# A new twist on a scam **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2011, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110 "2011-07-15T09:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110/1 "2011-07-15T09:06:56Z")
Received this “Unusual Activity Warning” by gmail: ## "Security Warning. Dear User, Somebody using the following IP Address (41.248.244.144) has tried to access your account six (6) times today. We need you to access your account as fast as possible so you can apply some security measures. By clicking here. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, This is a no-reply email address, Please do not reply." It was supposedly from Paypal. Except I don’t have a Paypal account. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110/2 "2011-07-15T10:24:28Z")
WELL what’s the link? C’mooOON man my PayPal account is at stake!! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110/3 "2011-07-15T10:34:30Z")
Well, it actually made me look twice before common sense kicked in. I had bought something online today (which I don’t often do) and thought it was in relation to that. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110/4 "2011-07-15T17:00:41Z")
No different from the WoW phishing emails I get all the time saying I need to verify my WoW account login/password at some link because there’s been some suspicious activity recently. Well-known scam methodology at this point, I would say. Socially engineering your victims to feel fear, since fear is a better draw than greed, when the 419 scams prey on. People are developing immunity to greed scams, fortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110/5 "2011-07-15T19:23:53Z")
I get a lot of emails claiming to be from Bank of America, saying essentially the same thing…my account has been compromised, and I need to sign in and verify it. I don’t have a BoA account, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-twist-on-a-scam/589110/6 "2011-07-15T20:18:16Z")
Since I’m in a Mundane and Pointless mood today… 41.248.244.144 resolves to [office.marrakech.genious.net](http://office.marrakech.genious.net) [genious.net](http://genious.net) is a web hosting company with offices in Marrakech and Casablanca. I don’t know why I posted that info, I just feel like goofing off this Friday afternoon… 😃