Monday, October 25, 2010

PHISHING & a WINNER!

I have exciting sway to give away, today!! A few weeks back the wonderful Terry Lynn Johnson paid the Graffiti Wall a visit. She not only splattered the Alleyway with her wisdom and talent, but also left us some SIGNED bookmarks to give away.

Yes, life has been crazy over the last couple of weeks and I completely forgot to award the sway. I originally had offered three signed bookmarks, but Terry in her graciousness sent me a few more. And I'm passing them along to you!
 Natalie Aguirre
Shannon O'Donnell
Beverly
Riv Re
Jen Daiker
You've each won a SIGNED DOGSLED DREAMS bookmark!!
(Please email me your physical addies)


HERE'S Clue #3 to discover what really scares me: Very Hairy
In case you missed the others: 
Clue #1 It can cover a lot of ground quickly
Clue #2 They are mostly white, black, or brown, but some have been known to be purplish or red in color. 
(Remember, if someone guesses it, I'll post that horrendous Halloween picture of me.)

Now on to a more serious subject.
My wonderful author friend, Dianne - over on High Spirits, wrote an interesting post the other day about all the spam and email paraphernalia we receive on a daily basis. This got me thinking that I should share something with you. You know, for your safety.

Last week, I opened my inbox to find a message from Gmail. Here's what it said:
"Due to congestion of our services, your account has been selected to be locked down. If you would like to continue using this email account, please send us - as verification - the following information within the next 48 hours to insure your continued service."
Full Name
Phone Number
Physical Mailing Address
Why you use this account. 
Congestion of their services??? ~ What? Did they eat too much the night before? I've been selected? ~ Yeah, okay. I'm sure I had. As Verification? ~ Hah!! And the list of personal info they wanted? ~ My answers:

Full Name: Oscar the Grouch
Phone #: 666-666-6666
Mailing Addy: Just around the corner from Hell
Why I use the account: to hunt you down and become your nightmare!

The email didn't make sense and I did report it to Gmail as phishing. But...I have to be honest. I was nervous. What if they (or someone) locked my email account down? I'd lose access to my contacts and a ton of separate folders I have.

So be careful out there in cyberspace. Have you ever been phished??  

22 comments:

  1. Yeah, I got that one too. In fact, my gmail spam box has been over-full lately. (Maybe that's the congestion.) Meanwhile, two legitimate emails I was supposed to receive have apparently gone astray. I kind of thought gmail was more diligent than this ...

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  2. That is too weird. Thanks for sharing, now the rest of us will know what to do is this happens again.

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  3. several times a day!
    Okay my guess is: a tarantula?

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  4. Yes, I get these on a regular basis. The first one I got, I was nervous, but nothing happened so I don't worry anymore! But annoying!

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  5. OH! And congrats to the winners of the swag giveaway! Thanks for doing that Sheri. You're awesome.

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  6. I got a really scarry one the other day claiming to be an acquaintance who had been mugged in London and was now stuck overseas with no money or passport. "She" was asking me to wire $ to her via western union.

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  7. Loved you answers. :D

    Melissa's one has been reported on the local new (in Canada) several times. I can't believe some people actually fall for it.

    This morning I got an email from someone who loves my blog (made some comment about YA), and ask if one of "her" writers could be a guest blogger on it. But the contents she listed had nothing to do with what I blog about. If she had actually read my blog, she would know that. ;)

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  8. Yikes! I've never had one of these, but I'll be wary from now on!

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  9. Thanks so much for the heads-up, Sheri. It's nice to know what's happening out there so we can be more prepared.

    And THANK YOU for the bookmark! Woo-hoo!

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  10. hi miss sheri! i saw miss diannes post. wow that was a scary one for sure. i didnt ever get something like that and im sooo glad i didnt. my brothers have got stuff like that. if i do im sposed to tell them. im glad you did the next clue so now i think i could know what scares you. :)
    ...hugs from lenny

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  11. congrats to the winners! And oh, man! I have totally been phished and it sucks. Glad you caught it~ :o) <3

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  12. Ha! Great response to their SPAM. That will show them.

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  13. Thanks for the contest Sheri. I'm excited to have won. And to have the Internet connected again at home.

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  14. Way to snark back at them!

    The only phishing I've had to deal with is the guy in South Africa somewhere who really wants to get my inheritance money to me.

    Also, since I suck at getting around to writing emails, you're going to have to shoot me a note or leave me a comment and let me know what your NaNo name is so I can find and buddy you on there.

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  15. Wow! Thanks for the tip. I would completely freak out if I lost my Gmail. Curse those spammers that take advantage of these things. *shakes fist angrily*

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  16. Well I'd have to guess rats. But tarantulas sounds pretty good too. Hmmmmmm.......

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  17. Great response to the spam! I havent had this one. I had a dude offer me the chance to let me send him $30 to sponsor him on a project. Right, LOL!!!!

    I run a virus scan every time I log off...

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  18. Shit. That's really scary about gmail! I'd be a bit freaked out too! I couldn't risk loosing all the stuff I have in there. Do you know if there's any way we can back it up to import intoa new account if necessary? I hope so ...

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  19. Thanks for the heads up. My Kaspersky's usually annihilates everything. But good to know if something should try the slip on me.

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  20. I love your snarky answers back to the phishers!

    (I only use gmail too. I'd hate to lose any of my contacts/folders. *shudder*)

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  21. Congrats to the winners! I've been phished - it's awful.

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  22. Congrats to the winners - I love Terry Lynn's blog! Thanks for the warning about the phishing - that's such a scary thing.

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