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This is a laugh!

Just got this email with an attachment which no doubt has some script installed in it.  What makes it so funny?  Well, apart from the obvious things like not addressing it personally to me (I don’t even have a NAB account), spelling errors, etc, it talks about paying me in Euro – from an Australian bank?  Doh!

I have notified the real NAB of the new phishing/spam email doing the rounds.  To date I’ve received 3 copies in less than half an hour.

Subject: Reward 20 Euro (31 AUD) ,take our survey jurney

Dear NAB Credit/Debit card Holder,

For better cooperation between NAB and his clients, NAB Survey Team has
initiated a new poll on the functionality of our banking services. By
completing the attached survey form emailed, you will receive an amount of
20 Euro. This amount will be debited to your credit card account in 2 days
after verifications. To participate, download form attached to email !

Tags: Email Etiquette, Warnings by Kathie Thomas
1 Comment »

I noticed in my spam filter two messages that are supposed to be from the Australian Tax Office telling me about a Tax Refund. I don’t believe for a moment that they would contact me that way – I still get mail direct from them or via my Accountant, however just to alert you to some other things about this email.

• It is not personally addressed.
• Any correspondence from the tax office would include my tax account number details.
• Email is not secure so why would they anyway?
• Why does it list AUD? I didn’t think the Australian Tax Office dealt in other currency with Australian tax payers?
• Why would I need to submit a tax refund form?  Didn’t they just say they’d done a calculation?
• If I hold my mouse over the hyperlink I can see straight away it’s not the ATO website address but some other scammer’s address. I hope they get shut down quickly.  It started with http://pool-96 for those interested in knowing.

When are these idiots going to spend their time on something worthwhile that helps people rather than trying to rip them off?

Dear Australian Taxation Office customer,

After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of AUD $250.50.

Please submit the tax refund form and allow us 3-5 business days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

To access the form for your tax refund, please Click Here.

NOTE!
For security reasons, we will record your ip-address and date.

Thank you,
Australian Taxation Office Online Department.

Tags: Warnings by Kathie Thomas
2 Comments »

I received two of these letters this past week and was shocked to receive bills I wasn’t expecting. They were for my trademarks and I couldn’t recall having to pay bills of that size before. It worried me and was unplanned/unexpected.

Needless to say, research online shows that there are warnings about these letters which are not official.  Below is a link from a legal organisation and the other is ‘hidden’ information I found on the website of the organisation that sent the letters.  I say ‘hidden’ because that page is not linked in their menus and not visible on the site – I only found it through a Google search.

http://www.holdingredlich.com.au/urgent-alert-warning-to-trade-mark-owners

This information is on the Trademark Publisher website but is a hidden page in that it’s not listed on their menu.

INFORMATION ABOUT TRADEMARK PUBLISHER (TMP) – DATABASE SERVICE:
THE TMP WEBSITE WWW.TRADEMARKPUBLISHER.INFO DISPLAYS THE TRADEMARK, THE NAME OF THE TRADEMARK OWNER, THE NAME OF THE ASSOCIATED BRAND AND PRODUCT/SERVICE ON THE INTERNET. IT IS ONLY AVILAIBLE TO PAID, REGISTERED TRADE NAMES AND DESIGNS WITH THEIR IP AUSTRALIA REGISTRATION NUMBERS AND CLASSES. PUBLICATION ON THE TMP INFO REGISTER PROVIDES WORLDWIDE PUBLICATION ON THE INTERNET. THIS PUBLICATION IS AN ELECTIVE SERVICE AND DOES NOT SUBSTITUTE FOR REGISTRATION, NOR DOES IT PROLONG THE VALIDITY OF YOUR TRADEMARK REGISTRATION WITH IP AUSTRALIA.

Tags: Business Operations, Warnings by Kathie Thomas
2 Comments »

Spare a thought for Winweb who are experiencing a problem with mistaken identity and a malware program that carries a similar name to their business. I’ve known Stefan Töpfer for a couple of years now. We first spoke December 2005 and I met him February 2006 when I was visiting in London. We’ve maintained a business connection ever since and you may have noticed a recent post about a business competition – it was through Stefan that my connection took place. Rather than rewrite what he says, I’ll share with you his dilemma.

Dear All,

In the past week a malware program has surfaced, which calls itself WinWeb Security (winwebsecurity.com – don’t click on any links on this website). It has, of course, nothing to do with us. If you Google ‘WinWeb Security’ you will get a picture of what is going on, that is only the public side of it. Please see my post:

http://www.sme-blog.com/comments/winwebsecuritycom-more-facts

and WinWeb’s Statement recently:

http://www.winweb.com/latest-news/winweb-winwebcom-vs-winweb-security-winwebsecuritycom

Despite the fact that we have been providing free support to anyone (1000’s) who contacted us, we have sometimes been falsely accused of being winweb security, which we are not; this is still causing real damage to our reputation, due to the name association.

I wonder if you would be willing to help us to set the record straight with your readers and maybe forward this to some of your other blogger contacts to do the same. I have provided WHOIS lookups in my posts, that should be one of the most helpful ways to show people what is what, and hopefully stop them associating us with this menace.

I’m sorry about the bulk email, but I have to react fast. If you can help – I thank you very much for your support, I of cause do understand if you do not what to get involved.

Kind regards

Stefan.

Poor Stefan and his staff. So if you have heard of Winweb please know they are not connected to winweb security.

Have you had a problem with a domain or business name that is similar to yours and has this caused problems for you? I would love to hear about them here. I think it’s important to put people straight on incorrect assumptions wherever possible. What do you think?

mistaken identity, malware, similar domain, winweb

Tags: Business Operations, Warnings by Kathie Thomas
No Comments »