"Did you log into Facebook from somewhere new?" Facebook Email

Many of my friends are receiving this email. Is it a phishing scam email or not?

From: Facebook <notification+i-m5m7hi@facebookmail.com>
To: Elaine
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 1:25 AM
Subject: Did you log into Facebook from somewhere new?

Dear Elaine,

Your Facebook account was recently logged into from a computer, mobile device or other location you've never used before. For your protection, we've temporarily locked your account until you can review this activity and make sure no one is using your account without your permission.

Did you log into Facebook from a new device or an unusual location?

- If this was not you, please log into Facebook from your computer and follow the instructions provided to help you control your account information.

- If this was you, there's no need to worry. Simply log into Facebook again to get back into your account.

For more information, visit our Help Center here:
http://www.facebook.com/help/account_recovery

Thanks,
Facebook Security Team

One way to know it is not a phishing email is to open a new browser window, log in to your facebook account (not from any links in the email!) and the alert should pop up again. Whether the alert pops up again or not, it would be my recommendation to go in there and change your password. And don't pick something stupid simple like "password123" or english words easy for a software to guess by running through combinations.

Scam Email: Eric Anderson

Hi Kathleen,

I'm a small publisher in Sydney, Australia. I also got one from Eric Anderson, same format as all the others. My gut told me to do a search and I came across this site. Armed with this information, I wrote the following to "Eric Anderson":

- - -

Hi Eric,

Cost of Order = $1260
Cost of shipping = $420
Total cost = $1680

I spoke to my bank today and they said they cannot accept a credit card order from the Philippines without a scan of your passport (lots of scams from your country, I'm afraid). So if you can send that through as a jpg, I'll be grateful. Alternatively, you can send the money via Western Union (I use this method all the time for orders from Russia).

Please let me know how you'd like to proceed.

- - -

Scam Fake Email from U.S. Treasury

It's tax time. The number of fake scam emails I'm getting that pretend to be coming from the IRS or the U.S. Treasury is astounding. They are ALL fake. These government departments do NOT initiate contact via email! Ever!

The approach the scammer uses below is an effective one - provide so little detail that the user is compelled to click on the attachment just to figure out what the email is about and if it is legitimate. And once they click, it is too late. DO NOT CLICK ON ANY ATTACHMENTS in emails that appear to be from the IRS or other government agencies.

I recommend looking at the "message source" and finding the REPLY-TO address and see what that says. What does it say in this case? boainfo@superposta.com. Not exactly the U.S. Treasury. I then usually look for another field, to see where the email may have been routed from. But in this case, that didn't help as the scammer was able to hijack using yahoo mail. Probably hacked into someone's account.

Okay, here is what it looks like. It's simple, but it does get people to click on the attachment and that is where the trouble begins for the user. So don't click on any links in these types of email.

Subject: YOUR COMPENSATION FUNDS TRANSFERRING TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE (MRS. JOYCE SMITH), RECONFIRM TO PROCEED‏
From:    U.S Treasury Office (desk.ci@vf.vc)
Sent:    Sat 4/13/13 5:16 PM
To:    
   
Attachments:     1 attachment | Download all as zip (2.0 KB)
    The details.txt (2.0 KB)
   

Parts of this message have been blocked for your safety.

View the file for your message details.

Scam Email: Facebook Online International Lottery

Here is a scam email that oddly uses the address of the fake FBI scam (as their email address), the use of Facebook (as the brand name to create legitimacy), tries to time it as an Easter email (but then sends it 2 days after Easter) but then launches into the story of a fake lottery scam. This scammer really ought to decide which scam he is running!

Lots of people still fall for the fake lottery scam. You can NOT win a lottery you did not enter! And the winning amount in these fake scam emails is always more than is reasonably true. That they try to overwhelm people with details doesn't mean it isn't ALL made up. Do not fall for this.


From:Facebook (info@fbi.gov)
Subject: Congratulations and Happy Easter Celebration‏

Reply-To: (facebookwinnersdepartment11@gmail.com)

Facebook Online International Lottery

From: The Desk Of the President.

International Promotions / Prize Award.

Category: 2nd

 

Greetings to you Dear lucky winner. We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws held on the 12th of March 2013 by Facebook group in cash promotion to encourage the usage of Facebook worldwide. Your name was among the 20 lucky winners who won $950.000.00USD (Nine hundred and Fifty Thousand United State Dollars) each on the Facebook group promotion award attached to Lucky Number (FB-225-7736), Ticket Number (FB-172-60), Batch Number (FB-0281/544) and Serial Number (99352748-2013).

 

The online draws was conducted by a random selection of emails you were picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the Facebook in other to claim your $950.000.00usd the lottery program which is a new innovation by Facebook, is aimed at saying a big thank you to all our users for making Facebook their number one means to connect, communicate, relate and hook up with their families and friends over the years.

 

This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants and scam artists all participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 companies and 30,000,000 individuals email addresses from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every three years. You may be rest assured that this is real and legal. There are some scam artists around but thanks to the FBI, 216 of them have been arrested.

 

You are required to contact the head of our disbursement department in the person of Mr. Lincoln Howard via this email address (facebookwinnersdepartment11@gmail.com) with information below for the complete processing of your Winning certificate and further information regarding the disbursement of your lottery winnings.

 

Full Name:

Contact Address:

Mobile Number:

Occupation:

Marital Status:

Sex:

Age:

Country of Residence:

Nationality:

Lucky Number:

Ticket Number:

Batch Number:

Serial Number:

Your Email Address:

 

Furthermore, if there is any change in email addresses please contact us on time. Do not reply to this email, Contact the disbursement department with the email provided above.

 

Note: if you are not interested please do not bother to reply.

 

Thanks and more Congratulations!

 

Regards,

Mr. Wright Jones

Announcer.