The Codist

Probably not. I got a text message sent to me phone today: "You were chosen to get the iPhone 6 and keep it before it is released. Enter your info at www.cellgiveaway.com to get it now."

Going to the site there was nothing but a simple form that asks you to enter your name. There is a picture of an iphone which is labeled "iphone5.png" but looks more like an iphone 3GS. It says only 3 left. Oddly enough the title in the banner calls it an "Iphone". I entered a name just to see where it went. It wound up at another form at "www.debitcardmatch.com" which offered some kind of prepaid debit card. Clearly there was no mention of an Iphone anywhere. How disappointing.

I really loved the "privacy policy" on the first site which was pretty pointless and made no mention of who the policy is from, which I imagine is a violation of Federal law or something. The unsubscribe just takes you back to the page. The second site had a bunch of legal looking stuff at the bottom including the classic "Card requests are subject to verification of the personal information provided. The Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the US Patriot Act is a federal law that requires financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens a card account. What this means for you: we ask for your name. address. date of birth and other information that allows us to reasonably identify you. We may also ask to see your driver's license or other identifying documents at any time." Yeah, I'm sure you will.

Talk about phish food. Do people really fall for this sort of thing? The funny thing is that you can visit debitcardmatch.com directly and find a different (prettier) version of the same phishing form. I guess it's a real multi-tasker.

I thought it might be fun to find a phone number to call and request that they stay put until the FBI agents arrive and secure the building but I'm not sure I could manage to keep a straight voice. The number the text came from was 575-551-XXXX which is apparently near Alamogordo, New Mexico and is a cell number. I imagine the number is probably spoofed so I don't want to scare anyone.

Lame.