Suspicious "Alert"

Discussion:

Suspicious "Alert"

(too old to reply)

RobertVA

2009-06-23 08:04:49 UTC

My Pop based client downloaded the following and cleared it from the
server before I could check to see if it was flagged as genuine on the
web based reader. If anyone else got a copy, please let me know if the
flag shows. I forwarded the message as an attachment to ***@msn.com .

Subject: MSN Account Alert!!!!
From: Windows Live Hotmail <(user name ***@hotmail.com>
(non bcc "to" information withheld)
(contents of Reply-To: field withheld)

MSN ALERT!!!
(Extra line feeds withheld)

CONFIRM YOUR MSN ACCOUNT SERVICES. VERIFY YOUR MSN ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID
IT CLOSED !!!

Dear Account Owner

This is email from MSN Service center and we are sending it to you
account user for your safety. Due to the anonymous registration of our
account which is causing congestion to our service, so we are shutting
down some account and your account was amoung those to be deleted,so the
purpose of this email is for you to verify that you are the owner of
this account and you are still using it by filling the information below
after clicking on the reply button:

* Username: .........................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be
interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to
this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after
two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account
permanently.
Sincerely,
The MSN Team

N. Miller

2009-06-23 16:02:39 UTC

Permalink

I don't recall getting an email of that type "from" MSN. I've gotten one for
another email account. Too obvious that it is an attempt to gain your
account login data. This kind of "phishing" has been on the rise, as more
ISPs block access to outbound port 25. If the spamming 'bots can't spam
directly from compromised hosts, they need access to user accounts to use
them to spam through authenticated SMTP message submission servers.

Free MSN accounts age out of the system automatically if they are not used.
So the sort of action this email "requires" isn't necessary to keep the MSN
servers lean and mean.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

Peter Foldes

2009-06-23 16:37:20 UTC

Permalink

Many received the same and including me It is a fraudulent email. Just delete it

Hint. When you see any email that is asking for you to verify "Password" it is
someone that is trying to steal your info and account
--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

My Pop based client downloaded the following and cleared it from the server before
I could check to see if it was flagged as genuine on the web based reader. If
anyone else got a copy, please let me know if the flag shows. I forwarded the
Subject: MSN Account Alert!!!!
(non bcc "to" information withheld)
(contents of Reply-To: field withheld)
MSN ALERT!!!
(Extra line feeds withheld)
CONFIRM YOUR MSN ACCOUNT SERVICES. VERIFY YOUR MSN ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID IT CLOSED
!!!
Dear Account Owner
This is email from MSN Service center and we are sending it to you account user
for your safety. Due to the anonymous registration of our account which is causing
congestion to our service, so we are shutting down some account and your account
was amoung those to be deleted,so the purpose of this email is for you to verify
that you are the owner of this account and you are still using it by filling the
* Username: .........................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be
interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this
request. We apologize for any inconveniences.
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of
receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
Sincerely,
The MSN Team

...winston

2009-06-23 18:04:47 UTC

Permalink

It is a phishing attempt to obtain your information.
Delete the message

Msft and/or MSN do not send messages requesting that type of information.

Fyi...it takes 270 days for a free Hotmail type account(hotmail.com, msn.com, live.com) to become an inactive account. All
subscription based accounts(Msn Premium, Partner, and Hotmail Plus) never are shut down or expire(exception would be violation of
terms of service, credit card reject etc).

Most of these phishing attempts are poorly done(sentence structure, grammar, etc, lack of command of the English language)..in your
example..a few things are tipoffs.
1. Dear Account Owner
2. This is email ('is' not necessary or should be followed by 'an')
3. Msn service center (no such place)
4. registration of our account ('our')
5. shutting down some account (account is singular, should be plural)
6. filling the information (poor grammar again)
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

My Pop based client downloaded the following and cleared it from the server before I could check to see if it was flagged as
genuine on the web based reader. If anyone else got a copy, please let me know if the flag shows. I forwarded the message as an
Subject: MSN Account Alert!!!!
(non bcc "to" information withheld)
(contents of Reply-To: field withheld)
MSN ALERT!!!
(Extra line feeds withheld)
CONFIRM YOUR MSN ACCOUNT SERVICES. VERIFY YOUR MSN ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID IT CLOSED !!!
Dear Account Owner
This is email from MSN Service center and we are sending it to you account user for your safety. Due to the anonymous
registration of our account which is causing congestion to our service, so we are shutting down some account and your account was
amoung those to be deleted,so the purpose of this email is for you to verify that you are the owner of this account and you are
* Username: .........................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your
attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her
account permanently.
Sincerely,
The MSN Team

