Have you been into the account and deactivated it Ken?

To delete your TalkTalk account, you will need to go to talktalk.com/account and sign in.
Once you’re logged in, click on the My Account link in the top right corner and then select Deactivate My Account from the dropdown menu.
You will then be asked to confirm your decision.
After you’ve confirmed your decision, your account will be deleted.

Apparently this should deactivate the email as well.

[Stanley]

I didn't load you with all the details. It has been reported to Talk Talk Phishing..... t

[plaques]

Have you been into the account and deactivated it Ken?

Kev, Can't remember all the detail. Cancelled my direct debit, Went through loads of hoops, are you sure, this will stop your service you will suffer a fate worse than death. etc,etc,
It happened during the time they were pushing the fibre broadband. They didn't give a toss about the shutdowns on the 'wire' customers. At the time it looked like they were getting ready to sell the company and were making it look as attractive as possible.

Do I Care?

[Stanley]

We must speak as we find Ken. I never took up the offer of free full fibre and just carry on quietly with a service that is far more reliable than it used to be. It does everything I want and doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

[plaques]

Let me be clear TalkTalk is good value for money providing the service is up to scratch. Unfortunately I was at the end of 1000 meters of copper where I was being shut down as many as three time in one day. All to manage demand although this was never admitted. I had been with them ever since they started up and was reluctant to change but enough was enough.

[PanBiker]

We must speak as we find Ken. I never took up the offer of free full fibre and just carry on quietly with a service that is far more reliable than it used to be. It does everything I want and doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

My upgrade to full fibre didn't cost any more than what I was paying for the copper service and the phone, a no brainier really. It used to be that you had to lose the land-line to get the same price but now you just get a router with a VOIP port on it and get to keep it. Win, win.

[Stanley]

So if the router fails or loses power do you lose the landline?

[PanBiker]

Yes, because it relies on the internet but a very rare occasion as I think you will agree. Future proofing in a way as the Open Reach engineers said that the copper network will ultimately be phased out as it now costs a lot more to maintain the old technology than its replacement fibre network which has a lot more resilience and therefore much cheaper in the long term. I don't have a problem if the land line goes down temporarily as we both a have mobiles so it would not be a problem.

[Stanley]

Nowt like being optimistic! I'm not quite as sanguine....

[PanBiker]

Glass half full Stanley rather than half empty. Same cost, better, faster, more reliable service. I would rather bet on that than a redundant unsupported network.

Back on topic...

I got an email this morning forwarded from an original email address that I had with tiscali, unused for at least 10 - 12 years or more. Supposedly from HSBC canvassing me to confirm my details and mobile number, link conveniently provided in the message.

I don't have and have never had any accounts with HSBC.

I have forwarded it to the phishing email address for the bank.

[Tizer]

This morning Mrs Tiz overheard someone relating how he had a call from his broadband service saying they were sending him a new router and needed to check his present one then told him to log into the router and let them take him through the process. Fortunately he knows a bit about computers and ended the call!

[PanBiker]

I received a reply from the HSBC phishing dept:

Some useful links in the reply.

Thanks for reporting a suspicious communication to HSBC UK.

We may send you communications from time to time, but we'll never ask for your security information, your login details or direct you to a page that will do so. Only fraudsters will. If you receive an unsolicited email, text message or phone call, the chances are that it's an attempt to phish information from you.

Key features of phishing emails, SMSs and calls are:

• A request to the reader to log on to their banking service, via an embedded link
• A request for security information (typically not just random characters but the whole password, and card details too)
• Callers may ask you to log on to your internet banking or mobile app and move money to a 'safe' account

Please be wary of all unsolicited contact either from your bank or another company such as HMRC, DVLA or the Police. Millions of these messages are sent out every day in the hope that someone somewhere will be fooled into passing on their information.

To keep you and all of our customers protected, we take an active part in working with experts to shut down the corresponding fraudulent websites and phone numbers.

