Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which will download malware or providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new. They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work. Here is a copy of a new phishing email that appears to come from LinkedIn that is presently circulating. DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK. Like so many phishing emails, this one attempts to lure you into responding by making you think there is an emergency to which you must respond. Because LinkedIn has been in the news regarding a massive data breach, many people might be more likely to trust this email. Don’t trust it.
“Dear Linkedin User
Due to the recent upgrade in linkedin you have to upgrade your account to keep using linkedin or your account will be terminated.
In order to login click the link below
http://www.marcospomar.eliti.com.br/li/j/sign.htm
to login and wait for responds from linkedin.
We apologies for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
Regards
LINKEDIN.”
TIPS
There are a number of indications that this is not a legitimate email from LinkedIn, but instead is a phishing email. The email address from which it was sent has nothing to do with LinkedIn, but most likely was from a hacked email account that is a part of a botnet of computers controlled remotely by the scammer. In addition, they also would not use the generic greeting “Dear LinkedIn User,” but would rather specifically direct the email to you by your name. Another indication that this is a scam is the poor grammar where the email reads, “We apologies for any inconvenience.” English is often not the primary language of many scammers based around the world and it shows in their grammar.
As with all phishing emails, two things can happen if you click on the links provided. Either you will be sent to a legitimate looking, but phony webpage where you will be prompted to input personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft or, even worse, merely by clicking on the link, you will download keystroke logging malware that will steal all of your personal information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely call the company at a telephone number you know is accurate where you can confirm that it is a scam and make sure that you dial the telephone number correctly because scammers have been known to buy phone numbers that are just a digit off of the legitimate numbers for companies to trap you if you make a mistake in dialing the real number.