The Phishing Scam Email I received
I received an email from “Xneelo” stating that my domain was expiring…
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Well… my domains are all up to date. The thought that this email was a scam did not cross my mind. No domain name was given on the email. I phoned Xneelo on 021 970 2000 (you can also reach them on 087 071 0066), spoke to Tristan (in the Billing Dept.) who stated that this email is scam and recommended me not to click any link on the email. Tristan also stated that Xneelo was aware of such email doing the rounds and asked if I could forward the email to Xneelo at abuse@xneelo.com which I did.
Xneelo is based in Cape Town and it is one of the top hosting companies in the world. Scams like this one purporting to be from a reliable source are bad for companies and individuals.
Response from Xneelo
Below you are welcome to read Xneelo’s reply to my email. Something important Izabela Malan, Senior Consultant wrote and I quote:
In the last few years, data breaches affecting millions of users on platforms like Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn, etc, have become far too common. Along with that kind of information, hackers make use of various DNS lookup tools that can easily determine where a domain is hosted. This type of information is often shared by scammers and because they do not have all relevant login credentials, phishing campaigns are often used to target hosts like xneelo and their respective customers. As they do not have information such as your banking details or account logins, the intention behind the scam is to trick you into inserting this information into their phishing (fake) website in order that they may log this to their database to distribute among other scammers and to use in future.
Izabela Malan, Senior Consultant
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In Conclusion
When an email or WhatsApp message looks suspicious you have a couple of options: phone, email or WhatsApp the company or the person you trust. Do not click any link on the suspicious email.