Have any of you received an email from microsoft requesting details? Such as date of birth, passwords etc…
This does not feel right. They are asking for this information so to update their system..
Is it dodgy or is it just me???
Alstonefield
In the Peak District National Park
That does not seem right at all. It looks like a spoof. Never, ever give you password out in an e-mail.
I agree with Brian. I assume an email asking me to provide information or to do anything (eg click a link) is a scam until proven otherwise.
The scammers are getting very clever, and are producing extremely plausible emails.
Remember it is easy to spoof the senders email address, so the sender appears to be eg. customer_services@barclaysbank.co.uk when it isn’t; and they can easily incorporate “official” images, trade marks etc into the email or a scam website they direct you to.
One check I try is this:
If you are invited to click a link (eg to “confirm” your bank login details – which in itself is a givaway), you may see the visible link text as something like “https://barclaysbank.co.uk/secure_login” – but the big givaway is that if you “hover” over the link, the real address eg
http://www.scammer-website.ru
http://www.barclaysbank.scammer-website.ru
will be revealed.
Depending on your email client this may pop-up or be revealed in a window at the bottom of the page.
The worst case is where the scammer uses a plausible alternative to the real website, such as http://www.barclays-bank.co.uk – very difficult to identify as a scam site, although likely to be closed down quickly.
However diligent you are, it is possible to be taken in by a clever scam; all we can realistically do is exercise caution…
Cheers chaps!!! The email did not look right. Unfortunately I fear people will get caught out with such scams….
Thanks for the advise Ric…..Will remember those tips…..