a new phishing attempt

 This is a new phishing attempt I haven’t seen before, rather more plausible than most:

NEW REPLY TO SUPPORT CASE #1643367968 28.01.2022

Dear  , It has recently come to my attention that your support case from exactly one year ago (28.01.2021) has gone unanswered because of a system error. I immediately sent my superior Richard, an email and explained that you made a complaint at the service desk in the store but that the exact details were also lost. I can see here that there was something wrong with a purchased item, but you were not able to return or exchange said item. This is against store policy, so we have decided that we will compensate you. The value of the compensation is obviously quite high because the matter took so long to solve.

But you don't need to worry about that , it's our pleasure because we value you as a customer. What I need from you now is that you validate your email address XXX@XXX.XXX by replying to this email. Your reply can simply be empty, as long we can see you replied to this message we can take care of the rest and make sure you get what's rightfully yours.

Kind regards,

Polly Gallagher

Regional Response Administrator

Head Office

Falcon Way, Shire Road,

Welwyn Garden town,

Hertfordshire,

AM5 2PW

There are, however, several red flags (which I won’t post here, as I don’t want the scammers to fix them!)

The website De-Reviews has an explanation of what happens if you respond,  It’s the obvious things: they ask for personal details to scam you, and try to put spyware on your computer.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

not suspicious at all

I've just received an email.

It contains the following 4 images:

Yes, an email that looks like a load of text is actually four images.  The first bullet in this pseudo-text has the excellent advice "Please do not click on any links you do not recognise."

The middle two images (the last three bullets, with the bold telephone number and the bold "here") not only are links, but you are explicitly invited to click on one.  These links have extremely unrecognisable URLs like "http://links.mkt529.com/servlet/M= ailView?ms=3DMjE4MTcxMTAS1&r=3DMjExMTk3OTQyNDQwS0&j=3DMTMwMzMzNDgwNwS2&mt= =3D1&rt=3D0"

So, an email warning me about a potential data breach that is itself either (i) a phishing attack; or (ii) from someone who does not understand their own security advice!

Sigh.