Airline Settlements Email Scam

Don’t be fooled!

I just got an email message supposedly from “Airline Settlements” that says I’m a member of a class action suit against a whole bunch of airlines. This looks pretty official but it’s yet another scam. The class is huge so just about anyone who gets this email might think they really are a member.

Email Scam
Here’s the start of the message. Looks pretty legit, no?

But don’t click the link. It’ll likely either install malware on your computer or device or con you into providing personal information you’d be better off keeping private.

Point to the link
Point to the link to see where it really links to. Don’t click it!

Phishing with Amazon. Again.

Yet another ploy to get you to click a link.

The latest phishing scam to hit my inbox: a message supposedly from Amazon to tell me that my order has been cancelled. Two of the four links in the message go to a site other than Amazon where a PHP page is waiting to do something nasty to my computer.

Amazon Order Cancelled?
Pointing to a link should display its URL. This message is obviously not from Amazon.

Don’t click links in incoming emails, folks!

The Credit Card I Never Asked For

A scam from Netspend.

Today, I received a credit card in the mail. Trouble is, I never asked for the credit card. I have enough credit cards and I certainly don’t want another one.

NetspendIt was a Small Business prepaid MasterCard from Netspend, a company I had never heard of. The accompanying paperwork told me about the related fees for use but not much else.

I called the number on the card to ask what it was all about. I was prompted for a card number, my social security number — which I, of course, did not enter — and my date of birth — which I purposely entered incorrectly. I was then prompted to agree with terms of service by pressing 1. There was no person. Just a machine taking down whatever I entered.

I tried pressing 0 and various keys. The system eventually hung up on me.

I tried calling another number on the Netspend website. It threw me into the same automated queue.

I tried again, this time using the option that the card had been lost or stolen. A prompt warned me that that option was only for lost or stolen cards. I stuck with it. When prompted for my social security number again, I entered all zeros.

Eventually I got a real person on the phone. I asked her what the card was all about and she told me I’d accepted a mail offer. I told her I hadn’t and that I wouldn’t have. I told her I didn’t want the card and that I wanted it all record of it removed from my name, including from my credit report. She apologized for the “inconvenience.” I told her that it wasn’t an inconvenience. It was an invasion of my privacy. I told her that if I saw the card on my credit report when I checked it next month, Netspend would hear from my lawyer.

And then I hung up on her before she could do any more explaining or apologizing.

Is this a scam? Sure seems like it to me. Hand out a credit card, use a toll-free number to gather social security number and date of birth information. Even if it is legit, it’s an unwanted hit to a person’s credit report, possibly damaging to a credit score. And what if someone had intercepted it on its way to my mailbox? Would I be on the hook for someone else’s transactions?

Is this an indication that I’m an identity theft victim? Should I be calling the credit services now? Are there other cards with my name on them in the hands of other people?

Or am I just being paranoid?

These days, you never know — until it’s too late.