So you think you can spot a phishing email ?

[Apex]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07...ishing_survey/

and the test site

http://survey.mailfrontier.com/survey/quiztest.html

btw i got ten out of ten

[IBM]

9/10 here, because of that Earthlink mail....although to tell the truth, I can't tell why it's a fraud, since it only uses a legitimate earthlink address...

Anyone care to point it out to me? If they're simply working on the premise that any email asking you for your billing details is a phishing scam, then they're as daft as most people.

How did you spot it Apex?

[Apex]

Did you read the stuff at the bottom ?

To change your billing information, email address, or password, please visit:
http://myaccount.earthlink.net

[Kumagoro]

I was confused as surely you can only judge some of them to be fake or not by going to the link and actually seeing where it goes.... Seeing as you cant follow then links you cant find out.

[nichomach]

Look, any email which asks you to click on a link that they provide in the body of the email and enter financial information on the page presented by clicking on that link is potentially a scam and highly unlikely to be genuine; when was the last mail like that that was sent from your online banking service or credit card company? Or from paypal?

"We've sent you a message via a completely insecure medium asking you to go to a page that we specify and put in sensitive financial information. By the way, although we've stated that the problem is specific to you personally, we've addressed the email to "Dear Earthlink valued customer" because we're incapable of personalising this important phish...errrr...business communication."

Seriously, ibm, they're definitely not stupid - even if, say, a bank communicated with you via email there's no way that they'd include a clickable link and ask you to put your financial details in. They just don't do it. And even if they did, it would be appallingly insecure business practice.

[Raz316]

huzzah! 10.

I thought the Earthlink one was dodgy because it said it was a secure link, though it didnt go through https, not to mention the links text didnt match the url.

[IBM]

Apex ... that's a legit earthlink link. Do a lookup for www.earthlink.com / www.earthlink.net at www.whois.net, then look up http://myaccount.earthlink.net and you'll see they're the same.

Nichomach ... I did say that IF they're working on the premise that an email asking for billing info is a phishing scam then they're daft, and apart from the lack of individual customisation, I've yet to see why that email is a phishing mail...
Plus, I build e-commerce, secure websites, and have done for the past 6 years, and you wouldn't believe some of the stupidity and lazyness I've seen....this kind of thing is almost standard practise...

[nichomach]

It should still be treated as if it were a phishing mail...

Seriously, though, the lack of personalisation's a bit of a stone giveaway, isn't it? I mean...they allegedly know enough about Mr Smith to have his credit card number on file, and have failed to secure credit card payment from Mr Smith, yet not enough to send the email to Mr Smith by name? How likely is that? And when was the last time you received an email with a clickable link asking you to put in your financial info on a the page directly accessed from the link from a reputable company (I exclude those selling viagra and penis extensions )? Maybe some companies do that, but none that any sensible person would do business with.

Oh...I got 10/10 as well, by the way, but it isn't rocket science...

[bertie]

Hurrah, 10/10
Then again it's not exactly hard.

[FordPrefect]

I got 9 out 10 mainly due to one of the ebay ones, didnt spot it as a fraud as I didnt notice anywhere to click to update records or whatever.

[Punky]

8/10, not bad for guesswork!

[Rave]

9/10, and I was too suspicious, so the one I got wrong was actually genuine.

I've never received a phishing email, but I think I'd be clued up enough if I did.

Rich :¬)

[Nemeliza]

10,
i just read what the email is asking/demanding and look at any provided linkage.

[aeonf242]

I blame the american style links!

You got 6 out of 10 correct, or 60 %

>edit<

[Nemeliza]

wel done but u might have just runined it for everyone else

[aeonf242]

wel done but u might have just runined it for everyone else

Good point