Tag: email

Ah, Good Ol’ Email Scams

Carl Setzer1 Comment
close up shot of fake money

This one was sent to me today. Now, back in the day I used Dashlane, but I deleted that account years ago. That was my first clue that this was a scam. Now, let’s explore this further.

This one has a few other easy ways to see that it’s a scam. The first is the email address it was sent from. Notice, the sender is NOT Dashlane.

The second comes when you hover over the action button:

Again, nothing to do with Dashlane.

There’s no way to know if the scammers “know” I had a Dashlane account due a data breach which has been dumped on the dark web, or is just a random guess. They usually send these sorts of messages out by the thousands: a purely numbers game. But it doesn’t matter. The investment from the criminal is minimal, so they only need a few clicks to make this payoff.

In the end, be careful out there.

Ooohhh…this scam almost got me

Carl Setzer1 Comment
scam alert letting text on black background

I just got this email a few minutes ago, ostensibly from RyanAir:

Man, this one looks pretty legitimate. The things that caught my attention? #1, I haven’t booked any travel with RyanAir.

#2, the email is one I haven’t used in ages, but it is set to auto-forward to me main one. But it’s not one I would’ve used. Perhaps I used it in the past with RyanAir? Nope. Never flown with them.

But what if, maybe, just maybe, it was someone else, some other Carl Setzer, who accidently used this email that was off in some weird capacity. Hmmm…

Oh, well if someone made a mistake, I should click on this link, right? Be nice and help a chap out, right? Knowing how many people want to be nice, I opt to hover over this link, which leads me to the big ol’ red flag

Check out THIS url:

Yep, my friends: classic phishing!

Now, you don’t need to dig around like I did. I did so mostly for the academic exercise. My first impulse was to mark this as phishing immediately, but I just was too curious.

For most folks, just mark as spam and ignore these things. Do NOT click on any of the links!

So, the world of spams & scams is evolving. Be aware and be safe, my friends!

Recruiting Weirdness

Carl Setzer2 Comments
hiring text

Though I’m not actively looking for work at the moment, I still have resumes out there. So, recruiters find me and send me opportunities. This is one I got from ZipRecruiter this morning. (There was an employer name where it’s blank, which I opted to redact)

I get many of these sorts of emails every month and I find them puzzling. Ultimately, there’s pretty much NO information here. I had to Google the company, as I had never heard of them. As they’re a staffing agency, I have no idea who the company that I’d be working for is, or if they’re even in Marysville. No salary, no job description (yeah, I could click on the link, but, um, no). If I was looking for work, or, in other words, unemployed, it might be interesting enough to run the risk of a recruitment scam.

Anyway, it’s a first-world problem and I shouldn’t complain. Recruiters ARE reaching out to me, so that’s something.

LastPass Clients, Watch Out For This Phishing Scheme

Carl Setzer
monochrome photo of two people having a video call

I, along with many, many others, was affected by several of LastPass’s data breaches. So, earlier this year, I shifted over to another product.

So, when I saw this in my email the other day, my suspicions were raised.

Besides no longer being a LastPass customer, the sender’s email was a huge red-flag.

Ah, there’s a link! I always recommend people do in these circumstances is hover over links in email. In the lower left-hand corner, you can see the actual link. *Note, this is not a a LastPass site.

I’m quite confident that these hackers got my information from the dark web, but found that I’ve changed all my passwords, as well as shifted away from LastPass. It’s a rather convincing email phishing for information.

So, I wanted to share this for a few reasons. Mainly, for my fellow LastPass breachees, watch for these sorts of scams. Hackers can use information in multiple ways, not just with accessing your sites with stolen credentials. Also, there are some good tools to use in any suspicious email. My main advice: never click on a link unless you’re 100% certain it’s valid. Reach out to the send via phone/text if you’re in doubt.

Anyway, be wary my friends. If you’ve ever been part of a data breach (is there anyone who hasn’t?), expect that the information collected will be used against you.

