New Scam

[alantj]

Thought I should warn others about a new (or at least new to me) scam.

I received an email purporting to be from a David Radcliffe claiming he had booked to stay at our villa and asking for the exact address and directions. I replied as although I didn't recognise the name we often get follow up mails from other members of the party asking follow up questions about the villas or Kalkan.

I then received a reasonably convincing mail claiming to contain the booking details in an attached Word document.

Fortunately my antivirus software flagged the attachment as dangerous and a little digging on the internet soon found that this was another scam - if you open the attachment it will take you to a fake log on screen which if you use will capture your password and then hijack your account.

Alan



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Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=12757.0

[tortoise lady]

Thanks for the warning alantj.   We have had a few scam e-mails, although not any saying they had an actual booking so this is a new version.   As far as I can remember we never had these scams in the past although we have been letting for some years now.   It is good to have your reminder to be ever vigilant.   Hope anyone who has bought recently and has started to let will take note of the various scams around.

[Chris_S]

If anyone you don't know sends you a Word/Excel etc document - ask them to resend it as an rtf (Rich Text File),  it should still have the same information, but Macros can't hide in it.  There is a Microsoft patch to prevent Word doing undesirable tbhings in RTF files, and should be applied.

However, there are caveats.  From Kaspersky Lab:


1. Install the proper patches in a timely manner for use with the text editor, especially if they concern working with RTF documents.
2. It is absolutely necessary to check RTF documents using an anti-virus containing the latest updates of the anti-virus database.
3. Under no circumstances start up the contents in RTF documents directly from the links to any files.

[MartynE]

There is also a danger if you send out Word documents to people as part of your booking process....a scam enquirer can then put all kinds of bogus stuff in it, which you could inadvertently open when you get it back from them. Solution: use an online booking system.

[Charlie]

Hi anyone had an email from Carol Noah?  I've just received an email telling me she has attached the booking form I asked her to sign.  I have never heard of this eprson - I'm assuming a scam and haven't opened the PDF doc.  Any advice? I don't advertise on ownersdirect??

[tortoise lady]

If in any doubt don't open the document.   Try asking her some questions, e.g. when did she receive the booking form from you (you will be able to check from your own e-mails if you even sent any that day re Kalkan), dates she was hoping to book (so you can check your own bookings list), ask her to e-mail you again with her names, address and phone number.   Hopefully if she does reply it will become clearer from her answers whether she is genuine or not.

I have not heard of Carol Noah although have received a few scams this season.   

[alantj]

It's the scam the booking form contain's malware and a fake Gmail login screen that will capture your account password and immediately lock you out if you try to logon.

I have now had around a dozen similar mails - 3 just today - most included the following

Subject: Re: booking contract signed, payment done

Text:   Sorry for delay but i was on a business. Please find attached the contract booking signed that you sent me. Thanks  Mary



 

[Charlie]

Thanks both for your replies. alantj the exact same wording, I've deleted the email.
Thanks again.

[si18665]

I will not charge you for this free consultation (joking) 

Whenever an e-mail looks suspicious or as general precaution, check the e-mail headers. Almost any e-mail browser has the option to show the headers, which don't appear by default because too technical. However, they are important because they show you who, what, when the e-mail was sent. If the e-mail chain doesn't match the sender address or it comes from a bogus (it shows a different e-mail server address), then be cautious on opening any attachments or click on any link because there might be the possibility that it's a phishing attack or a malware or a virus. It helps but still doesn't fully protect from IT infections.

[Kalkan regular]

I'm not IT savvy so my simple rule is not to open any attachment or click on any link unless I'm absolutely sure of it's origin.

For most of us that only have one property we know who has enquired and who's booking, they perhaps are hoping to catch those who have multiple properties or agents and so don't have the same grasp.