An Amazon Scam Warning & a Major Change Coming to Your Gmail Account
Two news stories this weekend caught our eye and we wanted you to know about them because they could affect you.
One is about a new and very deviously clever Amazon scam and the other is about a substantial change that will be coming to your Gmail account. So, in our continuing mission to keep you safe and informed, we hope you’ll take some time to read the following.
This Amazon scam could trick even the most savvy shoppers
Don’t fall for this devious Amazon scam ahead of Black Friday
According to Avanan, the scammers are able to circumvent email security filters by including legitimate links in the body, which direct to the genuine Amazon website. While some phishing scams use fake landing pages to harvest credentials, in this case the links offer a more reliable path into inboxes, as well as leaving the victim with a false sense of security.
In addition to the theft of payment details, meanwhile, the scam doubles as a form of phone number harvesting, laying the foundations for future voicemail and text-based attacks.
‘Once [attackers] obtain the phone number, they can carry out a series of attacks, whether through text messages or phone calls,” wrote the researchers. “Just one successful attack can lead to dozens of others.’
And this is just one relatively simple example…
Google Warning: Google is making a major change to your email account this month
If you use Gmail to send emails to friends and family you could find your account getting a major change in the coming days. Google announced earlier this year that it would be switching millions of users over to a new and more secure way of logging into their accounts and it now appears that this upgrade is imminent.
Reports are flooding in that Google will soon require users to use a new 2-step Verification system this month with some accounts being updated as soon as November 9.
If you weren’t already aware, 2-Step Verification makes things far more secure as you’ll need more than just a password to access an account.
When trying to log into your inbox you’ll still need to pump in that usual secret phrase but then Google will send out a second message, usually to your phone, to check it’s really you trying to log in.
Thanks for things like this…D.