Google account scam

Another one in the “good enough to believe” department. Take care not to click on this link, and if you do, DO NOT enter any of your Google account details.

The mail is purportedly sent from the Google accounts team, wishing to inform you that they will be doing some routine server maintenance.

The link provided in the mail looks valid, as does the sender account (Gmail Team) As with other scams of this kind, the frontend interface is increasingly sophisticated and copied from the actual Google accounts page.

The actual URL of the page points to supplyurdemand.com/catalog/images/gmail.services/Login.htm. Clicking on any of the links takes you to the actual Google link. Entering your account details will undoubtedly capture them in the database of the phisher an provide easy access to your mail and other private information. A test with a dummy account shows that you may not even know that you’ve been had: if your browser has stored the cookie associated with your last succesful logon to Google‘s mail, for example, you’ll simply be transferred there without a hitch. And none the wiser.

Again: never provide log on details regardless how convinced you may be that you should provide log on details for the benefit of any institution. If you haven’t changed your Google accounts password in some time, now’s a good time to do that. If you’ve accidentally fallen for this trick, you may be able to save yourself by having your password changed through actual verification with Google.