Some fun with Mailchimp

Carl Setzer

An interesting evening.

I inherited a Mailchimp account. I needed to update the website, organization name (slight name change), address, phone number, etc. My goodness! There were 4 different forms that needed informatio.

Make sure you’ve updated all elements at this section of your account:

  • https://us14.admin.mailchimp.com/account/contact/#

It’ll save you aggravation later.

Please note: I’m still a fan of Mailchimp and their business model. I love how it’s free to start while designed to grow with you and your business. It’s a powerful tool that will help you market professionally with minimal effort. And will scale as you grow.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ve deployed Mailchimp for multiple businesses and organizations. It’s one of the best investments you can make for your growing business.

Um, Amazon, You Want Me To Rate My Transaction?

Carl Setzer

Got this email from Amazon a few minutes ago. Methinks it’s missing a few tiny bits of information.

Email - Amazon.JPG

FYI, clicking on the Amazon logo does nothing. No link, no information about which order this might be…nada.

So, I guess I get to delete this message and move on the next one. Only 101 to go!

Yet Another Phishing Scheme

Carl Setzer

Got this gem in my inbox this afternoon:

Did a quick Google and found a bunch of references to this as a phishing scheme. The poor grammar and funky URL tipped me off. 

Always be diligent, my friends. 

All Your Spam Are Belong To Us

Carl Setzer

Oh My Lord! This is the best bit of spam I’ve had in a bit:

 

Spam

Immediately made me think of good ol’ Zero Wing.

 

Aybabtu

Email, Email, Everywhere

Carl Setzer

20-email-marketing-tools

Email flowing fast

Data rich and interesting

Then our mind’s implode

Wow, the most annoying email marketing fail I’ve received…and I’ve seen a few

Carl Setzer

With 7 years working in Real Estate, I’m on tons of email lists. I don’t mind this much, as I get to see what’s going on out in the market. Today, though, got one that violates all my marketing skills, understanding and wisdom.

  1. It was a jpg dropped into an email. I’m not a fan (mea culpa: I’ve done that in the past, mainly out of time, or, sadly, that’s all I had to work with).
  2. In the jpg were several urls. Note: I don’t say “links”. The links were NOT CLICKABLE! Simply text in the jpg.
  3. As I was interested in the property in question, I manually typed the links into a browser. Nope! No worky. Not even the bit.ly one. Not a single link worked.
  4. I saw the project name in the email addresses in the “contact us” section. That was the right URL.
  5. The creme de la creme, the piece de resistance (insert cliche of your choice here): there was no address. No city. Not even a state, region…nothing. When I finally made a url work, I could see that it was on the Washington Coast. Please note: this was for a new real estate development. “Location, Location, Location”?

It seemed like the creator of this campaign worked really hard to ensure I not only didn’t connect, but actually ended up annoyed with them. Amazing how well it violated every tenet I have for effective email communication.

So, do:

  1. Location. Events: have a date, location (address, venue…at least a city), and times. Drives me nuts to get an email for a property that looks interesting, or an event that looks really cool and, well, sorry, it’s it Atlanta. And it’s not until I’m in the registration section that I find that out? Geez!
  2. If you can at all help it, don’t just email jpgs. FYI, spam filters hate them.
  3. Links. Oh. My. Gawd! Making me TYPE your link…from an email?
  4. Links, part ii: Links MUST WORK. Test them! Most people won’t do anywhere near what I did. I was curious at that point and choose to dig. They may have got a click, but they didn’t get a sale.
  5. Segment your market and sell accordingly. I’m not working the Washington Coast market. It’s hours of driving away!
  6. Your main call to action cannot fail. If clicking on the link takes you to a Google page saying “sorry, sparky, no frickin idea what website you’re trying to find”, every erg of energy expended was wasted. Your goal is sales, right? Customers gotta get to your page. Gotta!

Keep your eyes on the prize, folks. Sales pitches to the right people, in the right way, is a splendid thing. Spam? Yeah, no.

Go forth and do great things!