Hotmail Phishing Scam Looks Shockingly Real
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This phishing scam appears to be a real warning from Hotmail. CREDIT: www.eset.com. |
Security experts are urging people to be aware of a shockingly real-looking Hotmail e-mail that is hiding a dangerous phishing scam.
Researchers at the antivirus company ESET noticed a new phishing scam embedded in an e-mail from an @hotmail.com address, with the subject “Alert-Reset your Windows Live password.”
The message shows the familiar Hotmail logo, and purports to come from Dick Craddock, Hotmail’s group program manager. The e-mail reads, "We are having congestion due to the anonymous Scam coming into Windows Live Account. So we are shutting down some Accounts and your account is among those to be deleted."
In order to "restore" your account, the crafty scam instructs people to enter their user name, date of birth, password, and country. Doing so, ESET warns, would be a serious mistake.
Thought it appears legitimate, ESET says there are some important clues that mark e-mails such as this one as corrupt. "If they have decided to shut down your account, then they know your username, no?" an ESET blog reads.
The blog continues, "There may be some very rare exceptions, but as a rule, there are only two types of people who ask you for your password – thieves and idiots. Never give out your passwords."
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