on msn Scams

receiving this out of nowhere in msn:

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-----------------; says :

http://----.imageswitch.info

(protecting the identity of the person, but it happens to be a choir person in Y7) 

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at any rate, i decided to check it out, over my mac(which happily does not get plagued by all these retarded viruses)

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I noticed:

http://----.imageswitch.info 

and

http://www.imageswitch.info 

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are the same webpage.

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go ahead and take a look if you want, but don't stupidly "sign up"

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*anyway after the investigation I did a google and found it listed in PhishTank, a site that documents phishing websites: 

*screenshot:

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and they ask you to sign in with the .net passport

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i typed a bogus id, and it returned error

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created a dummy .net passport

and again returned error

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---

then i noticed:

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- By logging in you accept the Terms and Conditions -

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clicking on it revealed several insights:

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*This page is not affiliated with or operated by Microsoft(tm) or MSN Network(tm). 

We may temporarily access your MSN account to do a combination of the following:

1.  Send Instant Messages to your friends promoting this site. 

2.  Introduce new entertaining sites to your friends via Instant Messages. 

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and the best:

This is not a "phishing" site that attempts to "trick" you into revealing personal information. 

Everything we do with your information is disclosed here.

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yup except they make the font so erm... hard to read,
and considering no body takes effort to read EULAs nowadays
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I'll sure will be signing on, since I want my msn account to be stolen and made use for spam purposes
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seriously the next time a person sends you a random msn out of nowhere , like:

"hey is that you *random URL*"

or 

"check out tis kool sheetz *random URL*"

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do a few things, ask the person whether he wrote that

or

check it out with a SECURE BROWSER

which means

1. Firefox 2+

2. IE7 (not 6) with PROTECTED MODE on

3. Safari

4. Opera

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and if it downloads some exe, bat, msi or executable file , DONT open it

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or your msn account might turn into some mindless spambot

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additionally, NEVER give your msn credentials to any random site or random program.

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meebo/ebuddy/pidgin/Trilian/Mirana/Adium/Jabber transports may do, but do so at your own risk

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