General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWARNING - COMCAST/XFINITY users for internet or TV...phishing scam VERY REAL looking
Woke up this morning to an EMAIL from Xfinity (I thought) saying my router had been reset and I had to go in and change my network name and password.
This made no sense to me, but I almost did it by accident when I opened it on my phone as my pre-fill almost filled it in.
I called xfinity, told them the senders email and they said it wasnt theirs, but it was from something like alerts.comcast.com or a little longer, the whole think looked EXACTLY like Comcast.
As far as I know you would NEVER be told by Comcast or Xfinity that you have to CHANGE your network name or password. Had I done it of course they would now have my access info and with that I assume they would only want my credit card info...
Although that is the part I am confused about, what in my account could they use other than that?
I put this in GD because this is a real nasty one, looked perfect. I want everyone to know about it.
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)I called them and as a precaution changed my password on their site.
cry baby
(6,682 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,666 posts)Only thing I get from them is my monthly "bill." I pay through my apt complex, so I basically just hit ignore.
It's always a good idea to not follow up on those kinds of emails. Most reputable companies won't send them. I get phishing (I assume) emails all the time requesting I "confirm my cancellation" to shit I've never heard of. Yeah, right. At best I figure it is just a mailer to send my email to 50 other bogus sites.
2naSalit
(86,646 posts)I'm not affiliated with anything electronically except this site and my email. It had a name for a sender, no subject, with an attachment @aol. I haven't opened it, don't plan to. I don't recognize the name.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)DENVERPOPS
(8,835 posts)is calling people in Denver saying they are Xcel energy and your utilities will be disconnected unless you give them payment info immediately. Official sounding and Caller ID reads Xcel energy and their phone #.
I have been getting these calls for a month, over and over.....
mrsadm
(1,198 posts)asking me to click their link and enter my id and pw.
Please don't do ANYTHING that an email asks you to do, unless you call and verify. Or just ignore, even better.
Zoonart
(11,869 posts)Went to apple and reported. These scams are getting more and more prevalentent and convincing.
Never follow an email link to reset your pass info.
hlthe2b
(102,291 posts)Most phishing emails will be quite obviously NOT from the parent company.
Then, ask if it is likely the company would email you out of the blue and demand personal identifying information.
answer: No, they don't and wouldn't. They will call you and give you the opportunity to verify who they are and likewise who you are with information only you and THEY) would know. And, they will not mind if you check out with a call of your own to verify who they are and that the call originated with the company.
I get tons of these because I have a primary email associated with a business.
Skepticism will "save" you.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)I hovered over the hyperlinks in the body of the email and they also had comcast in it but was even less convincing.
I accidentally went to their site because I was on my phone and I hit the link, my phone wanted to prefill my log in , but i prevented it, but my phone thought it was comcast also...
i deleted and reported it as phishing...
hlthe2b
(102,291 posts)and there surely will be something very funky about it.
Not "customerservice@apple.com" but something like "customerservicebrian@apple. xnvionton.com or .ca
or some other weird inclusion or suffix.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)phishing so I cant look at it again or if I can I dont want to and then accidentally do something LOL
packman
(16,296 posts)"Claim your high intensity flashlight (Also - Ninja knife set, tactical special force knife, etc.). All you have to do is confirm your e-mail address and provide a credit card number to cover shipping costs.
Blaukraut
(5,693 posts)I knew they were scams because, first off, I hadn't bought anything from Amazon recently and my husband actually fell for the Apple one a month ago! Clicking on the link, it took him to what looked like the Apple site, where he attempted to cancel payment for the supposed charge. Once it made him put in all sorts of info, including his SSN to 'confirm', I told him to stop immediately and call one of the credit agencies to put a hold on any activity. (in his defense - he is not usually this gullible, but he had just had open heart surgery and wasn't quite himself yet).
So be really careful! These emails look real. They take you to sites that look authentic. (even the url looks ALMOST real). Bottom line: Never give out any info when prompted. Neither Xfinity nor Amazon or Apple will EVER ask you for passwords, SSN, credit card info (unless you're buying something).
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)i googled and found them to be scams.
BumRushDaShow
(129,084 posts)Was digging for an example screenshot of that and the best I could find for now is in the below -
They use that to help verify it's from them and stick it at the beginning of their email subject. If I don't see it, I check the sender email address but normally throw it right into my spam folder.
AllaN01Bear
(18,247 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,823 posts)If they get one reply of information out of 5,000, they are making money from their scam.
roamer65
(36,745 posts)Mme. Defarge
(8,033 posts)Nictuku
(3,614 posts)Many (many many) people use the same password with various accounts and email. So once they have that info, there are many other ways they could get to steal your identity information.
The best advice I can give to folks is to /never/ use the same password for your email account that you use for banking and other accounts, such as your other accounts like comcast, banking, etc.
Once passwords and email are hacked, they can do a lot of damage to your economic status.
I use a particular password for banking, different password for all work-related things, a gmail account I just use with friends and family, and then I have a yahoo email account that I just use for signing up for things that require email verification.
Keeping track of passwords is a PITA, but protecting yourself is important.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)I just got a call from "Apple" on my Verizon account Samsung cell phone warning me about suspicious activity on my iCloud account. I have never had an iCloud account, and the last Apple product I owned was an Apple ][e computer.
I wish it hadn't been a robocall so I could have jerked them around for a while. So I just blocked that number.
question everything
(47,486 posts)DanieRains
(4,619 posts)Barr is on the case!
Going after FBI Agents protecting us from RUSSIANS ATTACKING US.
You don't think they can find these phishing scumbags of they wanted to?
Chipper Chat
(9,680 posts)Saying my Norton protection expired in 4 minutes. Said click here to renew. It was very official looking but my Norton doesnt expire until July so I knew it was a fake.
Lexee
(377 posts)usaf-vet
(6,189 posts).... Phishing attacks. Banks, credit card companies, cellphone providers are just a few of those businesses that are used to "phish" user names, passwords, and account numbers.
ONLY the government can attack this global cybersecurity issue.
roamer65
(36,745 posts)That is where the legitimate look usually stops.
SWBTATTReg
(22,133 posts)in and just arbitrarily 'reset' your router, which is part of one's in house data network. Besides, resetting a router requires an ID (SSID) and password. Throwing these gee whiz terms to confuse people. More than likely when one gets emails like this, it's a attempt to get one to reveal their credit card number(s), etc.
nevergiveup
(4,762 posts)and deleted it without giving it a thought. I almost always (90%) delete emails from companies but there is that 1 in 10 that I open. Thanks for the warning as I will now be especially wary of emails from Xfinity.
mntleo2
(2,535 posts)Chipper Chat
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