Hackers are ringing up new scam tactic
Internet con artists are turning to an old tool - the phone - to keep tricking Web users who have learned not to click on links in unsolicited e-mails. A batch of e-mails recently making the rounds were crafted to appear as if they came from PayPal, EBay Inc.’s online payment service. Like traditional phony “phishing” e-mails, these said there was some problem with the recipients’ accounts. Phishing e-mails generally instruct recipients to click a link in the e-mail to confirm their personal information; the link actually connects to a bogus site where the data are stolen. But with Internet users wiser about phishing, the new fake PayPal e-mail included no such link. Instead it told users to call a number, where an automated answering service asked for account information.
