URI:
   DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Innsane - The Independent Innkeeper Forum
  HTML https://innsane.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
   DIR Return to: General Discussion
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 532--------------------------------------------------
       Would you click the link?
       By: Arks Date: May 17, 2024, 9:48 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       I wouldn't. I received this email this morning, containing a
       link to view the booking details,  which are apparently too
       complex for them to just type into the email. Pure phishing
       expedition!
       The "link" I put in below is not a live link. It's just
       underlined blue text so you can see what it looked like in the
       email I received.
       [quote]Greetings,
       [my inn name]
       It is our pleasure to send this message to your hotel. Do you
       have any space available for me and my family to book at your
       hotel,  View booking details.
       
       I’ll be glad if you can calculate the total sum for the period
       of our stay and let me know the types of payment you accept so I
       can make the full payment prior to our arrival.  I'll be
       expecting your reply.
       Thanks,
       JENNY TACKETT
       President, CEO
       EAGLES
       [/quote]
       I did hover over the link to see where it would take me and it
       was an address ending in pantheonsite.io
       Then I looked up where an ".io" domain would be located and
       found this:
       [quote].io is a country-code top-level domain name for the
       Chagos Archipelago, assigned to the British Indian Ocean
       Territory.[/quote]
       #Post#: 533--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Would you click the link?
       By: Thebeachhouse Date: May 17, 2024, 12:59 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       No.   Never click the link.  Plus, we don’t take reservations on
       email.
       Even the wording sounds fishy.
       #Post#: 534--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Would you click the link?
       By: gillumhouse Date: May 17, 2024, 1:22 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       I do not click on links unless it is someone I KNOW (and I have
       verified by hovering over to see address). You are "correct as
       usual King Friday" that this is a sucker email - this one has
       not bothered to learn correct English or use AI yet. THEN we
       really will need to be on our toes!
       #Post#: 535--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Would you click the link?
       By: Arks Date: May 17, 2024, 2:27 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=gillumhouse link=topic=87.msg534#msg534
       date=1715970169]
       this one has not bothered to learn correct English or use AI
       yet. THEN we really will need to be on our toes!
       [/quote]
       Oh my, I hadn't thought of using AI to phish or spam or install
       malware! We may eventually have to revert back to snail mail for
       everything! The cost of postage would put a stop to a lot of
       this stuff.
       Also, I don't know why somebody, the government or the internet
       service providers or somebody, can't come up with a way to
       charge for mass emails. Something like, every account gets to
       send 100/month free, after that they cost a nickle each, or
       whatever. And of course would have to limit how many accounts a
       person or company can have.
       #Post#: 536--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Would you click the link?
       By: JimBoone Date: May 18, 2024, 6:39 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Of course I would click the link, I don't follow links or open
       files unless I was expecting such from a friend.
       Many days I get multiple such emails a day, most wanting help on
       a canceled reservation, they just get marked as spam and move
       along.
       It's simple to write rules in Outlook or my providers system to
       place emails in certain folders. All those little oddball
       extensions that spammers use go in a special folder, easier to
       delete the junk that way. All the trash offering to sell lists
       or Seo services go in a different folder. If the same sender
       pops up often, they a different rule just deletes them without
       me seeing the email.
       #Post#: 537--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Would you click the link?
       By: Arks Date: May 18, 2024, 3:24 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [quote author=JimBoone link=topic=87.msg536#msg536
       date=1716032375]
       It's simple to write rules in Outlook...
       [/quote]
       Absolutely! Have lots of rules set in Outlook and it makes a
       huge difference.
       Among my most useful rules are the ones that save me from any
       email mentioning SEO. For some reason I started getting a lot of
       spams about electric bicycles, so I created rules that stopped
       those. Then there are the ones that say, "Your device and email
       has been compromised." All go straight to the Junk folder!
       But this AI thing is worrisome, because those may not be so
       blatantly obvious as most of the spams we get currently.
       *****************************************************