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How do I know if this is a valid request or a phishing attempt?
vanity | 3/14/14 | me, EVA

Posted on 03/14/2014 3:29:18 PM PDT by Eva

I received this email today and immediately called American Express. They said that my account was in good standing and that they did not see any problem. They did not say whether they sent the email, but the woman said that she didn't see any problem with the account.

This is the email:

Dear American Express Member

Because of unusual number of invalid login attempts on you account, we had to believe that, there might be some security problems on you account.

So we have decided to put an extra verification process to ensure your identity and your account security.

Please download the attached file and continue to the verification process and ensure your account security.

If we do not receive the appropriate account verification within 48 hours, then we will assume this American Express account is fraudulent and will be suspended.

The purpose of this verification is to ensure that your American Express account has not been fraudulently used, and to combat the fraud from our community.

We appreciate your support and understanding and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

American Express Customer Service

When you click on the verification symbol, you get a page that asks for all the personal information for the account. I started to fill it out and then I realized that it is probably a fraud. What do you think?


TOPICS: Conspiracy
KEYWORDS: americanexpress; amex; fraud; phishing; scam
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To: Eva

Eva

This is a great free route kit, make sure you click top and check mark all the options, it will reboot your system and see if anything is hiding in your startup.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/antirootkit/


61 posted on 03/14/2014 4:25:25 PM PDT by crosslink (Moderates should play in the middle of a busy street)
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To: Eva

Forward the email to their fraud hotline..... http://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/fraud-protection-center.html


62 posted on 03/14/2014 4:25:38 PM PDT by csmusaret (Will remove Obama-Biden bumperstickers for $10)
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To: Eva
then I realized that it is probably a fraud.

No "probably" about it.

First, legit companies NEVER send this kind of e-mail.

Second, real e-mails from credit card companies usually get the spelling and grammar right. Scammers almost never do, and this example is no exception.

"on you account"? Are you kidding me?

"So we have decided to put an extra verification process"... "Put" an extra verification process? Who writes like that? Be vigilant and immediately delete every e-mail like this that you receive and NEVER click a link.

Don't think these will stop; thee phishers are persistent. I get three or four emails like this a day, and they can be very imaginative.

If you have the time, you can forward the e-mails to the fraud unit of whoever they are masquerading as, in this case American Express. Often the scammers are using hijacked servers - I got one that used the servers of a small community hospital in Minnesota, for example.

Another thing you might consider is supporting the death penalty for these scum when they are caught.

Write "you" congressman.

63 posted on 03/14/2014 4:31:17 PM PDT by John Valentine (Deep in the Heart of Texas)
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To: liege
Most of the time when your mouse cursor hovers over the “link” they are telling you to click, down at the bottom of your browser page will be the actual web address it will take you to. It usually looks weird.

I got an email like this once. Mousing over the link displayed a long but apparently legitimate URL. Too long to fully display. Being curious, I copied the URL to the clipboard and pasted it into an editor, so that I could see the whole thing. Turned out, the URL ended with an @-sign followed by a raw IP address, a slash, and some more gobbledygook.

The @-sign syntax is intended to allow URLs of the form:

http://userid:password@example.com/blah

IOW, the URL I was dealing with actually went to the IP address buried at the end, not to the apparent URL in the userid field. Cute.

64 posted on 03/14/2014 4:32:37 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: Eva

Thats a Phishing attempt if there ever was.Don’t reply to it at all.Just Trash it.

If your really concerned just call the Customer Service number on your account and verify your account info there.

I see a lot of these messages.The one thing about them is the bastards creating these letters are getting more creative so be careful out there.


65 posted on 03/14/2014 4:33:42 PM PDT by puppypusher ( The World is going to the dogs.)
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To: Eva

It’s a fraud. The key is that they asked for all of your personal information. American Express already knows it.

You might want to look at (or copy for people here) the full header of your email. I’ll bet it isn’t from American Express.


66 posted on 03/14/2014 4:41:01 PM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Eva

Amex will call you if they are concerned about an account.


