According to this supposed warning message, which purports to be from ‘Email Account Protection”, there was an unusual sign-in on your email account.
The notification claims that an online service was granted access to your email account. It urges you to click a button to sign in and secure your account.
However, the message is not from your email service provider. It is a phishing scam designed to steal your email account login credentials.
If you fall for the ruse and click the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that hosts a fake login form. The form, which displays a “Session Expired” message, asks for your email account password.
Scammers can collect your email address and password and use it to gain access to your account. They can then use the compromised account to distribute scam, spam, and malware emails that look like you sent them. They may also be able to use the same login details to access linked services such as app stores and online file storage.
Genuine email service providers may sometimes send you notifications if they detect unusual or suspicious activity on your account. However, they will not instruct you to click a link and provide sensitive information such as account passwords.
It is best to login to your online accounts by entering the address into your browser’s address bar or via a trusted app.
A screenshot of the scam email:
A screenshot of the scam login page:
Transcript of the scam email:
WARNING: Unusual sign-in activity on your email account [removed]
Email account protection
… was granted access to your Email Account
[removed]If you did not grant access, you should check this activity and secure your account.
Sign In Email
You received this email to let you know about important changes to your Email Account and services.
© 2019 Email Services LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
