France in Focus

I have just received an email from Amazon Prime telling me my subscription payment failed and I need to update my payment details. As I had recently had a new debit card I assumed this would be the reason. However I thought I’d go to the Amazon site just to verify. Lo I had paid my subscription some months previously. The email and site all look very authentic however the sender’s real email address is very suspicious. Beware

Never fails.

Not too long ago, I got an email from my bank (supposedly) telling me I had not registered my new ATM card. The email looked so authentic, down to the exact address and phone number of the bank, same logo, same security data at the bottom. However, it had been a few months since I had received my ATM card, so I called the bank. It was a scam. They asked me to send it to their cyber security team. Done.

At least you checked it out. Sadly, I now find I need to verify every dam* thing. I frequently get the texts telling me to pay a traffic infraction. They are always a scam as the real govt dept. will not inform you of a traffic violation with a text asking for payment. But, I had to search that information to determine that after getting the first text. Now my phone just automatically marks them as spam..

Tiresome.

I've recently been watching a very interesting programme on BBC1 called Scam Interceptors. A lot of folk were caught out or nearly caught out with scammers trying to contact Amazon customers - fortunately several scams were intercepted by ethical hackers as seen in the series - worth a look if you can watch UK TV.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00164f1

One of my roles here is to run tests to see who gets taken in by these sorts of e-mails. Even an easy one catches 3 or 4% - and harder ones will trap over 20%.

Send a few million and do the sums . . .

niemeyjt wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:17 pm One of my roles here is to run tests to see who gets taken in by these sorts of e-mails. Even an easy one catches 3 or 4% - and harder ones will trap over 20%.

Send a few million and do the sums . . .

Where is 'here'?

Top secret - a company in Lausanne

Another weird event. We received a letter from UPS today. The address was ours but the addressee was “White Stuff” It was a demand for customs duty of 31€. The address for where to send a cheque was a genuine UPS address. There was also an IBAN. No idea if that is genuine. The duty was for women’s clothing and was from White Stuff in U.K. My wife called White Stuff in U.K. and spoke to their export department who stated that no item had been sent to our address. It
doesnt look like a scam. Surface mail and only 31 € yet I can’t think of any other explanation. All French people in our area and they wouldn’t buy from White Stuff U.K. when there are outlets in France

UPS make their demand for monies via email.

Interesting scam methinks.

I've had a couple of emails recently from Mon Espace Santé saying there was a message. It looks genuine enough but when I received the email, I hadn't yet created a page. I did that this afternoon, not via the email, and there is no message ! Perhaps it was a prompt ....
The only person who has asked me if I had created a page was the gynaecologist about a month ago.

I

exile wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:00 pm UPS make their demand for monies via email.

Interesting scam methinks.

Only if they know one’s email