Email Hoax
Optus will never ask you to visit a page to unlock your email, confirm your password or provide your personal details. If you receive such an email do not click on the links in the email.
Hoax emails are not uncommon and all users should be aware of the various types circulating and how to identify if an email is a hoax. While some hoaxes are relatively harmless there are those that are particularly deceptive and costly.
The ACMA website contains up to date lists of the current spam and security issues, this can be found at the link below
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310566
The ACMA website also has lists of previous spam emails
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_310692
Many spam emails are attempts to scam the reader. The Scamwatch website, which is an Australian government initiative, has more in-depth information about the most common scams around.
The following covers the main categories of email Hoaxes, which are:
Phishing spam
Phishing emails are sent from fake email addresses, often claiming to be from an Internet Service Provider, bank, online retailer or credit card company.
Mule spam
The criminals contact the prospective victims with job vacancy adverts.
Lottery spam
The scammer will tell you that you’ve won something substantial (such as a large sum of money or a great prize) and that all you have to do is send them money to claim.
Nigerian 419 scams
These scams offer to pay the recipient a considerable sum of money to assist in the transfer of millions of dollars out of a foreign country.
Give Away Hoaxes
Give away hoaxes are emails advising of company give aways. Usually the competition will require that you forward the email to X amount of friends to qualify. The email may suggest that the company is able to track the path of the email and is able to verify that you have sent it. However, please note that a company is not able to track the path of an individual email that has been repeatedly forwarded.
Sympathy Hoaxes
Sympathy hoaxes target people's emotions. They usually request help or sympathy for someone who has had a problem or accident. Similar to Give Away Hoaxes these email may suggest that a company is able to track the path of the email and is able to verify that you have sent the email to your friends, therefore due to your action the company pledges to donate X amount to some charity. Please note that a company is not able to track the path of an individual email that has been repeatedly forwarded.
Malicious Code Warnings
Malicious code warnings are email warnings advising of Trojans and/or Viruses that are simply not true.
Urban Myths and Legends
Urban myths and legends have found their way to emails. With legends such as Email Tax, Kidney Harvest and Flesh Eating Bananas to name a few.
Many hoax emails appear to be sent by well-known companies, such as Optus, online retailers banks or by government departments. The people who send these fake emails hope that you will reply or click on a link in the email and provide personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers or other information that they can use.
Optus will never ask you to visit a page to unlock your email, confirm your password or provide your personal details. If you receive such an email do not click on the links in the email.
How can I tell if a website or email is impersonating Optus or any other company?
Beware of emails that ask you to go to a website and provide confidential information.
Most companies will never ask you to provide confidential information by email. The Optus links in our emails are provided for convenience only and those same web pages can be reached directly from our Optus websites.
To verify whether an email is really from the company they claim to be, you can always contact the actual business directly or search for the business via myZoo search.
Emails may direct you to a site which appears legitimate as the company name appears in the URL. Even if the Web address contains the word "Optus", it might not be an Optus website. Legitimate company Web addresses will usually have the company name, immediately before the first forward slash (/). If the address includes additional characters prior to the forward slash, such as @, dashes, or numbers, it is likely that this is a fake site.
Examples of fake Web addresses:
- http://webmail.optuszoo.com.au@10.19.32.4/
- http://webmail-optuszoo.com.au
- http:///membersservices.0ptusz00.com.au
Confirming if the content is genuine
Use myZOO Search and search for keywords in the email or search for the actual email on an anti-hoax site, such as the ACMA website listed at the top of this page.
What action should you take?
Do not reply to the sender or forward the email. Simply delete the message.