# Earthlink potential hoax question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 16, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635 "2003-05-16T07:42:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635/1 "2003-05-16T07:42:34Z")

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I use earthlink for dialup access, and I just got an email, purportedly from earthlink’s billing system.  
Everything about it screams “this is a hoax designed to get your credit card number and steal your money.” Everything. It just sounds and feels and reads wrong.

But just to confirm my common sense and intuition - has anyone heard anything about a hoax dealing with earthlink billing or anything that would indicate that it isn’t a hoax?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![fluoextinchcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@fluoextinchcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluoextinchcl)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635/2 "2003-05-16T10:21:24Z")

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When in doubt, call your ISP.

[http://www.scambusters.org/PWemail2.html](http://www.scambusters.org/PWemail2.html)

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**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635/3 "2003-05-16T12:37:27Z")

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EarthLink sends me an invoice once a month (saying, basically, you owed $50 for your DSL, and we charged it to your credit card), but I’ve never heard from their billing department. I’m guessing scam. This was an AOL scam for quite a while.

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635/4 "2003-05-16T12:43:38Z")

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If it is asking you to go someplace and log in or enter credit card details, it may well be a scam. What domain does the link point at?

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**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635/5 "2003-05-16T12:59:18Z")

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I think at some point when I was on Earthlink, I got a notice saying that my card was ready to expire and that I would have to give them a new number. This was for real and I was not asked to send the new number to a Hotmail account or anything.

When in doubt, just call them.

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**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earthlink-potential-hoax-question/175635/6 "2003-05-16T15:04:33Z")

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Do a [whois](http://ww2.arin.net/whois/) search on the originating IP address.

Forward the email to [abuse@earthlink.net](mailto:abuse@earthlink.net)