# If you're gonna try scamming me...



## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

.... at least attempt to use correct grammar and punctuation. :biggrin:

I got this email, allegedly from RBC, but it's so bad it's laughable....

**************************************************************
Dear Client
Recently, we noticed some strange moves in bank account,
Please enter via the following link and make sure these moves as quickly as possible,

{w w w . r b c r o y a l b a n k . c o m} _<---- a fake hyper-link to RBC that is actually to a site in a Greenland domain ? {g o o . g l / I F b 1 y x}_

If this is not completed before march 15, 2015, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely
Confirm My Account


Royal Bank of Canada Website, © 1995-2015 
****************************************************************

Does anybody actually fall for this? Just to be on the safe side, I disabled parsing links, and put spaces between the letters so that nobody here would click on it. :stupid:


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## Bowzer (Feb 25, 2015)

You know, some years ago I fell for a paypal confirmation scam. 

Wasn't thinking, clicked the link, "logged in", and then it was asking for Social Security number which I knew wasn't right, and I realized the url was all wrong.

I immediately logged into my real paypal and changed my password, but that was a close one! And I'm a young man who works with computers for a living! 

This incident might have been 10 years ago now, so "phishing" would have been a new problem, but still I realized if I can fall for it anyone can and it must be effective for them to do their mass mailouts.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^*Userkare: * no to your questoin, and all the reason for me to very much dislike doing "online banking". You may want to report it to the "real" RBC .... supposedly they take this kind of thing seriously. 

^^ 


> *Bowzer:* ... This incident might have been 10 years ago now, so "phishing" would have been a new problem, *but still I realized if I can fall for it anyone can and it must be effective for them to do their mass mailouts.*


 ... one of the hardest to tell is an email service (eg. gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc.) sending legitimate looking email asking you to update your account and add some security feature ... I fell for one only to realize it wasn't the legitimate provider such that now I ignore all such "requests".


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## Woz (Sep 5, 2013)

It might be a myth but I read somewhere that scammers use poor grammar because it filters out the victims who are less likely to fall for the scam, leaving only the most gullible.


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

Bowzer said:


> You know, some years ago I fell for a paypal confirmation scam.
> 
> Wasn't thinking, clicked the link, "logged in", and then it was asking for Social Security number which I knew wasn't right, and I realized the url was all wrong.


This one? I get them all the time...

********************************************************************
Hi dear,

We have noticed an unusual activity for your account, We just need to verify that this
paypal account belongs to you.

we want to verify your account by updating your PayPal account
information to make sure that this account belongs to you .

Simply click the link below and update your PayPal account information

verify your account information now

Sincerely,
Customer Service at PayPal.com 


Please do not reply to this email. We are unable to respond to inquiries sent to this address. For immediate answers to your questions, visit our Help Center by clicking "Help" located on any PayPal page or email.

Copyright @ 2014 PayPal Inc. All rights reserved. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131. 


*******************************************************************************


I would find the "Hi dear", as well as improper punctuation and capitalization, a dead giveaway - were it not for the fact that I don't even have a PayPal account.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Woz said:


> It might be a myth but I read somewhere that scammers use poor grammar because it filters out the victims who are less likely to fall for the scam, leaving only the most gullible.


One has to be careful about this assumption. I was talking to a guy the other day who got a call from CRA...heavy accented person, was calling about a missing submission, but they (the caller) didn't know what the form was called...

It turned out to be a legitimate call...scary.


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

It's true, the poor grammar is intentional. They figure if you're dumb enough to believe that they're official despite the fact they write like a third grader, then you're far more likely to fall for their scam. It's a quick way for the scammer to avoid wasting his time with anyone with a brain.


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## Jim9guitars (May 5, 2012)

I've been getting text messages on my cell phone every 2 or 3 months telling me my RBC account has been suspended, with directions to log in etc...., Gee, if I had an RBC account I might be concerned. All the major banks have been telling people that they never send this type of message and if you are concerned to call them yourself.


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## Sandra (May 14, 2015)

fack scammers!


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

We get people trying to scam at work too, they try to drop off things like a box of rolls of receipt paper, ask you to sign, then they start mailing you a box every month. LOL. Worth the effort to buy your own items at Staples....


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## Vicjai (May 15, 2015)

LOL

i've seen many of these things before, mostly spam. Probably got your email when you were subscribing to something. The poor grammar can be explained because the scam originate from countries outside of North America. They use translation services such as yahoo or google translate then copy + paste the text.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Bowzer said:


> You know, some years ago I fell for a paypal confirmation scam.
> 
> Wasn't thinking, clicked the link, "logged in", and then it was asking for Social Security number which I knew wasn't right, and I realized the url was all wrong.
> 
> ...


Happens a LOT now. I've had a few; PayPal and from my Mastercard...phishing for more personal information.

Don't EVER reply to these!..just forward them to the appropriate Fraud emails address of the particular financial entity to let them know you received a phishing email.

With milllions of trained "Microsoft engineers" in India and Asia , and elsewhere..this type of email hacking and phoney site addresses is on the rise.


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## mf4361 (Apr 11, 2015)

Yea these phishing email are plentiful.

That is why I now use a password manager, so i am much more likely to change my password more frequently.

Number of years ago, I got a MSN message from a friend of mine (Yes back when MSN messenger was still a thing), that says she is stuck in Wales and in need of some money. I did almost fell for it. It was an actual person I was talking to and able to respond, not just a link. Lucky I checked with her and it turns out her account was compromised and being controlled remotely.


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