Quarantine Emails
I've been getting some interesting emails lately. Also a lot of really dull ones.
The dull ones, as you can imagine, are all related to the quarantine. "Updates" on the lockdown. Helpful hints on how to survive it. "Stay strong" messages from the governor. Blah blah blah, dull dull dull.
So you can imagine my excitement when I got a genuinely interesting email yesterday. One little problem: the message was a threat.
I didn't open it. I only read the bit that came after the sender's name. His name was "Guillermo."
Anyway my new pen pal Guillermo had this to say:
"I know that your password is ***. I am ordering you now to send..."
That's as far as I got. Then I sent the email to the trash.
It seems out local newspaper is concerned that it "may have had" a data breach recently. Hello, Star Tribune: YOU HAVE HAD A DATA BREACH.
So I spent a jolly afternoon changing passwords. The only site that wouldn't let me change my password was the Star Tribune. Ironic, am I right?
So Desperate is open to suggestions about what else she can do to get Giullermo to find another pen pal. preferably someone in law enforcement or cyber security.
Anybody have any ideas?
The dull ones, as you can imagine, are all related to the quarantine. "Updates" on the lockdown. Helpful hints on how to survive it. "Stay strong" messages from the governor. Blah blah blah, dull dull dull.
So you can imagine my excitement when I got a genuinely interesting email yesterday. One little problem: the message was a threat.
I didn't open it. I only read the bit that came after the sender's name. His name was "Guillermo."
Anyway my new pen pal Guillermo had this to say:
"I know that your password is ***. I am ordering you now to send..."
That's as far as I got. Then I sent the email to the trash.
It seems out local newspaper is concerned that it "may have had" a data breach recently. Hello, Star Tribune: YOU HAVE HAD A DATA BREACH.
So I spent a jolly afternoon changing passwords. The only site that wouldn't let me change my password was the Star Tribune. Ironic, am I right?
So Desperate is open to suggestions about what else she can do to get Giullermo to find another pen pal. preferably someone in law enforcement or cyber security.
Anybody have any ideas?
Common email scam . . . passwords are all over the dark web . . . he probably wants money/etc. You did the right thing trashing it. We've received lots of updates from our IT folks at the University about this scam.
ReplyDeleteChanging passwords would be a good idea . . . and adding another step to your sign in . . . like when you get sent a code via text.
Echoing-- it's probably random spam.
ReplyDeleteIf you get into your spam box some time, you'll eventually find rather amazingly well crafted (in the sense that they give enough illusion of detail to work on a wide range of people) email targeting folks who visit dirty websites and have web cameras.