Saturday, January 18, 2014

Alert: Accounts Department - Electricity Payment

I noticed a new social engineering scam I'd not seen before. The body of the email is the follow.

Dear Sir/Madam!
Your annual kWh usage report for 2013 was formed. The limit for electricity consumption was exceeded by you.
We will prolong your discounted energy tariff,if you pay the debt promptly.  Below you may review your updated electricity bill

Even though this is a poorly written scam attempt, the concern I have is many people are moving to energy retailers where they offer discount and you pay an amount each month towards the bill. Most people don't see the information as time progresses and just assumes it's working as it should. However if they get a notification letting them know they've exceeded their budget they may get tricked.

Always treat every email you receive as a potential scam, even if it appears to come from someone you deal with.

The best advice I can give to people is to trust your instinct. If there is a thousandth of a second where the thought enters you mind that doesn't feel right, then slow down and be more thorough. Nature has given us instincts that have evolved over millions of years and they tend to work better than the best computer minds. Most people say to me after they've infected their computer something just didn't feel right. You know what, they were right.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703 for computer support.

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