HMRC Phishing scam email anyone?

[les]

Nice to know however clever one is, the problems are shared!

[Dryad]

Sorry Amgrave if I misintrepreted your post. It's just that to me it does seem far more likely that someone has got into the MMOC's server to skim off email addresses. I know of someone who, having been disgruntled with their employer, hacked into the company's website and substituted his boss' photo with one of a clown and he's only a computer hobbyist, so I know how easy it can be.

[amgrave]

Have a look at this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37522674
The system is connected via wi-fi and most of them are on the same band as home wi-fi. See how easy it is to crack the system from online.
There is virus software out there that listens for new email addresses too and not necessarily on your computer but in the wild.
Don,t forget be careful what you say in the street or your street light might report you to the bill

[Dryad]

Listening lamp posts - it's turning into 1984!

I've just had another phishing email to the same address. This time pretending to be from PayPal and asking me to verify my account! This is interesting, and perhaps a chance to find out more; I'll delete the email address they have and make a new one up just for this forum and see if the same thing happens again.

[amgrave]

How are you using email, through a browser or a client and if a client which one.

[morris van]

I have had some from PayPal some from banks and had two from friends who were supposed to be abroad and had been robbed and wanted money. I knew they were scams and just ignore them.

[les]

Just this minute received another from ' hmrc'

[irmscher]

What is best Norton or MacAfee ? or are they both rubbish

[amgrave]

Avast Anti Virus. You can have a free version or paid for which gives all round protection.

[pingis]

I got one of those emails from HMRC. I live in Sweden. I am a Swedish citizen with a typical Swedish name and I haven't visited the U.K. for five years or so. The guys who send these email don't do a fantastic research, do they?

[Cam]

Hi all,

Interesting conversation.

Ok, couple of things, as a few of you guys seem to be IT specialists, then you know the score. The email addresses can be obtained from a number of points along the line. There are various things we can all do to help the situation. One of which (as has been mentioned) is to use Linux for all web based activity which I do. It's not for everybody, but it's much more secure than Windows or Mac. Also, don't post your email anywhere on the web or enter it into your computer! This is not practical as forums etc require an email address to register. These are also vulnerable to attack like everything else on the web, it's just a fact of life. We just have to make sure our server software is up to date to try to mitigate these problems as much as is practicable.

The MMOC is currently in the process of creating a new website to replace this one that is more secure and up to date. We were hoping this would be complete by now but it should be coming very soon (you will be notified beforehand). So, in answer to the question, yes the Admins are doing something about it.

p.s. my email address has been splattered over the web since 1996 and I get a flurry of spam from all sorts of places. I check it and then delete it.

[amgrave]

Good reply Cam. I don't think a lot of people realise that when they send something from their computer it travels through the world, they seem to think it goes straight to where it is addressed to and this from IT pro's .
From a fellow Linux-er

[SteveClem]

Having read all this I'm so glad that I don't 'exist ' on-line. Using my wife's discarded and ancient iPad I just potter on and let her sort out any problems. Not that she seems to get any.
No email address,complete anonymity...perfect.

[Dryad]

Ok, so it looks like someone HAS got access to the MMOC email database. Remember a few weeks ago when I said that I was getting phishing scams sent to me via the unique address I use for this forum? Well I changed it to another unique one (mmocchris@...) and guess what I've just had? Yes, another phishing scam, this time pretending to be from NatWest bank, and this time to this new email address.

And before anyone comes back with the comment that "you don't know they got your address from the MMOC because emails pass through many places before it gets to you", I have never sent an email using that address, and have only received ONE legitimate email via that address - one to confirm my new email address for this forum. So it's pointless to suggest that the confirmation email sent to me was somehow intercepted (again!) on its way to me - it's quite obvious that this forum's database security has been breached. I wouldn't mind betting that there are others on here who have received the same scam email today.

So, once again I ask; can Admin please hurry up and sort this out?

[amgrave]

Are you willing to swear blind that GCHQ has not seen the same two emails and if they can well.................................

[Dryad]

Are you willing to swear blind that GCHQ has not seen the same two emails and if they can well.................................

I'm sorry, Amgrave, but I don't see reason in your thinking. It appears you would rather believe that it is ANYTHING other than someone hacking into the MMOC's server which is running a rather ancient messageboard programme. I KNOW that emails can be intercepted anywhere along the line, but you have to remember that I have never actually sent emails using those two unique email addresses, whereas the MMOC (and ONLY the MMOC) have sent messages to me by using them. So, you can deduce that it is not my outgoing mail being intercepted, and if it was, surely I would get spam to all five of my addresses, which I don't. Therefore, the problem must lie on the MMOC's side.

Or are you still suggesting the MMOC's server/software is not at fault. If so, and if you really ARE an IT tech, please do explain how this is the case. I'm sure we'd all love to hear!

[Dryad]

[frame][/frame]

[LouiseM]

For info, I sent Cam a pm on Monday to flag this thread up as he is the only person with access to the server. Dryad - his email address is in Minor Matters if you wish to contact him directly.

[Dryad]

Thank you Louise.

[Cam]

Hi Dryad,

This issue is almost sorted now. We have a new website going live very soon (hopefully this week or next) with a new updated version of the messageboard software which will have the latest security patches.

I apologise for the delay and any inconvenience caused. The problem has been that we could not migrate the existing database into the new version as there had been quite a lot of modifications into the main code by a previous admin. This caused serious issues when trying to migrate the data so these modifications have had to be corrected (reverse engineered) on a standalone server so that the integrity of the existing messageboard would not be compromised and give users a continued service. It was unthinkable to start a new database and loose 15 years of valuable information!

I will post a message a couple of days before the old website goes off-line and the new one comes on-line. The websites will change over within minutes but the messageboard will remain inactive for a couple of days so please bear with us.

Believe me, this has been much more of a headache for us! But we are nearly there now.

Thank you for your patience!

Cam.