Topic: Spam from federalreserve.gov?

[Stocker]

I just got a quarantined (by my ISP) email which I have not opened. Says it's from alert @ federalreserve. gov (I inserted spaces for your protection ) and the subject line says "Wire transfer was canceled".

Are spammers now using .gov addresses? I know it should indicate government sites. I am suspicious because I have not sent (or requested) any wire transfers from anyone, including the government. So I'm guessing it's not legitimate at best, or spam, or phishing....??

Wanted to see what people think before I delete it. If I could somehow report it, I would.

[abnormaltoy]

That address will just get bounced to the "real" address where they will get what they need...if, in fact, the act of opening the email doesn't get them what they want.


But...you know me...I have a natural, healthy distrust of anything to do with gubmint

[Stocker [OP]]

But...you know me...I have a natural, healthy distrust of anything to do with gubmint

As do I  but I'm quite sure they aren't the instigator this time!

I had not considered a redirect. Of course, I am a babe-in-the-woods when it comes to computer stuff... 

[abnormaltoy]

I don't even think the FR has a .gov address...they're private, are they not?

[kneedownnate]

I got an email the other day from a company called nasda or something like that, said a recent transaction from my bank was rejected.  Almost coulda thought it was legit since I just made a large transaction to pay off dell, but a look at theirs and my transaction numbers and a quick call to verify my payment had gone through made it obvious it wasn't real.  A quick google search came up with much evidence of it being a scam.

Anyway, it sounds like almost the same scam, and I bet a quick search confirms that.

[emsvitil]

A lot of those type of emails have a link embedded in them that looks legit in the EMAIL

But if you look at the actual linked to site, it's NOT legit.   (in hotmail, if you hover the mouse over the link (DON"T CLICK) you'll see the actual site in the lower left corner of your web page if you're useing IE)

[Stocker [OP]]

I don't even think the FR has a .gov address...they're private, are they not?

A quick Google search proved you to be correct, sir... kindly move to the head of the class. 

I don't feel too terribly foolish for not knowing, as it is apparently a common misconception that the Fed is a branch of government. 


emsvitil -- after reading your post, I went back to my ISP's spamblocker quarantine. I could view the email (without opening it?) and a bunch of other stuff. It looks official but contains a link to click (har har, nice try spammer, no f'n way!). I also looked at message details and they aren't good -- it actually came from some so-and-so at gmail.com and is identified as an illegal IP address, plus a bunch of other stuff I don't understand.

To the dumper it goes 

[abnormaltoy]

The sad thing is...enough people fall for these things to make it profitable for the spammer. I am constantly amazed how many relatives I have in Malaysia, China, Japan and Nigeria. Despite my surname being notable in Japan...we're Jewish and Bri'ish, among others...but all European.