More Scams – Surprised?

More Scams – Surprised? 

Larry recently received an email with an interesting twist on a phishing attempt. The email Subject line says ‘Update for your recent purchase.’ The email looks like a normal purchase order from PayPal, complete with PayPal logo, order date, delivery date, transaction number, order confirmation number, and a phone number to call. Unlike the usual phishing attempt, this email does not include a link. Interestingly, the email includes a footer with an address in Austin, TX that does not match PayPal’s Austin address. A private residence is located at the address provided in the email, per Google Maps.

Larry was suspicious because he didn’t recall buying anything via PayPal. After he verified directly through his PayPal account that he hadn’t had any recent transactions, he knew this was a scam. Be cautious! Double-check using other sources, and call us if you need help identifying these scams! – BK

State Unemployment Email Scam—I received a ‘beautiful’ email scam. It was supposedly from the IL Unemployment office. The logo was pretty good, but it was warped – the shape was off. The email address was from NoReply@illinois.gov, which is close, but not the right domain name. It said my profile was out-of-date and asked me to validate my info to avoid payment restrictions (scare tactic). Then there was a link to ‘Get Started.’ Then I was warned to be sure to follow ALL INSTRUCTIONS to avoid restrictions. Across the bottom the paragraph labeled ‘Important’ was in Spanish. There were other buttons to ‘translate message to:’ and one that said ‘Never translate from.’ The Subject line was ‘Important Notification from ILUI,’ which is not how IL represents this department.

Most of these warning flags were small and subtle. If you were in a hurry or distracted, you might miss them. NEVER update information from an email link. If you think the State needs an update, log onto the regular site with your credentials and check it out, or better yet, call them! Do not follow these links, and do not provide any information, credentials, or even info you think is unimportant—DELETE! – CMW