My website is hosted out in California by prxy.com, owned by an old AOL friend (and actual Apple designer back in the day). His spam filter is excellent, sending a daily report of what it’s trapped. I scan it to make sure there’s nothing I should have received, and then hit the “Delete All” button.
However, there are times when the spam header is so gonzo that I have to go look to see what the actual email says. (The filter allows you to peek at the email contents without actually opening a dangerous email.)
Mostly, though, I just laugh at the preposterousness of the scams they’re trying to pull. Almost all of them are some variety of Costco is giving you a $100 gift card, stuff like that, and there is nothing legitimate looking about them.
However, as a public service, let me give you a pro tip. If you get an email that looks legitimate, say from your bank or Social Security or Costco, the first thing you do is check under the hood:
- Click and hold on the From: field and see if the domain it’s coming from is actually your bank, etc.
- This info is sometimes right there in the Reply-To: field.
- If it’s not, then shift-ctrl-J (or your email/computer’s shortcut for Send to Junk is, is your friend.
As an example, allow me to share today’s haul.
First, a few examples of the clickbait headers, followed by the actual email each is from:
- A $100,000 credit is now on your Netflix account, netflix [netflix@streamingeurope.homes]
- Strange Black Elixir increases d*ck [sic] size by 3.6 inches, Men’s Health [support@livlfe.shop] (This one seemed oddly specific…)
- That gaunt, haggard look…, Appearance Warning [help@garagewarrior.com]
You get the idea. Now here are the actual email addresses for the rest of today’s haul:
- representativesbattery.lat
- centurysteam.garden
- understandprison.living
- publicationsdangerous.living
- everywherebid.living
- holylegacy.blog
- meatfamoous.garden
- fbicard.garden
- grore-images.com
- gamercum. com
- angular-engenharia. com.br
- manuallift.living
- whomnick.homes
- chinesemusic.skin
- surpriseltd.homes
- emmaopinions.garden
- jontglide.shop
- underrapidly.property
- startedlandscape.property
- cabinetdevice.living
- votedburied.homes
- frauenvernaschen. com
- shoppingtreated.garden
- penwin.property
- franckprovot. com
- alonginvestements.property
- cableplan.fit
- alexanderrealized.garden
- findingcares.lat
I mean to say, wot? I’m aware that the domains have multiplied beyond .com/.edu/.org/.gov, but most of those seem not credible in the least, not to mention the account names. In a quick check of two or three of them, none connected to a website, so you might wonder how they expect to scam you.
The answer is that each email gives you a simple way to claim your $100,000 credit from Netflix (??) — they give you a button to click.
And if you uncover the link in that button: http://www.claimxngoing.living/me/dl3nyxovwzn. There is no telling what that links to, but I suspect it installs malware on your computer. (I have modified the text so that it’s not a link to anything.)
Anyway, I hope this entertained you as much as it did me, and I hope it was at least a little informative. Protect yourself!
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I recently tried a link to a domain that just seemed odd, but with a great name: look.feel.be — there was nothing there, so I suppose it’s available for your business or personal use. What would you put there? Feel free to speculate in comments.