co za, south africa domain and top domain sales Information

What is a spoof email?

Co Za Search Spoof emails (sometimes also called "Phishing") are emails that pretend to be from a company or bank. The most common often come from eBay, PayPal, Barclays Bank etc. These emails will then contain a web link, if you click on this link then you will be taken to a login page and asked to enter your details. Most of these scammers go a long way to try and get your details, most spoof emails contain links to identical websites and users are tricked into entering their personal information. If you submit your information through one of these spoof websites then the fraudster has all of your details and can commit crimes using your identity.

It is simply an easy way of signifying information related to your organisation such as the geographic location, type of organisation etc... Q) Does the domain have to be hosted in the same country that it represents For example does a co.za domain have to be hosted in South Africa. A) No. A domain can be hosted anywhere. Dedicated Hosting South Africa

Website How do they get my email address?

Summary I can`t download my email using either POP3 or IMAP. Resolution First ensure that your address` smtp.[domain] pop.[domain] imap.[domain] full email address (john@yourdomain.co.za) (Replace [domain] with your domain, smtp.webafrica.co.za 1) Are able to resolve the address you are connecting to

Email You may wonder how the scammers got your address or knew you were a member of a particular bank or institution. Often it is just good luck on the part of the scammers. They normally do not target individuals, but send out thousands of scam emails to randomly generated email addresses, in the hope that just a few will be successful. They also trawl the web for valid addresses they can use, and swap this information with each other. If you have ever posted on an Internet forum or published something on the web, there's a good chance your address is out there somewhere just waiting to be found. If you have fallen victim before, your address is normally added to a list of 'easy victims', and you are likely to then receive even more scams.

Protect yourself and the PayPal community from email abuse such as fraud, spam and identity theft before it occurs.

Bokweb How can I identify these emails?

What is the difference between domains A) There isnt really any difference aside from the name and slight price variation. Q) Why are different domains such as co.za used then A) It is simply an easy way of signifying information related to your organisation such as the geographic location, type of organisation etc... Q) Does the domain have to be hosted in the same country that it represents For example does a co.za domain have to be hosted in South Africa.

Springbok Here are 4 simple tests that you can perform on any email you suspect is a spoof. Your email can only pass the test if it passes ALL FOUR of the tests. If your email passes all of the four tests then you can be 99.9% certain that it is a genuine email. If your email passes all four of the tests then we would also advise you to check the "Other Tips" section just to double check that your email is genuine.

How to add a domain checker to your site Summary I want to offer visitors a domain availability checker like the one on Web Africa Resolution (Windows Hosts) Below is a simple .ASP script that can check a domain status for any domain (.com, .org..net, .co.za, .org.za etc). (called default.asp)

Zulu Co Za If your email fails

Samatch If your email fails JUST ONE of the four tests then the email is a spoof and shouldn't be replied to and should be deleted immediately from your computer. Even if your email fails the test, I would still advise you to check out the "Other Tips" page for more good ways to spot a spoof email.

Sedo Com If you are still in doubt

Cctld Unless you are 100% sure that your email is genuine, DO NOT click on any links within the email. Contact the company in question (See the "reporting a spoof" page) and ask them to confirm if the email is genuine or a spoof.

Country Level Domain Test 1 - Who is the email addressed to?

Cozanick Have a look at how the email addresses you. Most spoofs will say something along the lines of "Dear eBay user". This is the very first thing you should look for in a spoof email. Any email that doesn't address you by your name is a spoof. Ebay, PayPal and banks always address you by the name you registered with on their site, they NEVER send out emails saying

Co Za Search "Dear valued customer", "Dear member" etc.

Website If your email isn't addressed to you personally then it is a spoof! If your email is addressed to you then move onto the next test to see if it is a spoof email. Some more advanced spoof messages have started to include your name or email address instead of the generic "Dear member" or "Dear user". So even if your email were addressed to you I would strongly advise you to carry out the 3 other tests.

Email Test 2 - Where does the link go?

Bokweb Most spoof emails will contain a link telling you to verify your details. You can quickly tell if your email is a spoof by hovering your mouse over the link. When your mouse is over the link, look in the bottom left hand corner of your screen and you will see the "link destination". The destination of a spoof link will usually look something like this:

Springbok "http://slp.clinker.net.mx/.sh/.a/index.htm?SignIn&ssPageName=h:h:sin:us"

Zulu Co Za Compare this with a real eBay link:

Samatch http://k2b-bulk.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBaySellingSummary

Sedo Com And you can see the difference. You can easily check if you email is a fake by looking at the first part of the link destination, if the destination is a combination of numbers (102.382.54.23) or a link like the one in my spoof link above then the chances are that your email is a spoof.

