OT: any good phishing counter attacks? :OT

RRP

I bet most of you are like me in that hardly a day goes by that I don't get some often well disguised phishing attempt. I always just junk them, but I often wonder if there is some way to cause the sender some well deserved grief! Any ideas? I mean not as a direct reply to their attempt, but since their email isn't hidden I now have an avenue to slam them with something.

BTW when I get any supposedly from Amazon I do forward those to the Amazon spoof address where I have been told they do send some form of threat to the perp, plus keep track of the perp's email for further monitoring should they keep up using Amazon's name.

alaskanassasin

My father in law’s answering machine:  “ this is the us border patrol and home land security yada yada, we have intercepted a illegal package with your name and address on it yada yada, if you don’t call us back we will be forced to press charges... and on and on. 

  Then the next message “ this is the United States attorneys office calling to inform you... blah blah 
 

 What a world we live in. I feel bad our oldest generation is targeted relentlessly by bottom feeding scum.

hoosier_egger

Send them a strongly worded message like “I’m dirty rotten sick and tired of you scoundrels”. There ain’t no foolin’ the Ronster

RealDonaldTrump

Publicly asking how to commit a cyber crime probably isn’t your smartest move. 

EggNorth

The interesting thing about these spam emails and phone calls, is that they will continue, because they work.

Lots and lots of $ is made of stealing from these emails/calls.

I gave a speech many years ago (Toastmasters) on this and I was surprised after, that all the questions were on how someone can get the Bank logo for an email :(  - Of course an 8 year old can do that.

 Maybe as we progress, people will be more aware. Once it will stop being profitable, maybe it will stop.

As for getting back at them?  Might as well forget it as that will result in many more emails.

JonWesson

@rrp wake up.     bots not peoples are attacking you.       machines do not feel grief.

GrateEggspectations

I had a colleague, now friend - a trained mediator - who used to ask phone scammers if their mothers were proud of them. He did so calmly and with a tone of genuine interest. Seems harmless on the surface, but it’s a question that actually strikes pretty deep. 

GrateEggspectations

Buckwoody Egger

It’s impossible to get revenge as anonymously as you are being approached.  We have really enjoyed the effectiveness of our latest cordless phone system with call block/screen capability for the landline. 

fishlessman

my telephone number was owned by a drug dealer before i got it. used to get druggies looking to score, i returned their call at 4 in the morning while getting the boat ready many a mornin.  what confuses me is the bleep noise i get on answering a call, dont they know its an automatic hangup. ron, immediately hang up, if you talk to them they know they have someone to talk to later, it only gives them hope. reporting it is as helpful as filling out a bge warranty card

Buckwoody Egger

Also enjoying the feature for iPhones where it automatically silences unknown callers and sends them to voice mail. Easy to spot the robocalls.  Makes it easy to ignore and then just go delete / block the number. 

Mark_B_Good

RRP said:

I bet most of you are like me in that hardly a day goes by that I don't get some often well disguised phishing attempt. I always just junk them, but I often wonder if there is some way to cause the sender some well deserved grief! Any ideas? I mean not as a direct reply to their attempt, but since their email isn't hidden I now have an avenue to slam them with something.

BTW when I get any supposedly from Amazon I do forward those to the Amazon spoof address where I have been told they do send some form of threat to the perp, plus keep track of the perp's email for further monitoring should they keep up using Amazon's name.

Do not reply. Replying validates your email address, and you go on a special list that they hyper-attack.

caliking

Mark_B_Good said:

RRP said:

I bet most of you are like me in that hardly a day goes by that I don't get some often well disguised phishing attempt. I always just junk them, but I often wonder if there is some way to cause the sender some well deserved grief! Any ideas? I mean not as a direct reply to their attempt, but since their email isn't hidden I now have an avenue to slam them with something.

BTW when I get any supposedly from Amazon I do forward those to the Amazon spoof address where I have been told they do send some form of threat to the perp, plus keep track of the perp's email for further monitoring should they keep up using Amazon's name.

Do not reply. Replying validates your email address, and you go on a special list that they hyper-attack.

I would add - do not even click/read the email. 

Some time ago, I read that many of these emails have a pixel in the message (e.g. where a logo would be). When you click and read the email, the pixel image (not readily visible), is retrieved from a server, and they know they got someone. Even if you don't reply. 

Disclaimer: not an expert, so don't know if the above is entirely correct. 

lousubcap

Delete/ignore, don't answer as addressed above.  
He!! - I ignored caller ID incoming from Donald J. Trump. Also immediately tossed any snail mail letters from Melania since they failed the perfume test.      

fishlessman

lousubcap said:

Delete/ignore, don't answer as addressed above.  
He!! - I ignored caller ID incoming from Donald J. Trump. Also immediately tossed any snail mail letters from Melania since they failed the perfume test.      

it was about his yuge birthday yesterday....

Mark_B_Good

I'd also suggest, turning OFF auto respond to read receipt.
Often they send the phishing email with a read receipt request, and some people have the read receipt notification set to auto, which tells them you opened it, even if you don't reply.

Turn off your read receipt notification ... like completely off.

SandyHookEgger

Got a call about my car warranty expiring. Told the lady that I was in jail and did not have a car. She hung up quick.