What is being done about spoof e-mail

[Anonymous]

Hi all 

I have received a spoof e-mail purporting to be my O2 bill. It initially went as Spam to my Junk box. Seeing that the amount was excessive (over £300) I inadvertently moved it to my Inbox (without looking at the full e-mail address from the sender). Luckily my spyware picked up that it was a fraudulent e-mail, and stopped me from going any further.

The e-mail was from this address: O2 (UK) [anita.felnagy@bognarvin.hu] & this was the contents:

Hi

Your O2 bill for 03/06/14 is now ready. You can look at your bill here 

In total, your bill for this month comes to £313,99. We'll request this amount from your chosen account on, or just after, the date in your bill.

Is your bill more than you were expecting ?

If so, here's a few reasons why this might be:

*     You could have gone over the minutes, texts or data that's in your allowance.

*     You could have called or sent texts to numbers that can't be taken from your allowance such as International, 0800, 0845 numbers or directory enquiries.

*     You have used your phone for calls, text or data whilst abroad.

To view any charges outside your allowance click here 

Best regards

O2 Payment

This email is sent from Telefónica UK Limited. Registered office:

260 Bath Road,Slough, Berkshire, SL1 4DX. Registered number: 1822948464.

Please do not reply.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT TAKEN IN BY THIS!!!!

WHAT ARE O2 DOING TO PREVENT THIS??

Would be pleased to hear what's being done & who else has been affected.

[viridis]

Well that is a point,
Come to think about it, is this forum a scam?

[jonsie]

Suspicion of all things has now been indoctrined into all of us these days.

[Toby]

Hi guys,

I'm glad you're all perceptive enough to notice these emails and as MI5 has post includes, we have created a thread linking to info on the issue.

@viridis, I'm more than happy to pass the suggestion on and If I find out anything else about what is being done about the problem, I shall share it with you. It will however probably be very sensitive info, so this may not be possible. This forum is 100% too I must add

The best thing you can all do is to show others the link like MI5 has if they arrive on the forum with reservations about any emails.

[Cleoriff]

Thanks @Toby . I have now been 'shown /taught' how to find the links... so am hoping my knowledge base

will be vastly increased.

[Anonymous]

---

@Toby wrote:

Hi guys,

I'm glad you're all perceptive enough to notice these emails and as MI5 has post includes, we have created a thread linking to info on the issue. [snipped]

The best thing you can all do is to show others the link like MI5 has if they arrive on the forum with reservations about any emails.

---

I think this is absolutely scandalous!   If O2 were aware of this scam why did they not at the very least put a link to relevant information on customer account pages?  When I login to my account I can see "Quick links to other O2 products"   but not a word about this scam.  It should NOT have been left to the O2 Community to highlight it and whilst I appreciate the link to the  O2 page headed THE BLUE I was wholly unaware of that until I stumbled across the link in this community.   Bad job O2 - and sorry to say only a bare pass mark on this occasion to O2 Community. If nothing else surely we need a link on the Community Welcome page to drawing attention to Security alerts and related information.

Gerry

[Toby]

Hi Gerry,

I'll pass on your thoughts today.

I have also ensured that Brad's initial community announcement is stuck to the top of the 'Welcome' board for now to raise as much awareness as possible.
Keep your thoughts coming though if you have any guys, as I can share them with the team.

[Anonymous]

Gerry,

O2 do have pages which deal specifically with Phishing and scam emails. This is not a new scam, its just arguably the most prevelant at the moment.

Only a bare pass mark for the O2 Community?! Care to explain? 

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Gerry,

O2 do have pages which deal specifically with Phishing and scam emails. This is not a new scam, its just arguably the most prevelant at the moment.

Only a bare pass mark for the O2 Community?! Care to explain? 

---

@Anonymous @Anonymous  - Where are the O2 pages that deal specifically with Phishing and scam emails, please.  I have looked at the O2 home page and see no obvious links.  I also login to my O2 Account and again there are no obvious links.  I do not doubt what you say. What I am complaining about is that the general topic of online security does not seem to feature prominently.  

As regards my award of low marks to O2 Community involvment the same general argument applies.  If an O2 customer were to turn to the O2 Community for help/advice after receiving a dubious email about a high bill amount, the Communtiy Welcome Page is somewhat less than helpful in directing attention to relevant help.

My remarks are not of course a criticism of any Community Members who are very helpful and always gracious.   

Gerry 

[Anonymous]

Phishing Explained

How do I report a phishing email?

Unwanted calls and texts

O2 - Phishing Alert - May 2014

These were all found using a Google search for "O2 Phishing". Similar results appear when searching for "O2 Email scam"

As far as I am concerned, this is as much as O2 can do. They are just the latest company that is being used by the Phishermen to try and hook unsuspecting customers into divulging their usernames and passwords/bank details. These emails come in batches and next week it will be a different company before returning to using O2 no doubt at some point in the future.

Consumers have to take some degree of responsibility and use common sense these days by educating themselves about online threats and stop blaming the companies who's name is being used by these scammers. 

The main thing people need to remember is not to click on the links or attachments in emails they are not expecting no matter who they are from or how official they look.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous Thanks for the links.   I heartily agree with your comment that "Consumers have to take some degree of responsibility and use common sense these days by educating themselves about online threats and stop blaming the companies who's name is being used by these scammers. "   However, they should not have to Google to find O2 information that ought to be properly and clearly set out on the O2 site.

Gerry