67 posted on 03/14/2014 4:41:15 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: Eva

Get phone calls and emails all the time claiming there’s a problem with my credit card account - always a fraud unless they request you to contact a previously established number or email address already in your possession.....


68 posted on 03/14/2014 4:42:21 PM PDT by Intolerant in NJ
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To: Eva

Also, if they ever do call, you will be told by the agent to call them back at the toll free number on your card. Don’t ever disuss anything on the phone during an incoming call you didn’t expect to get. Same with an email.


69 posted on 03/14/2014 4:43:36 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: Eva

Oh, you poor woman. How did you manage to post this to FR? You need to disconnect you computer ... forever.


70 posted on 03/14/2014 4:52:10 PM PDT by KingLudd
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To: JimSEA

It is why I never answer anything from an email link. Always go direct to the site by inputting the company’s url or phone them.

Be safe don’t click ;)


71 posted on 03/14/2014 5:06:04 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: Eva
The email I sent to you is truth. Please to respond so we can mutually clear up this matter.
72 posted on 03/14/2014 5:08:57 PM PDT by JPG (Yes We Can morphs into Make It Hurt.)
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To: Eva

100 percent, absolutely, positively a thief’s attempt.


73 posted on 03/14/2014 5:12:46 PM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: Eva
Just to add weight to what must by now be an overwhelming preponderance of good advice:

IT'S A SCAM !

74 posted on 03/14/2014 5:15:48 PM PDT by tomkat (3%+1)
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To: bigbob

“Assume everything is a scam and delete, ignore, don’t worry about it. If it’s not, you’ll know.”

I agree - but I have deleted some things by people that I was supposed to get. (New contacts with a heading like “info:”) That is THEIR fault. (And yes - I do find out about them).

Other scams:

Problem with FedEx package delivery. (If I have a package enroute at the time, I go to the FedEx site to confirm.)

Got a phone call(!) from Microsoft warning me that I had a virus. (Please leave me alone and don’t call back. Guy sounded like “Peggy”).

Your PayPal account has expired.

All of those sex pill ads are legit though. Luckily I don’t need them (yet?).


75 posted on 03/14/2014 5:16:33 PM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts 2013 is 1933 REBORN)
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To: John Valentine
Another thing you might consider is supporting the death penalty for these scum when they are caught


             


I'd kill 'em twice, to just to be sure.

76 posted on 03/14/2014 5:19:24 PM PDT by tomkat (3%+1)
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To: Eva
Please download the attached file...

That right there tells you everything you need to know.

Surely you figured that out?

77 posted on 03/14/2014 5:34:03 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (If Barack Hussein Obama entertains a thought that he does not verbalize, is it still a lie?)
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To: Eva
How do I know if this is a valid request or a phishing attempt?

AmEx will not ask you to download anything.

Dump the e-mail and run a check on your computer.

78 posted on 03/14/2014 5:36:41 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: Eva
There is a website: Email Header Tracer: Free service allowing you to trace the email path back to original sender's location, by using the email header. Every guest can make maximum 20 lookups per day.

You go to your email program, and under some menu item (I use Mac Mail, so it is under VIEW>>MESSAGE>>RAW SOURCE, but Outlook or any other will be different. Most give you a way to do it)

Anyway, find out how to view the headers or raw source of the email, copy and paste it into the window at the website, and click "Lookup". You get something that looks like this:

If I see ANYTHING funky, like an email from Cyprus (or Romania, etc) as in this junk mail I got, I won't open it. You can also forward your email to your company, most have a special email address you can send suspect emails to, and they will send an automated message back saying "It isn't ours" or something like that.

Most of the time, though, it is commonsense, you just have to think about it.

79 posted on 03/14/2014 6:49:58 PM PDT by rlmorel ("A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral." A. Hamilton)
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To: tomkat
I wouldn't mind seeing this: put them in stocks outside conventions, and give away lots of free alcohol inside...


80 posted on 03/14/2014 6:53:37 PM PDT by rlmorel ("A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral." A. Hamilton)
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