Just a note about the “electric company” scammers: They might ask to see your bill, so they can show you just how much you can save.
DON’T.
Your bill contains sufficient account information that they could use to sign you up for their “service”.
Generic you I assume, as I personally am wayyy ahead of ya, and have talked to the office gals at the complex about them, and we agreed to call the cops on them if they show up again, which one did 2 weeks ago (a kid wearing an Ivy League style sweater of all things). I and another neighbor both told him to sod off, politely but firmly.
Today I had one of those attempts to get me to install malware as part of identifying me as not a robot. I was on OpenTable and wanted to look at a restaurant’s menu, which was not showing on OpenTable but only on the restaurant’s own site (quite common on Open Table). Fortunately I had seen somewhere here on SDMB about these scripts or whatever it is that gets loaded, so I noped out and closed the tab.
My first thought was to wonder why a restaurant would be doing that; it wasn’t until later that I thought “Oh yeah, they’ve probably been hacked.” Now I wish I could have found a way to contact them so I could let them know, but I don’t remember which restaurant it was. I hope they figure it out.
I just got a similar one, though the email address does seem correct after the @. I’ll check on it sometime via the actual publishing house.
I’ve gotten a couple of emails in my spam folder about being part of class action lawsuits. The cases seemed plausible on the surface (I’d had dealings with both the defendants) so I copied the links and tried them in a private browsing window. At which point BitDefender immediately flagged them as malware and refused to continue. Searching the actual case titles revealed that the claim deadlines were almost a year ago. My best WAG is that someone got breached client lists and went phishing.
So, since it seems to be going around again, I just got a second (in 3 months) dead-tree letter scam on Endurance extended warranty on my new 2025 vehicle. It raised several alarms because all the language is very general, and was obviously trying to create a panic by saying a cut off date in the next few days. Not to mention they don’t get to unilaterally change a signed contract. So, again, red flags aplenty.
There are many internet posts with near-identical language out there, most of which (circa 2020) at least have the decency to be honest in the fine print at the bottom of the page with language like “This is an advertisement to secure an opportunity to sell you a service.”
This one though has no such language. Amusing myself, I sent them an email using my “spam file” email address, saying that I’d gotten a letter on their company stationary claiming their service was about to increase, and giving them a chance to respond before I filed an FCC complaint for false advertising (since the disclaimer was NOT included in my letter).
We’ll see what they say. And then I’ll file a fraudulent advertising claim as needed.
As a huge +1 on the irony meter though, THIS is a page from Endurance’s own Website:
The letter I received matches almost all the points they mention. Here’s hoping (?) it’s a third-party claiming to be Endurance so they can avoid the massive self-own.
I open such links (if I do) in a sandbox. Private windows don’t stop malware from loading(as you found out).
If I just want to see the page, I’ll load them in urlscan. You get a screenshot.
I got a fast response from Edurance!
First, I’ll cut and paste what I sent to their Contact Us email:
| Be advised that I received a fraudulent notice using your letterhead saying my Extended Vehicle Service Plan was about to see a rate increase. It included contact information for Rebecca Patterson 1-866-221-3005, and cited an address matching yours 400 Skokie Boulevard, Suite 470 Northbrook IL 60062. I am extending the benefit of the doubt that it is a third party using your information and giving you a chance to confirm before I use the included information to file a report with the FCC. |
The response (less than 24 hours!):
Good Morning, That letter is auto generated marketing letter and our system keeps sending those, please disregard them, I will take you off of the marketing list so you dont get those anymore but if you do please give us a call at 866-432-4443.
So yeah, scammy contact attempt using all the exact same flags that their own website warns you are red flags. This feels like some sort of weird Inception-like fractal intersection of scam/advertising and self-own.