Internet – Page 25 – Mouse Print*

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Money.com Offers to Check Your Data for Breaches, But…

January 18, 2021 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

With so many data breaches happening these days, it is hard to keep track if and where you have become a victim. To help check to see if your personal data has been compromised, right at the top of the homepage of Money magazine, the publication is offering to do a free search.

What an easy and valuable service they are providing… except for one thing.

*MOUSE PRINT:

What? In order to find out about any breaches you may have suffered, you are also signing up for advertising emails not just from Money but from others too.

That’s nasty.

The service that Money is using for the data searches is HaveIBeenPwned? which you can access directly for free. They say they do not retain your email address except if you subscribe to be alerted to future breaches.

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GoDaddy Offers Employees a Holiday Bonus, But…

January 17, 2021January 11, 2021 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Just before Christmas, Internet service company GoDaddy apologized for not having a holiday party this year because of the coronavirus, but instead emailed employees news of a holiday bonus they could sign up for.

The email from HappyHoliday@GoDaddy.com directed employees to a link to sign up for the bonus, and presumably asked them to verify their identity by entering their official login credentials, etc. so the bonus could be processed.

A few days later the 500 or so employees who signed up got another email from the company.

*MOUSE PRINT: (details that were missing from the first email)

This time they were told the invitation was really a phishing test by the company, that they just failed it, and they would have to attend a remedial class on Internet security. And incidentally, there really was no company bonus this year.

Employees were livid and ultimately GoDaddy apologized for pulling this stunt so close to the holidays when money was short for many people.

[This story was originally reported by the Copper Courier.]

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No, Amazon is Not Sending You a $100 Gift Card

November 30, 2020 by Edgar (aka MrConsumer)

Last week, MrConsumer received an email seemingly from Amazon saying it was sending along a $100 gift card as a thank you. How nice of them. But on closer inspection, this was a scam.

*MOUSE PRINT:

First, the email was addressed to “abuse@consumerworld.org” which is not a personal email. Secondly, when hovering over the “view details” button with the mouse, you see that clicking it would take you to “woo-brands.com” and not to Amazon. Visiting that site could well have infected my computer with malware, trigger whatever trap the sender intended.

And checking the IP addresses in the header information of this email (under source in most email programs), you see that the email appears to have originated in China and had a lovely journey through Italy on the way to Boston.

*MOUSE PRINT:

So, the lesson here is that no matter how legitimate an email looks, double-check any links or buttons, no matter what they say, before clicking on them.