There is a new scam doing the rounds that is just different enough and clever enough that I’m sure it will suck in a lot of people.
Hopefully you will read this warning before it gets to you and you’ll be on the alert. There are a few minor variations, but they all pretty much follow this format…
—-Original Message—–
From: system-administrator [mailto:system-administrator@helyholdings.com]
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 11:09 PM
To: [e-mail address deleted]
Subject: Mail server upgrade
Attention!
On October 16, 2009 server upgrade will take place. Due to this the system may be offline for approximately half an hour.
The changes will concern security, reliability and performance of mail service and the system as a whole.
For compatibility of your browsers and mail clients with upgraded server software you should run SSl certificates update procedure.
This procedure is quite simple. All you have to do is just to click the link provided, to save the patch file and then to run it from your computer location. That’s all.
http://updates.helyholdings.com.secure.nixserver-systems.com/core/id=7963055930-bill.hely@helyholdings.com-patch9691.exe
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter and sorry for possible inconveniences.
System Administrator
So who do you think the “System Administrator” is? Here’s some of the information I dug up:
Domain name : DB-1.NET
Name Server : ns1.x2dns.ru
Name Server : ns2.x2dns.ru
Creation Date : 2009.10.06
Expiration Date : 2010.10.06
Name : Elena V Zhuravlyova
Organization : Elena V Zhuravlyova
Street1 : Orekhovyi boulevard
Street1 : d.31 kv.72
City : Moscow
State : Moscow
Postal Code : 115573
Country : RU
Contact Country : RU
Contact Phone : +7 499 2678638
Contact E-mail : awoke@co5.ru
If you think Elena and her Russki friends have your best interests at heart, I have some nice bridges you might be interested in. Very cheap, but please send me your money now — before Elena gets it all.
[What's the bet that "Elena" has a three-day growth of facial hair and other, ahem, X+Y chromosome attributes?]
Also…
It’s Microsoft Patch & Updates Day
It’s that time again folks — Microsoft has just released their Security Bulletin Summary for October 2009.
To have your system scanned for relevant products & updates, and to receive update recommendations customized to your installation Click Here Now
Stay safe – patch now! Many of the malware threats that you are frequently warned about in the various news and information media, on and off-line, should never be the slightest threat to you.
If you make a habit of applying the patches & updates that are issued by Microsoft every month, you will be immune from infection by many of the tens of thousands of threats currently circulating on the Internet, with more being churned out by the cybergrubs on an almost daily basis.
The vast majority of these threats get into your computer by exploiting some known vulnerability in Windows. When one of these vulnerabilities is patched by Microsoft, the threat becomes benign — but only if you have applied the free patch to your version of Windows.
So remember…
You Ignore Patches & Updates at Your Peril!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
“My apologies for contacting you again so soon. I really don’t want to be one of those hit-your-mailbox-daily types” Never apologise Bill, if you have something to say, then I know it’s important enough for me to listen. Thanks for all your hard work. Cheers cobba.
I full heartedly agree with Willem, if you have something to tell us Bill you can email us everyday, we listen to you because you never say anything without reason. I managed to get a sneek peek at Windows Seven. I’m totally impressed. Just a few days left now. Lookind forward to “no more freezing”
Thanks Bill for bringing that to our attention. I shall keep an eye out for that scam although any e-mail I have from people I don’t recognise goes straight in the trash. At best I’ll have a look if I’m not sure but I’ll never open attachments or links if I think there is any threat. Your advice is worth it’s weight in gold. If only evrybody took it we wouldn’t be bothered by these mindless vandals!
Keep up the good work!
Regards,
Adrian
is it just me or does the microsoft patch item follow the warnings of scams and therefore is one??
I echo Willem.. Bill, NEVER APOLOGIZE for informing us on ANY threat to our web well being!!!!!
Bill, I’ll second Willem’s motion about “never apologize”.
And I’ll add a VERY LARGE thank you for all your efforts to help “joe ordinary computer user” stay out of trouble from scams, slugs(2-footed), worms,and all the nasty rest.
To borrow the words of one computer whizgeek, “Live long and prosper”.
No worries about being contacted when there is important news. I have a comment about the links in the e-mail, however: perhaps I’m being paranoid but I would never click on a e-mail link where the destination address is obscure as yours are. For example: http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=C5R0x&m=1asoeCnxyCBbAn&b=krP32Gb7lgijJfZ6SBICKA
(your first link)
Sara:
> perhaps I’m being paranoid but I would never click on a
> e-mail link where the destination address is obscure as
> yours are. For example:
> http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=etc etc
> (your first link)
Good point, and I’m glad you raised it — it’s probably something I’m going to have to clarify once in awhile. Or maybe there’s a need for an explanatory page that I can point people to when the point is raised. Anyway…
AWeber is one of those exceptions to the general rule.
They are an AutoResponder service that allows people like me to manage large mailing lists with relative ease. Well, easy in comparison to having to run the whole thing ourselves. Of course there are a number of other players in this market as well — I guess GetResponse.com would be AWeber’s main competitor.
But quite apart from making it easier to contact people in bulk, as I do when I notify list members of new blog posts, and the occasional special notice for members only, the really big benefit is reliability of delivery of e-mail.
When you’re trying to fulfill your obligations to people who have VOLUNTARILY SUBSCRIBED and ASKED to be kept informed, it’s just so easy to be unjustly accused of spamming. There’s always a few every time I contact my list members, despite the fact that there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of EVERY such e-mail.
Now, professional AutoResponder services have to be extremely careful to maintain a non-spamming reputation, otherwise they will be widely blacklisted, which in effect puts them out of business. So the precautions they take, the policies they enforce and the records they maintain also keep me safe from having unjust accusations acted upon to my detriment.
The bottom line is that you should never have to worry about clicking an AWeber link. All you have to worry about is that it really is an AWeber link and not a connection to BadHacker.com disguised as a legitimate AWeber URL.
I can’t give you any hard and fast rules because, as I said, such domain names are an exception to the general do-not-click admonition. They just become part of a mental list you compile over time.
And finally, if you’re wondering why the AWeber links in this response are themselves hotlinked, it’s because AWeber will pay me a small commission if you click one of those links and become another of their customers. As I use the service myself, and as I would never recommend any product or service I didn’t believe in regardless of the incentive, I do that with a clear conscience. It’s just a way of defraying some of the expenses incurred in running the service. Likewise, you will never see an advertisement on the right of this page for anything that I don’t have 100% confidence in and in most cases use myself.
I hope this puts your mind at ease about AWeber links.
Hi, Bill! It really is great how you uncover these scams to us. There’s no need for any apologies to alert us about anything. Many people would simply think that because it concerns security, that they immediately have to follow this kind of routine, not knowing what they may be in for. I just downloaded and installed my Microsoft updates just before I received your email. It’s very important to do so and I thank you once again for alerting us to these cyber crimes. The more we are educated, the safer we become! Have a great week!
Thank you all very much for the kind words and encouragement.
Appreciation really is an incentive to keep going on those occasions when other activities are pressing for attention and there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day.
Nice info ,I have got to send this to my contacts
Thank you ,and dont forget to update system computers
Hiya Bill, so nice to see your smiling face, and what a pleasure to have such a good-looking fella giving us so much great advise…. I am in agreement with the rest of the comments above…….. so good of you to take the time to let us know these things……love ya, stay well, your devoted fan………SISSY
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