Scam Alerts, including snail mail offers and phishing emails

If I find out about something that I think is particularly dodgy, I will post it here to make sure no one falls for the trap.

For information about scam, phishing or hoax emails.
Please visit http://www.hoax-slayer.com BEFORE you send it out to everyone in your address book.

Trojan Alert - iTunes Gift Certificate Email

Hi guys,

If you receive this email, please don't presume it's your lucky day, just delete it immediately.From: iTunes Products [consultants@itunes.com]
Subject: Thank you for buying iTunes Gift Certificate!
Attachment: Gift_Certificate_513.zip
Body Text:
Hello!
You have received an iTunes Gift Certificate in the amount of $50.00 You can find your certificate code in attachment below.

Then you need to open iTunes. Once you verify your account, $50.00 will be credited to your account, so you can start buying
music, games, video right away.

iTunes Store.

This is all pretty obvious but I have to post it.

See more about it here: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/itunes-certificate-malware.shtml

HOAX: Mars, Earth - Closest Approach in Recorded History

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html

Summary:
Email claims that Earth and Mars will have the closest approach in recorded history in August and will be a spectacular site for stargazers (Full commentary below.)

Status:
Was true in 2003, but is now hopelessly outdated.

Commentary:
An email that has circulated during July and August for several years is again hitting inboxes in 2009. The message informs recipients that the planet Mars will be passing very close to Earth in August. While this information was valid back in 2003, it is totally inaccurate for 2009. One of the 2009 incarnations of the hoax consists of a PowerPoint slide presentation that provides basically the same information as contained in the above email along with several more photographs of Mars

Perhaps by 2287 some of our descendants will be observing the close encounter from the Martian perspective.

Domain Renewal Group

Recently there has been a rise in fraudulent emails and letters sent out to domain holders urging them to transfer or renew their registered domain name. I advise all domain holders to be on the look out for potential scams and treat any email or letter received about domain registration with caution.

One group currently engaged in this scam is the 'Domain Renewal Group', also known as DROA, Domain Registry Of America and Liberty Names of America. Hoax emails have also been sent from other companies. The fake notices usually request large amounts of money for the domain registration service and are written in misleading language urging the domain holder to 'Act today' and informing them 'you must renew your domain name now...'

Your domain Registrar should be the only company contacting you regarding your domain registration. If you are unsure who your current Registrar is you can search your domain registration information at the following link: http://who.is.

A lot of people register their Domain through companies like Go Daddy. If you recieve any type of letter like this, that looks like an invoice, bin it.

Phishing Scam Targets PayPal Users

Summary:
Email claims that the recipient's PayPal account will be suspended if he or she does not update account information.

Status:
False - The email is the first part of a scam designed to steal personal information.

Commentary:
The phishing scam message shown above is typical of many other fraudulent emails that target users of online payment service, PayPal.

The scam email is formatted to look like a genuine PayPal message and includes official looking logos. The message warns recipients that their PayPal account will be suspended if they do not update their personal records. Recipients are instructed to click a link in the email to update their account. The message uses HTML to disguise the link so that it resembles a genuine PayPal web address.

If the victim provides credit card details and clicks the "Submit" button on the website linked in the email, he or she is requested to provide other sensitive personal information on subsequent pages of the fake web form. Information entered into the fake website can then be used by the scammers to access the victim's genuine PayPal account, use the victim's credit card and possibly even steal the victim's identity.

Be wary of any email that asks you to click a link and provide sensitive personal information such as passwords or credit card details. PayPal and other legitimate companies do not request such information from customers in this way. To learn how to recognise phishing scams and effectively protect yourself from this sort of fraud, follow the link below.

The PayPal website also provides comprehensive information about PayPal related scams.

Important Note:
Phisher scammers target many financial institutions and online entities almost continually. At any one time, there may be a number of different scam email versions all directed at a particular bank or online company. Examples of scam emails included on this website may represent only a few of the plethora of versions that are being distributed at a particular time. The purpose of this article is to warn visitors that a particular institution is being targeted and to provide one or more examples of the type of scam emails being distributed. It is not intended to represent a comprehensive list of all such scam emails.