Here is one I received recently:
[NAME REMOVED] shared a link on your Wall.
My gosh you have to see this baby it’s the funniest thing ever!!!
Funniest Baby On The Net – Be Ready To Cry of Laughter
[LINK REMOVED]
Laugh so hard that you cry with these funniest videos on the net.
This message contained a link that looked just like the Facebook log-in page. I almost fell for it, until I looked at the address bar. It didn’t show facebook.com, but some other site. This is called Phishing — beware!
Here is another one I received recently:
“Your Authorize online service has expired. If your intention is to remain a Authorize customer please begin the activation sequence as soon as possible. Failure to update your information will lead to the permanently suspension of your account. Click here to Log-in to your account and update your information.”
This is an example of Phishing, the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity. Trust your instincts. If an e-mail message looks suspicious, it probably is.
This was an easy one to ignore since I don’t have an authorize.net account. However, I have received similar messages from Facebook, PayPal, and American Express. Although these messages appear to come from legitimate businesses, they are fakes.
First clue: most of these messages contain misspelled words, so look for those first.
A second BIG clue is that no legitimate business is ever going to send you an email message asking you to update your contact information by clicking a link. They will send you all types of other messages, welcome to your new account, links to the service center, links to the FAQ, etc., but most will never request account information via an email message.
The third clue: If you do click the link, pay attention to the web address that shows in the status window. The above link led to authorize.pttwebservices.com, which is not the same as authorize.net. This is a hacker at work. The links that you are urged to click may contain all or part of a real company’s name, but the link is actually taking you to a phony Web site.