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May 16, 2015

Saw a flood of phishing emails arrive claiming to be from Apple. The grammar is nearly perfect, and the look of the message is perhaps passable to the untrained eye. Here's the message text:

From: Apple <no-reply@appleid.ssl.com>
Subject: Your Apple ID has been suspended [#276983]

[Apple logo]

Dear Customer,

Your bank recently notified us there appears to be an issue with your payment method on file. We have therefore had to place a temporary hold on your Apple ID. Whilst in place you will be unable to use the App store or iTunes services. Please follow the steps and complete the validation process in order to carry on using all available services at your earliest convenience.

Verify now >

Why you received this email.

If you didn’t make this change or if you believe an unauthorized person is attempting to access your account, you can reset your password by going to My Apple ID.

Apple Support

Although a good many AppleID holders know how valuable their AppleID is to them, I'd wager that this message will freak out a lot of them. Worse yet, the crooks who are after this valuable information knew enough to try to trick recipients with a link domain that could look legitimate: appid[number_removed].com, as if it has something to do with one's appleid.

If you should ever be concerned about the legitimacy of an unexpected email like this one, always use a previously safe way to log into your account. In this case, using the iTunes app to log into your account would be the safest route, rather than through a web page of any kind—and definitely never via a link provided in an unexpected email message. If there is a problem with your account, you'll be notified when you try to log in.

May 06, 2015

With one grammatical exception, the example below is a fairly convincing phony email message claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. The goal, of course, is to trick unsuspecting recipients into opening the deadly attachment.

From: irs.e-helpmail@irs.gov
Subject: E-mail Receipt Confirmation - Ticket#SD9864782

The IRS e-help Desk has received your email on 05/06/15. A case has been opened in response to your question or issue.

Your case ID is : SD9864782

Details about this case has been attached.

If additional contact is necessary, please reference this case ID.
You will receive a reply within two business days.

Thank you for contacting the IRS e-help Desk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do not submit confidential information, such as Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), EFIN, or ETIN in your e-mail correspondence.

NOTE: We are providing a written response to your question using the information you have provided us in your original message. Our written response is NOT to be considered either a revenue ruling or determination letter, which are prepared by the Department of Treasury Chief Counsel.

[SD9864782.zip]

Of course, a quick peek at the email header would reveal the message originated from Spain—not exactly whence IRS emails would come.