... "Smishing" is a form of phishing. You receive an unsolicited SMS (text) message. Victims will typically receive a deceptive text message that is intended to lure the recipient into providing their personal or financial information. These scams often attempt to impersonate a government agency, bank, or other company to lend legitimacy to their claims.
      Common lures include “your account has been suspended”, “there is suspicious activity on your account”, "there is a problem with your shipping address" or “there is a package waiting for you at the Post Office.”.

DELETE ANY TEXT MESSAGE, or SMS LIKE THIS -- DO NOT CLICK.

... This email arrived with subject "Your Amazon Prime Account is about to Renew" ... it goes on to say that your payment method is no longer accepted. This will strike fear to most people who like their Amazon Prime account but DO NOT CLICK -- this is NOT from Amazon. Investigation shows the cyber crime cartel using Google to mask their identity.

DELETE ANY EMAIL LIKE THIS -- DO NOT CLICK.

... and you can't blame them. It must really be a pain to get hundreds and hundreds of spam complaints every day from Spam Trackers like us. So how simple is it just to reject the SpamCop reports, and "ISP does not wish to receive complaints regarding Microsoft" . . . of course.

Note the response from Microsoft.

If you own domains, beware of the "Domain Hijackers" ....
      These crooks employ all kinds of techniques, attempting to fool you into changing your domain provider. It's been going on for several decades, but we've seen a resurgence of this cyber crime since so many amateur and uneducated new domain owners there are.
      If you own a domain, ALWAYS have any contact and relations directly with your provider, through the official login sequence. Never, ever click a link in an email that threatens any action or activity on your domain! DO NOT CLICK.
     

NOTICE : this cyber crime cartel is being protected by CloudFlare.com,

SEE : Don’t have a gun? Here, use one of ours! Better yet, use Cloudflare!*

Some 60 of these spams have been reported to Microsoft, Google or Amazon, but it doesn't seem to help.
      So we sent directly to the Microsoft Security page, and filed complaints exactly according to their own cyber crime reporting instructions. . . guess what. . . this is what the response was.
     

MICROSOFT'S RESPONSE:.
 


We've encountered nearly 300 such spams from Microsoft.com, OnMicrosoft.com, Windows.net, Google.com, Amazon.com, CloudFlare and others since the first of the year. Well over 300 from China!

One of the most popular subjects that get people's attention are healthcare remedies. The cyber crime industry knows this and exploits it. And, the most vulnerable segment of the market is the elderly! DO NOT CLICK.

The scammers have been doing these ploys since the early 2020s -- so much so that both Milwaukee, Dewalt and Makita have started helping fight the crime wave. If you're ever a victim, then always report to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)! You can find some background information here ToolGuyd.com . . . the best advice is DO NOT CLICK.

This is a classic. Nothing strikes more fear into the 'mature" audience than a membership expiration. The cyber crime cartels test certain deals and certain entities to see which pulls the most responses and "clicks" . . . well, the advice is DO NOT CLICK.

Talk about a pain in the neck! This cybercrime attack is emanating from Google servers. They use Google because they know that Google ignores SpamCop reports. Google ignores SpamCop reports because they would be getting thousands a day.

This article and series of links put together by Dallin Crump spells it out pretty well. You're toast. And we quote:

We’re used to the idea of Google and Facebook mining our personal data. We justify it because in return we get to use some pretty powerful and helpful products and services for free or for cheap.
      What most of us don’t realize, however, is that embedded in some of the most popular apps we use — from Lyft to Accuweather to Microsoft Outlook — are not one but in many cases multiple trackers from dozens of different companies that are collecting massive amounts of data about their users.
      An article at The Intercept lays this all out in chilling detail as it summarizes the recently published findings of research into 40 trackers by Yale Privacy Lab and French nonprofit Exodus Privacy.
The Intercept: Staggering Variety of Clandestine Trackers Found in Popular Android Apps
25 trackers hidden inside popular Google Play apps such as Uber, Tinder, Skype, Twitter, Spotify, and Snapchat

In 2008, when Russia launched they cyberwar on Georgia, we predicted it would get a lot worse before it gets better. We've known for more than a decade that the Russians were exploiting Clinton's unregulated internet to manipulate society in devious ways. Now, suddenly, the Trump era brings it clearly into the living rooms across America, and the government thinks it's something new.

As many as 126 million Facebook users may have seen content produced and circulated by Russian operatives. Twitter said it had discovered that 2,752 accounts controlled by Russians, and more than 36,000 Russian bots tweeted 1.4 million times during the election. And Google disclosed for the first time that it had found 1,108 videos with 43 hours of content related to the Russian effort on YouTube. It also found $4,700 worth of Russian search and display ads.

Now, after it's too late, someone asks if social media should have some kind of regulation. Well, hello!

Here's yet another recent article on the topic in Forbes. Please use your browser's "reader" function to block all Forbes spam and stalker links. Not recommended site for phone use.

If you get an email claiming to provide credit checks, or look at your credit scores, DO NOT CLICK! Not only will you be tagged for more spam, you will be tagged as someone who is interested in their financial status. You will be asked questions to reveal things you do not want to reveal. Please look at this info-graphic, understand the warning, and share it with friends and family! ...

This cybercrime cartel changes its attack almost daily, and is protected by Cloudflare domain masking services -- very difficult to stop! Their ploys are creative and convincing. BEWARE, and share this infographic ...

If you're over 60, then 55,043 of your fellows were victims of cybercrime during 2016 -- to the tune of $339,474,918 dollars. It's not if you will be attacked. It's when you will discover you were.

The Spamcop agents and Safenetting are tracking a breaking cyber attack posing as the Apple login page, instructing you to update your parameters. DO NOT fall prey to this attack! See and share the info graphics we have prepared for this ALERT.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal to roll back the 2015 Open Internet Order is an attack that supports monopolistic interests and threatens democracy, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J

Pallone, who is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, slammed Pai’s draft proposal, set for a vote at the commission’s May 18 meeting, and said Hill Democrats have no reason to believe the Republicans supporting it have any real intention to replace net neutrality rules with meaningful protections after nixing the Obama-era regulations. His remarks came at a New America’s Open Technology Institute event.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the part of internet infrastructure that resolves easily-remembered domain names that humans use into more obscure IP addresses that internet-connected computers use. Without DNS, we would have to remember the IP address of every new site we want to visit.

In that regard, DNS seems mostly related to convenience. In reality, DNS is also a critical part of internet security. Your computer trusts DNS to give it the correct IP address for any given site. Sadly, there are very few precautions in place to detect incorrect DNS responses, which leaves a security gap for bad guys to exploit.

For years the good guys on the internet have fought the evil forces of cybercrime. All forms of pornography, particularly child pornography are driven by money. The Cybercrime world is well aware that there is an unquenched thirst for porn, and people will pay for it.

Dark Web ‘Hidden Service’ Case Spawned Hundreds of Child Porn Investigations Infographic depicting statistics from the ongoing investigation into the Playpen child pornography website and its members as of May 2017.

Digital Evidence Response Team -- Working to Stop the Sexual Exploitation of Children

North Hills Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Producing Sexual Images of Minors. Melrose Man Sentenced to 60 Months for Child Pornography Offenses. Boylston Man Charged with Distributing Child Pornography. Navajo Man from Churchrock Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Abuse Charge. Vestal Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing and Receiving Child Pornography. Binghamton Man Pleads Guilty to 12 Counts of Distributing Child Pornography.

        Here, try it for yourself at MyActivity/Google.com