Residents of Ontario seem now to be the target of a COVID-19 email scam that is targeting your personal information.
Here’s the email that you get:
Well, it does look convincing. Other than the rather poor grammar that is. The links “About”, “News”, and “Terms of use” actually go to an Ontario Government website. You’ll also note that it says at the bottom “© King’s Printer for Ontario, 2012–23” which given that this is an email, makes no sense. Though I will note that the King’s Printer for Ontario does exist. Now besides the grammar, the email address is a big tip off that this email is fake:
That should be enough to have you run in the other direction. But because I want to show you how these scams work so that you can better spot them, I went down the rabbit hole and clicked “Apply Now” which by the way, you should never ever do.
Looking at the address bar, the website is “Ontario-ca.com” which is not an Ontario Government website address. The real Ontario Government address is “Ontario.ca”. But the scammer is hoping that it’s close enough that you will fall for it. What follows is a form that has you fill in your name, address, and date of birth. Which is all the information that the scammer will need to steal your identity. I put in some bogus information and got this back:
It’s a success for the scammer as they are likely off to steal your identity.
It’s a very simple scam that given how close this website looks to the real Ontario Government website, I can see people falling for it. But I am hoping that by getting this out there, you won’t be a victim.
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This entry was posted on January 16, 2023 at 8:32 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Scam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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A Ontario COVID-19 Benefits Email #Scam Is Making The Rounds
Residents of Ontario seem now to be the target of a COVID-19 email scam that is targeting your personal information.
Here’s the email that you get:
Well, it does look convincing. Other than the rather poor grammar that is. The links “About”, “News”, and “Terms of use” actually go to an Ontario Government website. You’ll also note that it says at the bottom “© King’s Printer for Ontario, 2012–23” which given that this is an email, makes no sense. Though I will note that the King’s Printer for Ontario does exist. Now besides the grammar, the email address is a big tip off that this email is fake:
That should be enough to have you run in the other direction. But because I want to show you how these scams work so that you can better spot them, I went down the rabbit hole and clicked “Apply Now” which by the way, you should never ever do.
Looking at the address bar, the website is “Ontario-ca.com” which is not an Ontario Government website address. The real Ontario Government address is “Ontario.ca”. But the scammer is hoping that it’s close enough that you will fall for it. What follows is a form that has you fill in your name, address, and date of birth. Which is all the information that the scammer will need to steal your identity. I put in some bogus information and got this back:
It’s a success for the scammer as they are likely off to steal your identity.
It’s a very simple scam that given how close this website looks to the real Ontario Government website, I can see people falling for it. But I am hoping that by getting this out there, you won’t be a victim.
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This entry was posted on January 16, 2023 at 8:32 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Scam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.