topic Re: Spot the Difference in Community Chat

Spot the Difference

Pezzie — Mon, 13 May 2024 14:53:41 GMT

With all the scams and phishing emails etc, this is a reminder that the devil is in the very small detail.

Re: Spot the Difference

cheriere — Mon, 13 May 2024 14:55:32 GMT

@Pezzie

Wow! I have to admit, I didn't notice the difference. Thank you so much for posting this.😃❤️

Re: Spot the Difference

SilleeMee — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:01:58 GMT

I never click on any links provided in my emails. Never have.

Re: Spot the Difference

ECBG — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:02:07 GMT

I didn't see the difference either!!!

Re: Spot the Difference

Estellee — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:10:35 GMT

@Pezzie Thanks for pointing that out, scary isn't it

Re: Spot the Difference

PansyBoo — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:12:47 GMT

Seems I'm not very perceptive either as I didn't notice the difference. 😳 I find it interesting the lengths they will go to. I just wish the scammers would all go to where the sun don't shine!

Re: Spot the Difference

CANDLEQUEEN — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:15:34 GMT

That is so scary. I never click on links, learned my lesson the hard way a few years back.

However, about two weeks ago, received a phone call presumably from Discover asking all kinds of questions and of course I wouldn't answer them, and the minute I said I need to hang up and call Discover to verify this, they became hostile and of course it was a scam.

I can see why sometimes if you aren't fully aware, how things can go awry. It also happened with my husband with someone calling pretending to be with Spectrum, the minute he said he needed to call Spectrum to verify they hung up.

They make it all sound so convincing that I can see why a lot of elderly fall for these scams. You really have to be very aware and on guard all of the time!

Re: Spot the Difference

beckyb1012 — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:22:53 GMT

the letter a in bank

Re: Spot the Difference

beckyb1012 — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:25:20 GMT

I have so many puzzle games on my phone I immediately scoped it out and did not look at your entire post before I posted. I love the finding objects and matching object type games. Would never click on anything suspicious. This happened with a paypal email once and I was not taken in.

Re: Spot the Difference

Nonametoday — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:26:11 GMT

I saw the difference right off, perhaps because my earlier years in college, I worked as an auditor for a large corporation (whose name has cola in it).

Re: Spot the Difference

dooBdoo — Mon, 13 May 2024 15:36:48 GMT

As an aside... it's actually easier to spot the problem in this example since we have the valid URL positioned next to the imposter.

Our eyes see the 2 juxtaposed, and a comparison makes it at least a wee bit more likely we'll notice the difference.

On the other hand, when we receive nefarious email messages, texts, etc., they likely won't have the valid URL there for us to see for comparison... and that way it's even more likely they'll catch us in their trap.

Thanks for this thread, @Pezzie. Always good to have our eyes open.🌻

Re: Spot the Difference

meallen616 — Mon, 13 May 2024 16:05:47 GMT

@Pezzie,

Thank you for this post, much appreciated!

Re: Spot the Difference

SaveTheTurtles — Mon, 13 May 2024 16:22:26 GMT

Had to look at each letter before I spotted the "a" was different from the rest. Never hurts to be reminded of the scams out there.

Re: Spot the Difference

Othereeeen — Mon, 13 May 2024 16:54:37 GMT

@Pezzie

Great post....never hurts to remind people and to provide examples...

We get bombarded with emails, texts, etc...that our eyes probably DO easily glide right over those subtle differences....I didn't see it til I read the explanation!

Scammers COUNT on that.

Better to just make it a habit that if YOU don't initiate the call, email, text to the financial institution, don't answer, or if you DO, don't give out ANY information.

What I hate lately is scam calls I dont' answer that leave LONG blank "messages" on my answering service ( 30-50 seconds of silence). I suppose it's just another way for them to determine if a line is "real" or not.

Medicare calls, Advantage plan calls and phoney police donation solitications are coming out of the woodwork.

The Police ones happen every time there's a police officer death by shooting.

Sigh.

Theh irony is that....recently I applied for a CC in the bank I've used forever, online. WIthin minutes, my phone rang, the Caller ID said it was the bank....and they needed "more information" for my application.

I refused to answer any of her questions, and said I NEVER give out info on calls I didn't initiate...she got a bit huffy and hung up on me.

I called the bank back after that call and NO they did not call me for more information.

That's how fast it happens today.

I have no idea how they do it, but it's insidious.

Re: Spot the Difference

Love my grandkids — Mon, 13 May 2024 17:02:27 GMT

@Pezzie Excellent. I'm one who looks very carefully at this stuff.

Also, hold your cursor over the sender's address and you'll see if it's fake or not, usually.

Those cyrillic letters are a dead giveaway.

Re: Spot the Difference

NYCLatinaMe — Mon, 13 May 2024 17:44:35 GMT

If one right clicks on the email address, one can see what it is, and can usually tell if it's legit.

Re: Spot the Difference

on the bay — Mon, 13 May 2024 18:45:00 GMT

Wow-thanks for this @Pezzie!

For me it just reminds me all over again not to respond to emails, click on anything, answer anything from an email or text from a business I know and just go to the website and sign in.

Because I would never notice things like that and probably also would forget to hover over the email which I"ve done sometimes but not often.

Great reminder to be very cautious and not take anything for granted

that it's legitimate.

Re: Spot the Difference

Nightowlz — Mon, 13 May 2024 19:26:38 GMT

I don't click on links in emails. I don't click on links in emails from those I know where I receive billing info from. I go direct to their site.

I have 2 emails in my SPAM folder right now that I blocked. I didn't open them at all. I know they are scams.

Re: Spot the Difference

RetRN — Mon, 13 May 2024 19:35:57 GMT

Our BBB just recently said on our local news channel that it is not just the elderly who have been scammed, but some pretty savvy younger people it has even happened to. They are more reluctant to report it because they feel they should have known better.

Re: Spot the Difference

Goodie2shoes — Tue, 14 May 2024 02:48:36 GMT

@ Pezzie Thank you ! I love it when someone post an alert such as this ! Hopefully it keeps another person from losing their hard earned money. I was not aware of this but I am now.