RobertVA

2009-06-25 08:55:26 UTC

Permalink

Post by ...winston
It is a phishing attempt to obtain your information.
Delete the message
Msft and/or MSN do not send messages requesting that type of information.
Fyi...it takes 270 days for a free Hotmail type account(hotmail.com,
msn.com, live.com) to become an inactive account. All subscription
based accounts(Msn Premium, Partner, and Hotmail Plus) never are shut
down or expire(exception would be violation of terms of service, credit
card reject etc).
Most of these phishing attempts are poorly done(sentence structure,
grammar, etc, lack of command of the English language)..in your
example..a few things are tipoffs.
1. Dear Account Owner
2. This is email ('is' not necessary or should be followed by 'an')
3. Msn service center (no such place)
4. registration of our account ('our')
5. shutting down some account (account is singular, should be plural)
6. filling the information (poor grammar again)

Thanks for the responses. I knew the message was bogus and had no
intention of responding to it. I was mostly curious about whether the
scammer was able to fake the butterfly icon MSN was at one time using to
mark messages from the service as genuine. I don't know if that process
is still used since the switch to the "Windows Live" branding.

...winston

2009-06-25 17:56:32 UTC

Permalink

I don't recall the Butterfly being a 'genuine' sign since the Butterfly icon from the earliest days was easily obtainable on a
variety of media available(order cd, screen capture, save picture etc)..
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by ...winston
It is a phishing attempt to obtain your information.
Delete the message
Msft and/or MSN do not send messages requesting that type of information.
Fyi...it takes 270 days for a free Hotmail type account(hotmail.com, msn.com, live.com) to become an inactive account. All
subscription based accounts(Msn Premium, Partner, and Hotmail Plus) never are shut down or expire(exception would be violation
of terms of service, credit card reject etc).
Most of these phishing attempts are poorly done(sentence structure, grammar, etc, lack of command of the English language)..in
your example..a few things are tipoffs.
1. Dear Account Owner
2. This is email ('is' not necessary or should be followed by 'an')
3. Msn service center (no such place)
4. registration of our account ('our')
5. shutting down some account (account is singular, should be plural)
6. filling the information (poor grammar again)

Thanks for the responses. I knew the message was bogus and had no intention of responding to it. I was mostly curious about
whether the scammer was able to fake the butterfly icon MSN was at one time using to mark messages from the service as genuine. I
don't know if that process is still used since the switch to the "Windows Live" branding.

RobertVA

2009-06-26 09:29:13 UTC

Permalink

Post by ...winston
I don't recall the Butterfly being a 'genuine' sign since the Butterfly
icon from the earliest days was easily obtainable on a variety of media
available(order cd, screen capture, save picture etc)..

At one time the icon was appearing in a column of the web interface's
message list, where the hotmail/msn staff were presumably privy to
secret codes that would activate the authentication emblem. I would
imagine it was somehow coded in the message headers, perhaps the code
would be filtered if the message didn't originate internally.

I just got a Windows Live message (one of those "Hotmail gives you..."
promotions) that does appear to be authentic and doesn't generate either
a butterfly or a Windows logo in the web interface. The butterfly logo
isn't appearing for older windowsLive/Hotmail messages either. I'm
thinking that feature may have been dropped from the web interface in
one of the revisions.

...winston

2009-06-27 06:30:20 UTC

Permalink

Ok...
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by RobertVA

At one time the icon was appearing in a column of the web interface's
message list, where the hotmail/msn staff were presumably privy to
secret codes that would activate the authentication emblem. I would
imagine it was somehow coded in the message headers, perhaps the code
would be filtered if the message didn't originate internally.
I just got a Windows Live message (one of those "Hotmail gives you..."
promotions) that does appear to be authentic and doesn't generate either
a butterfly or a Windows logo in the web interface. The butterfly logo
isn't appearing for older windowsLive/Hotmail messages either. I'm
thinking that feature may have been dropped from the web interface in
one of the revisions.

Robb

2009-07-13 23:54:01 UTC

Permalink

Some of these scams are professionally done... yours doesn't seem to be one
of them.

MSN needs to improve our tools in the MSN mail client. For instance we
SHOULD be able to run our cursor over links in email and see what the link
leads to. If the text of the link says BankOfAmerica.com but the actual link
is www.phishing.ripoff.ru it would be nice to know that before being tempted
to click on a link.