Cctld Any non-spoof link will contain the name of the company in the first part of the link, eg:

Country Level Domain http://cgi.ebay.co.uk http://cgi.ebay.com http://cgi.paypal.com

Cozanick Please note: Some spoof links will contain the words "eBay" or "PayPal" in the final part of the link. These are also spoofs!

Co Za Search All real emails will only contain the company name in the very first part of the link; after http://. If you still aren't sure if you have a spoof email, move onto the next test.

Website Test 3 - Who really did send you the email?

Email This test may seem a little confusing but don't worry it isn't as difficult as it looks. What we are going to do is find out where the email came from. Most people don't know this but you can trace the origin of your emails in most mail programs. To do this we have to view the "FULL message header", here is how you do this in the following email programs. If your program isn't listed here please contact your email provider for instructions:

Bokweb Hotmail 1. Click on "Options" 2. Click on "Mail display settings" 3. The 3rd option can be used to display the header settings, select "Full" from the check boxes 4. Click on "OK" to save your settings

Springbok Outlook Express 1. Right click on the email and select "Properties" 2. Select the "Details" tab

Zulu Co Za Now that we can view the message headers, here is how you identify a spoof:

Samatch Look in the part of the header that says "Received From". If the email has come from anyone other than the sender it's a spoof. I had a spoof email and performed this test and notice that the email had been sent from a Yahoo account. Obviously a real email from eBay would not have been sent from a Yahoo address!

Sedo Com Test 4 - Click on the link

Cctld Only try this if your email has passed the previous 3 tests. Some spoof emails have been known to contain viruses that are activated by clicking on the link. Please ensure that you have a good virus scanner installed on your PC before proceeding. If you have important data on your PC you may also wish to backup that data on a removable backup device.

Country Level Domain When you click the link in your email a web browser will open and take you to what looks like a legitimate login page. There are two ways to identify a spoof login page, and I will show you both of them! Have a look in the address bar at the top of the login page. Have a look at the http:// part of the URL. Any genuine login page from eBay, PayPal or your bank WONT start with "http://" it will start with:

Cozanick "https://"

Co Za Search The "s" in https:// stands for "secure" and is there to show you that you are about to submit data over a secure connection.

Website Any page not starting with https:// is a spoof. The second difference between the two pages is the padlock icon in the bottom right hand of the screen. Notice that the spoof login page doesn't have a padlock, and the genuine eBay login page does. This padlock appears to show you that you are about to submit data over a secure connection. If your login page DOESNT have a padlock icon in the bottom corner of the screen then it is a spoof!

Email Other Tips for spotting Spoofs

Bokweb 1. Punctuation Read your email carefully and look for any spelling mistakes. You can be sure that any genuine emails wont contain simple spelling mistakes.

Springbok 2. Adverts? Real emails from eBay don't contain adverts for burger king!

Zulu Co Za 3. Hotmail identity check A new feature in hotmail now warns you if a senderID could not be verified. Any spoof email will contain this warning. (please note that recently I received a genuine email from eBay that contained this warning, so don't judge an email purely by this method)

Samatch 4. PIN number Any website asking for your PIN (personal identification number) is a spoof. Do not enter your PIN number! If you have entered and submitted your PIN then contact your bank immediately.

Sedo Com 5. Popup boxes Some spoof sites will include popup message boxes like the one below. Genuine sites don't use popup boxes telling you to enter details.

Cctld 6. False sense of urgency Most spoof emails will make you think that your account is at threat if you don't act quickly. This is not the case.

Country Level Domain 7. eBay Messages Any genuine email sent to you from eBay will also appear in the "My Messages" section of eBay. To access your eBay messages, login to ebay and click on "My eBay". On the left hand side of the screen you will see a "My Messages" link. Click on this; if the email you received in your inbox isn't listed there then it is a spoof email.

Cozanick 8. Ignore the email address Ignore the email address that the email was sent from. Almost all spoof emails will appear as if they are from a genuine address. Some of the emails I receive are "from":

Co Za Search service@paypal.com memberservices@paypal.com awconfirm@ebay.com safeharbour@ebay.com operator_862736743@halifax.com

Website 9. Download the eBay toolbar The eBay toolbar is a great piece of software that can be used to spot spoofs. As soon as you enter a spoof website from eBay or PayPal the toolbar will give you a warning telling you that web page is a spoof. The Ebay toolbar is FREE to download.

Email Dan Thompson has been creating websites for over 7 years. You can visit his website and receive 6 free e-books, check out the website on http://www.elpassobooks.co.uk

Bokweb

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]