Hoax emails and text messages

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GordonG Mar 2020 10:08am, 24 Mar 2020 8,058 posts	0 GordonG Have you recently been sent a 'warning' text or email that is clearly not true? I've just posted a bit of a rant on the Things You Want to Say thread, but as I've now received the same text twice I just wanted to bring it to a wider audience. There's a text message doing the rounds similar to the following "please pass on that an IT friend of mine is warning that tomorrow a video [/email/WhatsApp message] will come out called 'Martinelli', which hacks your phone and your phone can't be fixed. Inform all contacts". You should realise this is a hoax because: Just to clarify, here's why it's not true: 1 - the message has clearly been forwarded on many times, so the person who sent it to you doesn't know "the IT friend" 2 - any message that implores you to "pass it on" is always suspect 3 - the message doesn't have a date on it, so when is "tomorrow"? 4 - hackers tend not to advertise in advance when they send malicious programs! 5 - if this was real, don't ya think WhatsApp and every major media outlet would be talking about it? If you get this text please don't waste your friends time by forwarding it (but you CAN share my rant if that helps!)
Nicholls595 Mar 2020 10:13am, 24 Mar 2020 19,838 posts	0 Nicholls595 I have a friend who works as IT consultant for the Prince of Nigeria. I can get him to stop these messages for you, just let me have your sort code etc
Angus Clydesdale Mar 2020 10:24am, 24 Mar 2020 17,158 posts	0 Angus Clydesdale I had one last week purporting to be from the Inland Revenue telling me that a warrant had been issued for my arrest in connection with unpaid taxes and inviting me to phone up to sort it out. My spider-senses tingled immediately because: 1. Automated message with computer voice. 2. First I hear of this is a phone message. Really? No official letter first? No request for payment before setting the police on me? 3. Very Americanised form of words. 4. (Probably the biggest give-away) I earned so little last year the IR gave me back all my tax money a few months ago! When I looked online at the IR website it’s listed as a known scam. Which is the point that I came here to make. Most, if not all, banks, important institutions and govt depts have up-to-date information about known scams. You should always investigate (separately, not by using the contact means the potential scammers provided) because there’s a lot of info available. And they all have dedicated fraud prevention teams that you can consult.
GordonG Mar 2020 10:29am, 24 Mar 2020 8,059 posts	0 GordonG Good advice AC. my guess is the message didn't mention you by name? That's usually a good indicator, too.
swittle Mar 2020 10:45am, 24 Mar 2020 61,678 posts	0 swittle The 'Prince of Nigeria' reference ^ put me in mind of the long-running 419 scam. More here: bbc.co.uk
chunkywizard Mar 2020 3:24pm, 25 Mar 2020 7,286 posts	0 chunkywizard I got a tax rebate recently on my mobile, I only had to click a link...
McGoohan Mar 2020 3:31pm, 25 Mar 2020 44,130 posts	0 McGoohan I just had "O2" telling me on my phone that my payment has been declined and I need to supply new payment details now to avoid additional charges. O2 are not my mobile supplier.
Derby Tup Mar 2020 3:33pm, 25 Mar 2020 38,956 posts	0 Derby Tup I got a letter from HMRC saying they would like me to pay income tax as usual starting next month. It doesn't appear to be a hoax sadly
fetcheveryone Mar 2020 4:05pm, 25 Mar 2020 23,572 posts	0 fetcheveryone There's a tonne of lolz here: 419eater.com this bloke deliberately responds to spam email, getting the spammer to do all sorts of stupid stuff to verify their claims. My favourite one is where he got one spammer to make a wooden facsimile of a Commodore 64.
GordonG Mar 2020 4:25pm, 25 Mar 2020 8,061 posts	0 GordonG my (genuine) coronavirus text from the Govt came to my phone yesterday, marked by PlusNet as "High Potential for Spam" !!