NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, August 2003
A Clever Scam
by Norm Koehring
nkoehring@earthlink.net
(click to email author)


During the several years I've been on the internet I've received a lot of e-mail requesting me to invest in what were obvious scams. However, last week I almost fell for one that seemed legitimate. About three days earlier I had placed an order with Earthlink for a DSL (high speed internet connection) in which I had to furnish personal information along with my credit card number. I do not think that the following action had any connection to that order because the order was placed by phone. But, it did put my mind into a more accepting mode for this particular scam.

I received this bogus message twice. Fortunately, I called Earthlink at their customer service number and found there was nothing wrong with my account and that the intent of this message was for some thief(s) to capture my personel information and credit card number.

Be vigilant.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Notifcation of Account Suspention
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 03 00:54:34 GMT
From: "AOL CSR"
To: < nkoehring@earthlink.net >

< nli="" jgrfuqjtwwkqu="" em=""

Dear Customer,

A flag/error has occurred with your particular EARTHLINK Account. This could be caused by a number of reasons as follows:

    1. Your credit card failed to be properly authorized, it has expired, or as been found to be on record with EARTHLINK under a different account. In order to remedy this problem it is suggested that you provide another credit card that can be billed for your EARTHLINK Services. In order to ensure that your EARTHLINK account remains active please provide new credit/debit card.

    2. Your personal information has been changed or our current record of your data is invalid.

    3. You are required to provide us more information about yourself to ensure your account's security.

This issued must be solved within 24 hours of receiving this email or your account may be suspended and/or terminated and a reactivation fee of $24.95 will apply if you choose to continue your EARTHLINK Experience. This charge cannot be waived once the account has been deactivated. For fastest processing, we are providing a secured link to verify your information. Please click the link below to verify your personal & billing information. We recommend using our secure server.

Please ensure that we have the correct information by clicking here. (blubb.trubiz.com) We remind you that a wrong billing information can cause account restriction.

Thank you for your business.
John Williams
EARTHLINK Billing Department

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