Post by RobertVA
My Pop based client downloaded the following and cleared it from the
server before I could check to see if it was flagged as genuine on the
web based reader. If anyone else got a copy, please let me know if the
Subject: MSN Account Alert!!!!
(non bcc "to" information withheld)
(contents of Reply-To: field withheld)
MSN ALERT!!!
(Extra line feeds withheld)
CONFIRM YOUR MSN ACCOUNT SERVICES. VERIFY YOUR MSN ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID
IT CLOSED !!!
Dear Account Owner
This is email from MSN Service center and we are sending it to you
account user for your safety. Due to the anonymous registration of our
account which is causing congestion to our service, so we are shutting
down some account and your account was amoung those to be deleted,so the
purpose of this email is for you to verify that you are the owner of
this account and you are still using it by filling the information below
* Username: .........................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be
interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to
this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after
two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account
permanently.
Sincerely,
The MSN Team

dolphinz

2009-12-05 02:42:01 UTC

Permalink

I to just received the same email I will copy and paste it

Msn Hotmail Account User Arlert !!!!‏‏
From: Windows Live Team (***@hotmail.com)
You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent: December 5, 2009 2:09:44 AM
To: Windows Live Team (***@hotmail.com)

Dear Account Owner

This is email from Windows Live Hotmail and we are sending it to you account
user for your safety. Due to the anonymous registration of our account which
is causing congestion to our service so we are shutting down some account and
your account was among those to be deleted,so the purpose of this email is
for you to verify that you are the owner of this account and you are still
using it by filling the information below after clicking on the reply button:

* Username: .........................
* Password: ................................
* Date of Birth: ............................
* Country Or Territory: ................

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be
interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this
request. We apologize for any inconveniences.

Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of
receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Sincerely,
The Windows Live Hotmail Team

...winston

2009-12-05 08:22:47 UTC

Permalink

Delete it !!!

It is ****NOT**** from Microsoft, MSN, Hotmail or the Windows Live Team

--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by dolphinz
I to just received the same email I will copy and paste it
Msn Hotmail Account User Arlert !!!!‏‏

StephenB

2009-12-06 01:30:27 UTC

Permalink

Read this:
http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!42740.entry

-steve

Post by ...winston
Delete it !!!
It is ****NOT**** from Microsoft, MSN, Hotmail or the Windows Live Team
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by dolphinz
I to just received the same email I will copy and paste it
Msn Hotmail Account User Arlert !!!!??

--
Stephen Boots
MVP Windows Live
Windows Live OneCare/Live Mesh/MSE Forums Moderator
***@mvps.org

...winston

2009-12-06 07:55:13 UTC

Permalink

Me or the op ? <g>
--
...winston
MS-MVP[Mail]

Post by StephenB
http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!42740.entry
-steve

Post by ...winston
Delete it !!!
It is ****NOT**** from Microsoft, MSN, Hotmail or the Windows Live Team
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by dolphinz
I to just received the same email I will copy and paste it
Msn Hotmail Account User Arlert !!!!??

--
Stephen Boots
MVP Windows Live
Windows Live OneCare/Live Mesh/MSE Forums Moderator

StephenB

2009-12-06 16:06:05 UTC

Permalink

You are, of course, welcome to read that, too, winston. :-)
It was intended for the OP and I was supporting your response - as you know.
-steve

Post by ...winston
Me or the op ? <g>
--
...winston
MS-MVP[Mail]

Post by StephenB
http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!42740.entry
-steve

Post by ...winston
Delete it !!!
It is ****NOT**** from Microsoft, MSN, Hotmail or the Windows Live Team
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by dolphinz
I to just received the same email I will copy and paste it
Msn Hotmail Account User Arlert !!!!??

--
Stephen Boots
MVP Windows Live
Windows Live OneCare/Live Mesh/MSE Forums Moderator
***@mvps.org

RobertVA

2009-12-07 04:49:47 UTC

Permalink

Post by StephenB
You are, of course, welcome to read that, too, winston. :-)
It was intended for the OP and I was supporting your response - as you know.
-steve

Post by ...winston
Me or the op ? <g>
--
...winston
MS-MVP[Mail]

Post by StephenB
http://windowslivewire.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2F7EB29B42641D59!42740.entry
-steve

Post by ...winston
Delete it !!!
It is ****NOT**** from Microsoft, MSN, Hotmail or the Windows Live Team
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

Post by dolphinz
I to just received the same email I will copy and paste it
Msn Hotmail Account User Arlert !!!!??

--
Stephen Boots
MVP Windows Live
Windows Live OneCare/Live Mesh/MSE Forums Moderator

Silly me, I thought with a thread titled 'Suspicious "Alert"' people
would realize I knew as soon as I saw it that the email message was bogus.

At one time Hotmail displayed a butterfly emblem on the web interface
adjacent to messages from the Hotmail staff as an aid to identify
genuine messages. Since my POP reader deleted the message from the
server before I could see it in the web interface I was curious whether
the counterfeiters were adept enough to fake the butterfly
authentication mark. I wanted to know if others had received copies of
the message. I've since realized the Hotmail/Widows Live staff aren't
marking their mailings with the butterfly emblem any more (possibly due
to web interface revisions).

I'm more surprised that a thread from June 23 was brought back from the
dead in December.

--

Oh what a mess we make when we top post over a quotation!