Having both iPhone and iPad means there is
no escape from the internet. I tried to remove the one I don’t like but in the
end had to re-establish it because Apple preferred it that way. Apple simply
wouldn’t recognise anything else for identification of yours truly. So it
proved necessary to go back occasionally to see if there’s any rubbish to
dispose of.
I used the word rubbish without thinking,
but little did I know the truth of it.
On the last visit I found an email from Netflix
via iTunes confirming the purchase of a month’s worth of film viewing.
Apparently the subscription would expire after a month and I needed to renew
it. To do this I had to click the link!
I HAD NOT ORDERED SUCH A THING!
My brain being what it is these days I
panicked. Fortunately, I did nothing except contact Hannah (remember Hannah,
former cleaner, now mother of new baby) and ask if her husband could sort it
out. My panic was so great I couldn’t think straight.
The next day George and Hannah and Oooooh
new baby arrived. George took a look at the email and immediately declared it was
scam. He fed the email address into his own phone and came up with something
other than what my email purported it to be. It had seemed so authentic (see
picture, if it’s clear enough) but George declared it to be one big hoax.
I
don’t think I have ever trusted anything that comes into my email box and
certainly I will never trust anything again, but I can understand the many
newspaper reports on people – usually elderly - who have been taken in by such
things. My warning to others is DON’T EVER TRUST ANYTHING THAT APPEARS IN YOUR
EMAIL BOX.
I
will leave you now and set about changing all my passwords. Again!
Glad you did not click, These people need to be tracked down and prosecuted like the criminals they are. I get similar emails all the time from services I have never subscribed, otherwise I might not recognize them as scams. Now my rule is if they are asking me to click on a web site without prior warning it is a scam, pure and simple. No legitimate source will ask you to click a web site and feed in information without you having some prior knowledge.
ReplyDeleteValerie, I am so glad to read that you got this all sorted out, discovering that the email was in fact, a hoax!
ReplyDelete"My warning to others is DON’T EVER TRUST ANYTHING THAT APPEARS IN YOUR EMAIL BOX."
Amen! Can you believe how clever email spammers have gotten over the years?
Back in November, I got an email from a bank here in Philadelphia, notifying me that my bank account had been hacked but the bank was able to stop it from happening. The email requested that I send them personal information so that they could use it to further protect my account with them. I immediately knew it was a hoax because I didn't even HAVE a checking/savings account with them, I bank with a completely different bank.
It's terrible to say, but we all have to be VERY careful with emails because people have gotten too clever in hacking our personal information.
Have a lovely Sunday, my friend!
X
I don't open anything that I don't recognize,my Yahoo account gets a lot of mail, I opened a gmail account and so far it is spam free, because I never shop with it.
ReplyDelete'THEY' will do or say anything to get you to click on their link. Sigh, almost enough to make a person give up on the 21st Century circus completely.
ReplyDeleteJoeh, the trouble was that I did recognise Apple, because the particular server it came on was the only one that Apple uses. This is why I wanted to get rid of that particular server, but couldn't. I have had many such emails before but they were always recognisable as SCAM. Not this time, though.
ReplyDeleteRon, I think the internet is a dangerous place. I wonder how many people lose thousands because of it. I can usually spot danger when I see it but this time it seemed sooooo genuine. I panicked before I got round to working it out in my head! God bless Google but adopting a different approach.
ReplyDeleteSJQ, I agree with you, it does make me think of giving up, least-ways the internet; maybe not the 21st century. YET!
ReplyDeleteKatie, stick with your Google - it's safer. I haven't got a good word to say about Yahoo.
ReplyDeleteOh Valerie, I'm so glad that you knew to ask for help! It is infuriating that things like this can happen. When in doubt, don't click is a good rule of thumb.
ReplyDeleteI once had my computer (Mac) freeze up on me with a message to contact Apple support at once for help. The message supplied the number I was supposed to call. Fortunately I checked on another source and found the correct number for Apple. I called and it turns out it was a scam.
You can never be too careful.
Valerie, I got the same email. I just ignore it too. I do not have an account with any of the companies listed in the email. I got to the point I rarely click on links in email even in one I trust and know are safe.
ReplyDeleteHi Carole, these scammers should be shot! The trouble with email is you don't know what's in it until you click on it. I never ever click on links but this one - from Apple, who I know - totally fooled me. Bah!
ReplyDeleteA lot of junk shows up in my many inboxes too. Always good to be cautious before clicking anything suspicious especially attachments. What really bugs me is being sent newsletters etc that I know I never actually signed up for. I am trying to unsubscribe from at least one of these nuisance lists, every day. It is helping.😂
ReplyDeleteGeraldine, I must be getting a dab hand at unsubscribing now.... what a pain they are. I don't ask for any of them, yet they keep on coming. What I don't like is the way you (sometimes) click on 'unsubscribe' only to find yourself on their site answering questions about why you want to do it. Bah!
ReplyDelete