Keep an eye out for bogus OneDrive emails claiming that someone has shared a secure document with you.
The emails are phishing scams designed to steal your Microsoft Account login credentials. The names of the supposed senders in the emails may vary.
Here’s a screenshot of one of the emails.
If you click the “Download Document” link you will be taken to a OneDrive for Business document sharing page. Because the landing page is on the genuine OneDrive website, you may be convinced that the document you are about to access is legitimate. It’s only when you click the “Access Document” link that the trouble starts.
Clicking the link takes you to a phishing website that claims that you must enter your Microsoft Account email address and password before you can access the document. The fake site has been designed so that it looks like it belongs to Microsoft.
But, alas, there is no document. After you enter your account credentials, you may be automatically redirected to the genuine OneDrive or Office 365 website.
Meanwhile, scammers can collect the information you provided and use it to hijack your Microsoft Account. Your account login may allow access to several linked services including email, Skype, OneDrive, and Office 365.
So, after they have gained entry, the scammers can use these services to launch spam and scam campaigns, collect and steal your personal information, and conduct fraudulent transactions and activities in your name.
Stay alert! Criminals commonly send emails claiming that you should click a link or open an attached file to access a document they have shared with you.
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
