Re: OT: phishing

[JoeRaisin <joeraisin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob La Londe wrote:

> In computing, phishing (also known as carding and spoofing) is a form of
> social engineering, characterised by attempts to fraudulently acquire
> sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by
> masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official
> electronic communication, such as an email or an instant message. The term
> phishing arises from the use of increasingly sophisticated lures to "fish"
> for users' financial information and passwords.
>
> I get tons of phishing e-mails.  Uusally two or three everday on some
> accounts.  When they first started I used to forward them to my regional FBI
> office, but there are so many I just delete them anymore.  I'm sure the
> local FBI agents get plenty of heads up on them.
>
> Today I decided to do something just for fun and visit a couple of those
> fake site links.  They are quite sophisticated.  They even have number
> checking algorithims in place.  I enter several sets of fake data, and even
> a couple universal system test numbers and the phishing sites promptly
> notified me there was something wrong with the number.  LOL..  I did not go
> further to see if they would accept a legitimate card number for obvious
> reasons, but over all I was impressed with the layout.  Its sad really that
> somebody with that much talent doesn't feel they can make a good living from
> legitimate use of their skills.
>
>
Yeah... these phishing e-mails are pretty obvious if you have half a
brain....
But here's something pretty cool!  I got an e-mail from some doctor
trapped in Nigeria who wants to filter several million dollars through
my bank account.. I should make a tidy sum!  I'll let you know how it
works out ;-)