[JudyC]

Everyone should read this: http://www.microsoft...acy/msname.aspx

It outlines very well what is legit and what is a scam.

The related links at the bottom of the article are also helpful and informative.

*Email and web scams: How to protect yourself

*Create strong passwords

*Approach links in e-mails with caution

*Your information on the Internet: What you need to know

*11 Tips for Social Networking Safety

[Figgy]

Thanks Judy, lots of great info there.


I wonder how many people will use the password they created as an example. ?lACpAs56IKMs"

[mumsboys]

Thanks Judy

[Herbal Chickie]

Thanks for the info, Judy.

Figgy! I was thinking the same thing.

[JudyC]

Figgy! There are some things you just cannot fix or educate.

You're welcome, everyone.

[LA-Lili]

Good stuff, Judy, thanks. And as always Figgy, you are the voice of the crowd, lol.

[booky]

Thanks Judy! Definitely some good info there.


@ Figgy!!

[JudyC]

You're welcome, Lili and Booky.

[Ally]

Great info Judy, thank you!

[JudyC]

You're welcome, Ally.

[moreslushymandy]

Thank you for the great info Judy

[JudyC]

You're welcome, mandy.

[Earth]

Straight to the point..thanks Judy. I just don't understand why some don't ' smarten up. They take too many chances it seems.

Have a good one.

[JudyC]

Thanks, Earth, and you're welcome. Hope you have a good one, too.

[WillyCoyote]

Thank You....

willy

[JudyC]

You're welcome, Willy.

[janz]

A good remonder as there's a run of phonecalls happening!
I feel for people new to pc's, so much to watch out for!

[2betty4]

Thank you Judy. I am about to change a number of my passwords

[JudyC]

You're welcome, betty and rich.

[MaDDoG]

I received this in an email this morning and it has SCAM written all over it , and I shall report it to MSN
Below is the contents of the classic phishing email . Don't respond to an email like this , report it and delete it . Refer to post #1 to learn more about how to protect yourself .

Dear Account Owner

This Email is from Msn-Live-Hotmail Customer Care™ and we are sending it to all Msn-Live-Hotmail AccountsOwner for safety. We are having congestion due to the anonymous registration of Msn-Live-Hotmail accounts so we are shutting down some Msn-Live-Hotmail accounts and your account is among those to be deactivated. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if this account is still valid? If it is, Please kindly confirm your account . The following information is needed to verify your account: Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information.
Click on the reply button and fill in your information:


* Full Name..................................
* User Name:.................................
* Password:..................................
* Date of Birth:..............................
* Country Or Territory:..................

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after 24 Hours of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.


Sincerely,
The Windows Live Team™

[JudyC]

MaDDog.

MaDDog brings up a good point. When you receive one of these scam emails and someone has used a Hotmail, Windows Live, Yahoo or other web-based email client to send them, they should always be reported to the abuse department for that email service. That way, the offending email account can be suspended. Make sure to include all email headers when you do.

Do not do this for certain ISP based email accounts however. Experience has shown that reporting spam/abuse for certain ISPs (mostly in eastern Europe and Asia) has only lead to an influx of more spam.

[mumsboys]

Yes these emails are becoming prevalent lately & unfortunately some people believe them to have come from the genuine source. Thanks for the reminder MD that such emails are a complete scam!

[Roweenaa]

Here's another one written in a different style. They even include the copy rite. Just hope it's not real.





Dear Hotmail Account User,
This e-mail has been sent to you by Hotmail to inform you that your account will be deactivated within the next 24 hours due to several unsuccessful login attempts on your account.
To prevent this to happen please fill in your details below:

User .....................................

Password: ...........................................
Alternative Email:...................................................
Password:.....................................................................
Date of Birth:........................................
Country or Territory:...........................

YOUR DETAILS WILL NOT BE SHARED.
We'll keep working on making Windows Live! the best email service around, and we appreciate your joining us for the ride.



*Not all viruses can be detected and cleaned. Please be aware that there is a risk involved whenever downloading email attachments to your computer or sending email attachments to others and that, as provided in the Terms of Service, neither Hotmail! nor its licensors are responsible for any damages caused by your decision to do so. Please reply to this message. This is a service email related to your use of Hotmail! Mail.1 z


Regards,
Hotmail member services.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© 2011 Windows Live inc.

[Figgy]

See the 1st paragraph in post #21 and report it.

[JudyC]

Roweena, first, if you would ever happen to get an email that is legit from Hotmail, it would not address you by "Dear Account User". It would address you by the name you used when registering your account.

Second, no legitimate email would ask you to respond with personal details such as password or anything else. If you get one that does, you can automatically assume it's a scam.

Third, these scam emails always use pictures or additional links that go to Microsoft sites or are real Microsoft pics. It doesn't take much skill to copy them and add them to an email.

Your Hotmail account has a built in method to report these scams. If you receive a suspicious email that asks for personal information, click the check box next to the message in your Hotmail inbox. Click Mark as (at the top) and then point to Phishing scam.

Remember these four points and you'll never be reeled in like a fish:
1) A legitimate email will address you by name. They don't need you to provide your user name. They already have that information.
2) A legitimate email will never ask you to respond with any personal information such as a password;
3) A legitimate email will never ask you to "click here" or click a link (or even copy/paste a link) to access their site to change or provide personal information, rather it will instruct you to log in manually (not with a provided url) and provide new information if needed. An exception may be if you newly register at a site or forum and a validation email may be received instructing you to click on a link to verify it's really you who registered.
4) A legitimate email from Microsoft or any of its subsidiaries including Hotmail will never contain an attachment.

Re-read one of the articles linked above ( http://www.microsoft...hing-scams.aspx ) and note this paragraph:

Here are some popular scams that you should be aware of:

Scams that use the Microsoft name or names of other well-known companies. These scams include fake email messages or websites that use the Microsoft name. The email message might claim that you have won a Microsoft contest, that Microsoft needs your logon information or password, or that a Microsoft representative is contacting you to help you with your computer.