Right now, AOL email users need to watch for fake “Assistant Message” emails purporting to be from AOL help. The emails cite a supposed account problem and suggest that you access more information by following a link to the AOL Help website.
However, the emails are not from AOL. Instead, they are phishing scams designed to harvest your personal and financial information.
If you follow the link as instructed, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that hosts a fake AOL sign in form.
Next, you will be taken to a fake AOL “Manage My Account” form that asks for your credit card details as well as your social security number, your date of birth, and your name and contact information.
After you hit the “Update” button on the fake form, you’ll see a new web page that claims that something went wrong and your login was unsuccessful. You’ll then be instructed to click a link to “try again”. The link redirects you to the genuine AOL website.
Meanwhile, however, the criminals operating the scam can collect the information you supplied and use it to hijack your AOL account, make purchases with your credit card, and, possibly, steal your identity as well.
If one of these phishing scam emails come your way, do not follow any links or open any attachments that it contains.
Since you’ve read this far…
…can I ask you for a big favour?To enhance your privacy and security and offer you a better user experience, Hoax-Slayer is now ad-free. To keep the site online, I now rely on voluntary contributions from site visitors along with commissions from a few trusted products and services that I promote via reviews on the site.
If you found the above report useful, please consider supporting Hoax-Slayer by making a donation. Any amount you can give will be greatly appreciated.
You can donate using your credit card via the form below. Donations are collected securely via the online payment service Stripe. Stripe uses state of the art security to keep your data safe.
Thank-you.
Brett Christensen