Re: Online Scammers Pose as Company Executives in 'Spear-Phishing'

This type of phishing by phone was already known by 1975. It was one of the first computer security issues I ever heard about. "Hello, I'm from the computer center [or, I'm in the corporate office] and I'm working on your account. Can you tell me your password?"

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, it is an older style of phishing and does go back twenty years at least. I do recall an office I worked in during the early 1980's which had credit bureau terminal machines, and on the wall behind the machines, a poster of a very stern looking Uncle Sam, his fingers pursed over his lips, with a message saying "Uncle Sam Wants YOU to Keep the Trust. Do not let other employees get YOU in trouble ... neither your supervisor nor any executive of your company is _ever_ going to ask you to provide them with your password, nor ask you to 'pull a bureau report' for them personally, other than in the regular course of your employment. If you receive a telephone call from someone claiming to be in authority to do that, please let your supervisor know immediatly." The message then concluded by telling the penalties for doing so: "Under the law, providing credit bureau information to an unathorized person is punishable by (whatever). Why risk your job and your freedom by helping someone who claims to be _your friend_ in this way? They're not your friend; they're just trying to use you." Then a smaller picture of the stern Uncle Sam once again. Finally at the bottom of the poster the statement, "Has anyone ever bothered you in this way? Do you want to talk to someone about a situation at your place of employment? Call 800 - (whatever) in complete confidence." PAT]
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