SPOOF's are some of the most dangerous SPAM Emails.
Spoof's are not just SPAM, they are attempts to steal from you.
A SPOOF Email is a Fake that looks like the real thing. Think of it like seeing a Rolex "On sale" for $ 19.95.
The difference with this "Rolex" is that if you buy it, it will tell the person you bought it from your account numbers, home address and social security number.
Identifying an email to be a Spoof is sometimes difficult. A Spoof email looks legitimate and often will even link you to the real website they are imitating. Somewhere though in the links they will also link you to a website that LOOKS like the real thing, but it is actually a dangerous fake.
Many Spoofs will have this in common. They will link you to a website that looks legitimate, but the site is not actually located on the Domain name of the company they are imitating. Some of the most common Spoofs are for Ebay, PayPal and many banks and credit card companies.
For instance. If you receive an email that appears to be from Ebay, all of the links should in fact go to Ebay. (www.Ebay.com) However in a spoof, while most of the links may go to Ebay, there will be at least 1 link someplace that instead points you to an IP Address or different domain name. Reputable companies WILL NOT link you to an IP Address.
An Example of this is a spoof that we recently received. All of the links in the email go to Ebay, however, 1 of the links instead went to the IP Address and Location :
http://61.145.119.80/bbs/templates/.../
DO NOT SIGN IN. THIS IS A FAKE. if you sign in they will steal your information.
This Spoof site even puts a fake link over top of your browsers link area to make it look like it is on Ebay.
But if you put another window on top of your browser, you can see that the "ebay" link floats and in not actually in the browsers link area.
Another way to spot a spoof is to take a look at who the owner of the website is, or where it is located at. In most cases, using the WHOIS information you can identify who the real owner of a website is or at least where it is hosted at. The WHOIS information for the IP Address sent to us above reveals that the IP Address is in Beijing China...
Ebay is NOT In China.
http://www.whois.sc/61.145.119.80
When you receive a Spoof email like this, It is Extremely important that you report it to the proper people. On our "Reporting SPAM" page you will see links to various companies and how to report SPAM and SPOOFS to them.
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