Alerts and Scams
Fraud Alert for TDS Telecom Customers (4/22/09): An unknown source is calling people in several areas in the United States pretending to call from a known TDS 800 number. As such, Caller ID would read TDS, but in truth it’s a fraudulent attempt to obtain personal information by another party. TDS was notified of this issue by people with Caller ID who returned the call to us only to find we did not really call them. In some instances, the caller is leaving a message stating there is a problem with a credit card and is encouraging people to call them back at a different number. Do not call the number back. If you take the call directly simply hang up, as you would do for any unsolicited call for credit card or other personal information. Please use caution. Be aware of unsolicited phone activity and hang up if called and please delete any messages from your Voice Mail/Caller ID system related to this issue. A foreign speaking person has been reportedly calling TDS customers and asking for a birth date. They are saying "TDS is giving free tech support service" and providing a toll-free number that has not yet been activated. TDS has not confirmed this, but it appears to be attempt to obtain identity for personal use by the unauthorized caller. TDS customers should hang up on this caller. Do not give any information to them. They are using the phone directory to make calls to obtain personal information. New Phishing Scam Targets TDS Customers Via Email (3/3/09): TDS Internet Services is aware of two Phishing scams targeting TDS customers. These scams attempt to lure customers to a fraudulent web site to input personal information and/or download virus infected programs. If you receive an e-mail similar to the following example, do not respond or click any links. Please delete it immediately. TDS will never ask for personal or account information via e-mail or unannounced voice calls. There are many scams circulating all the time, please use your judgment and always call before giving out information, if you suspect fraudulent activity. Simply delete these messages if you have received them. Contact local authorities and TDS if you have given out information. Please note the content of the message may vary slightly. Note errors in spelling etc. all tell-tale signs of a scam email. Sample Scam Emails: > Attn: Webmail Users, > > We regret to announce to you that we will be making some > vital maintainance on our website. > > During this process you might have login problems in signing > into your Online account, but to prevent this you have to > confirm your account immediately after you receive this > notification. > > To confirm and to keep your account active during and after > this process, please reply to this message with the below > account informations to: edu.webmailteam@strompost.com > > Failure to do this might cause a permanent deactivation of > your user account from our database to enable us create > more spaces for new users. > > YOUR ACCOUNT CONFIRMATION > Name: > E-mail ID: > E-mail Password: > Date of birth: > > Your account shall remain active after you have successfully > confirmed your account details to the email address below. > > Thanks for bearing with us. > edu.webmailteam@strompost.com > WEBMAIL TEAM |