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remuda1

AOL Scam Alert

19 years ago

I just got an email from Admin@aol.com with a subject line of "Problem processing your payment". Below is the text of the message:

AOL Billing Center ** Last Notice **

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Dear Member:

Thank you for choosing America Online. Unfortunately there has been a

problem processing your billing information for the month of May, 2007.

Please review our billing requirements at KW: Billing. You will be able to

update your billing information quickly and easily using our secure server

web form. Please understand that without promptly updating your billing

information, your America Online Internet service may be discontinued. To

update your billing at this time, please visit our secure server web form by

clicking the hyperlink below.

America Online Billing Services.

We appreciate your business and hope to keep you as a customer for life.

America Online is so easy, no wonder it's number 1 !

Sincerely,

The AOL Billing Services Team

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How can I restore my account access?

Please update your billing here: America Online Billing Services. and complete the web form.

Completing all of the checklist items will automatically restore your account access.

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A© 2007 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved


I pulled my credit card statement and it was paid, then I pulled up my account info on aol and I am paid through June. I called aol and they said that they NEVER send these kind of emails. The Hyperlink took me to a screen that requested I enter ALL of my billing info (name, address, credit card, etc). It ALL looked completely legit. I'm so glad I called. Be careful with this. I reported it as spam so I should not get it again.

Kristi

Comments (6)

  • 19 years ago

    They say never give out any information by email. They should already have your information and there are lots of these scams going around. Lots of them are from banks and I get lots of emails from ebay and paypal wanting me to update my information.

    I always know it's a scam but some poor people may not and they'll get ripped off.

  • 19 years ago

    I got that one too and also got one 'from' Amazon that said there were some suspecicious charges on my card that 'they' wanted to verify. I went to the real Amazon site and read about phishing, I think this is called, a play on the word 'fishing' -- to see who they can catch in the scam. I forwarded the email to Amazon and they wrote back that it was indeed a scam. Thanks for the heads up for those who haven't yet had the experience so they won't take the bait.

  • 19 years ago

    In the eleven years I've been with aol, I've never ever gotten a real scam anything before. After thinking about it for a while, I remember I used to see those "Aol will NEVER request billing information" notices, but it's been forever since I've seen anything like that so it didn't really register that it might be a scam to me at first. But then I also do not use my Master Screen Name at all anymore and you have to be signed on under that to even just view your billing info and this email came to Remuda1 not my Master name. Anyway, it was all a little *phishy* so I'm very glad I investigated it further. I guess I've just gotten a little complacent since I've never had any trouble before. Usually, if I get an email from an unknown, I just send it straight to the "report spam" place so I really don't get much spam at all anymore.

    Just wanted to get the word out there. Would hate for anyone to be taken in by this.

    Kristi

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks for the head's up!!!I hope you're OK with all the flooding! PJ

  • 19 years ago

    There was a similar scam using Bank One customers a while back. The emails looked identical to Bank One's web page, and said there's a problem, and they needed all our information, including our account numbers. Of course, I was suspicious, got out of my email, went to the real Bank One web page, and saw they had a notice about the scam. Of course, Bank One doesn't exist any more, but it shows that this kind of thing can happen with any institution.

    Sally

  • 19 years ago

    I got a similar one, addressed to "Valued Customer";
    it said I didn't click on the link & respond, they'd terminate my service within 48 hours.

    I remembered reading a "tip" from AOL that said
    that they never ask for billing information,
    that they never put in a clickable link (they would say to go to whatever department on AOL),
    & that they would *always address the customer by name*.

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