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Spam scam spurious and -- at least this time -- sloppy

An e-mail from "Wachovia Bank" came this morning.

"Dear Customer," it reads. "Wachovia Internet Banking, is here by announcing the New Security Upgrade.

"We've upgraded our new SSL servers to serve our customers for a better and
secure banking service,against any fraudulent activities. Due to this recent upgrade,
you are requested to update your account information by
following the reference below."

Yeah, right.

One tipoff right away is the poor grammar in the note. Another is the fact that I've gotten so many similar emails allegedly from ebay, PayPal, the IRS and a score of banks I don't even do business with that I know these things are bogus.

A phone call today confirmed that in Wachovia's case.

But these suckers can look extremely official. Don't bite. If in doubt call your bank. These queries are no more authentic than those earnest e-mails from African royalty asking for your help in transferring fortunes to the U.S.


Comments (2)

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Anonymous said:

FYI:

Nigerian Internet scams were thought for years to be so transparently fraudulent that they would work only on the very gullible, who would send thousands of dollars overseas in the naive expectation of receiving millions in return. However, it was also too good to pass up for a professional money manager, the longtime treasurer of Alcona County, Mich., Thomas Katona, who admitted in court in January 2007 that he had lost $1.25 million of taxpayer money, plus his own life's savings, in a Nigerian scam. [Detroit Free Press, 1-18-07]

And what's with the math quiz now required to post?



Jack Russel [TypeKey Profile Page] said:

Another thing you need to watch is these on line surveys you get. You may find you get a bigg telephone bill.

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