If you've clicked on any links, you should consider changing passwords. There are many ways to protect yourself from such unwanted messages and specific advice is available on https://www.getsafeonline.org; https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/ or at https://www.hsbc.co.uk/help/security-centre/

Please note - this is an automated response and we don't respond individually to emails or provide updates on individual queries.

If your email was not in relation to suspicious emails, please note that it will not be forwarded. For security, this address is not connected to our main banking systems. Please contact your local branch, or telephone call centre on 03457 404404. Textphone 1800 103457 125 563. Lines are open from 8am to 10pm every day (excluding Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day). If you're an HSBC customer, you can also get in touch via the secure "My Messages" service, within Personal Internet Banking.

[PanBiker]

Earlier in the week I got a similar email to the one posted earlier but this supposedly from Santander, another bank I have never dealt or held accounts with. I did the same with that one as I did with the HSBC ruse. I received a similar reply from Santander, thanks and we'll look into it..

[Stanley]

I got a spam email today purporting to be from gov.co.uk trying to get me to click on a link to activate my vehicle licensing payment. I deleted it of course, I don't have a vehicle.
Here's what was in the message.

D͏͏e͏͏a͏͏r͏͏ scg1936@talktalk.net,

F͏r͏o͏m͏ o͏u͏r͏ r͏e͏c͏o͏r͏d͏s͏ i͏t͏ s͏e͏e͏m͏s͏ t͏h͏a͏t͏ y͏o͏u͏r͏ l͏a͏t͏e͏s͏t͏ v͏e͏h͏i͏c͏l͏e͏ t͏a͏x͏ p͏a͏y͏m͏e͏n͏t͏ h͏a͏s͏ f͏a͏i͏l͏e͏d͏.
A͏v͏o͏i͏d͏ v͏e͏h͏i͏c͏l͏e͏ t͏a͏x͏ s͏u͏s͏p͏e͏n͏s͏i͏o͏n͏ b͏y͏ u͏s͏i͏n͏g͏ o͏u͏r͏ e͏n͏c͏r͏y͏p͏t͏e͏d͏ l͏i͏n͏k͏:

Link removed by admin

Y͏o͏u͏r͏s͏ s͏i͏n͏c͏e͏r͏e͏l͏y͏
G͏O͏V͏.U͏K͏

[Tripps]

Maybe better to just delete it, and not expose it to a wider audience?

[Big Kev]

I've removed the url from Stanley's post in case someone inadvertently clicks on it.

20230302_150436.jpg

[Stanley]

Do you know I thought that as well but then forgot. Sorry for being a silly old fart!

[Big Kev]

Not email, WhatsApp.

WhatsApp scam
Action Fraud has received over 60 reports relating to a scam that steals access to a victim’s WhatsApp
account.
The scam begins when a criminal gets access to another WhatsApp account which has you listed as a
contact. The criminal, posing as your friend or someone that’s a member of a WhatsApp group you’re in,
will then send you seemingly normal messages to try and start a conversation with you. However, around
the same time you will receive a text message from WhatsApp with a six-digit code. This is because the
criminal has been trying to login to WhatsApp using your mobile number. The criminal will claim that they
sent you their code by accident and ask you to help them by sending it to them. Once the criminal has this
code, they can login to your WhatsApp account and lock you out.
The criminal will then use the same tactic with your WhatsApp contacts in an effort to steal more accounts
and use them to perpetrate fraud.

What you need to do
• Set up two-step verification to give an extra layer of protection to your account.
Tap Settings > Account >Two-step verification > Enable.
• STOP. THINK. CALL. If a family member or friend makes an unusual request on WhatsApp, always call
the person to confirm their identity.
• Never share your account’s activation code (that’s the 6 digit code you receive via SMS)
• You can report spam messages or block a sender within WhatsApp. Press and hold on the message
bubble, select ‘Report’ and then follow the instructions

[Tizer]

Thanks for posting that information, Kev. WhatsApp has long been regarded as `safe'. In the 1990s I worked in publishing and was in an office next door to the editors publishing IT security news. Many coffee time conversations with them taught me to always assume that nothing is absolutely safe on the Internet.