An Odd Email Scam

[bainbrig]

Had this in my emails from 'Postmaster', couldn't see any other address:

ntlworld.com Deadline Upgrade
Dear billb,
 
This message is being sent to you to inform you that your account  will expire on 18/02/2018. Upgrade now to start using the latest version and increase your storage by 15GB.
 
Email: bainbrig@...

Then of course links to stop this dreadful thing happening, which I didn't, of course, click. The email account they refer to is working fine.

BillB

[Rosie29]

These things are unsettling. Delete it Bainbrig and forget it.

[bainbrig]

I did Rosie, and I will. I shared it in case some poor *** clicked on the highly dubious links...

BB

[bhg481]

the email from Postmaster addressed you by name, so could be genuine.
Postmaster is the usual account name of the administrator of email accounts and will send you an email if, for example, you send an email to an unknown address and it gets bounced.
The message says your account will expire in 2 days' time, so you would expect it to still be working.
Look into your account via a login and see if you can find any further information.

[bainbrig]

Nah, scam...

Full address (having dug a bit) is
Postmaster [email protected]
and doesn't resemble anything Virgin ever use!

Obviously a cunning use of the term 'Postmaster' intended to fool the gullible.

Logging in to Virgin Media shows all to be normal.

BB

[bhg481]

Interesting that they addressed you by your real name, though.

[bainbrig]

Purely, bhg, because you've taken an interest and as I'm a polite fellow, here is the complete email (I might have changed the odd name to protect my anonymity).

Postmaster
To bill bainbrig
Final Deadline

ntlworld.com Deadline Upgrade
Dear billb,
 
This message is being sent to you to inform you that your account will expire on 18/02/2018. Upgrade now to start using the latest version and increase your storage by 15GB.
 
Email: [email protected]
Account Server: ntlworld.com

Exp. Date: 18/02/2018
 
UPGRADE NOW [clickable link]

Note: This restriction will be disabled intermediately we confirm upgrade successfully.

Thanks,

Regards
ntlworld.com Update Team ©2018


Yes, they've got hold of my email address, although BillB isn't the name I go by, even on Virgin. It's like those phishing ones you get addressed to 'dear bhg481', as if it was your real name.

My real email address isn't particularly secure; many organisations will have it. I pay Virgin a large-ish sum each month for various media activities.

I also have several other @ntlworld.com addresses, none of which have been used, all of which on the Virgin website are up and running.

I use a yahoo account to communicate with Answerbank, so if it does all go *** up come the 18th, I'll let you know!

BB

[albaqwerty]

personally, I'm suspicious of the use of language :

'Note: This restriction will be disabled intermediately we confirm upgrade successfully.'

[bhg481]

Thanks for that Bill.

Is the "intermediately" in the Note your typo or is it a glaring mistake from them?

I assumed they'd used your real name as well, from the way you worded your OP, which would have lent some authenticity to it.

Even so, it's never wise to click on an embedded link - always safer to check by going manually to the website, as you obviously know.

[bainbrig]

Yes alba, me an all. No, intermediately wasn’t my typo!

Oh, and today (the 18th) has come and gone...