I just got email from my system administrator saying that my Webmail account is out of space. This is really confusing, though, because I don't access my email via the Web. Is this legit or some sort of scam or phishing attempt?...

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I got a really weird email from a friend on Facebook: it was just a Web site URL and when I went to it, I got a warning message that it was an "unsafe" and that it'd been blocked. What the heck? What's going on?...

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As a contributing author to a weblog about South Africa's upcoming World Cup 2010 (see The South Africa Project) I was rather surprised the other day when I went to log in to our Wordpress blog, just to see the following warning in my Web browser: What does it mean? How can we get this sort of warning from our own site, without ever opening up anything or getting any indication that we'd be hacked...

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I got the strangest email, unlike anything I've seen from Facebook, telling me that I have a message to pick up on the site, but not giving me any of the message. Then it included a weird URL at which I was supposed to log in (even though I am already logged in to Facebook) so I could pick up the message. I stopped and decided I'd check with Guru Dave. So, is it legit?...

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I lost an auction on eBay, darn it, and a few days later got an email from the seller offering me the chance to buy the item for my highest bid as a "Second Chance Offer". I am very leery of these communications because eBay is cool, but it's also a hotbed for fraud in my experience. How the heck can I figure out if the Second Chance Offer from this eBay seller is legitimate?...

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I've just recently signed up for orkut and am wondering if the "friend requests" from people I have never bumped into before are legit or not. I've sent you the invite: can you tell me how to know whether it's a phishing attempt before I actually click on a link?...

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I got a message from Paypal with the subject "Help PayPal to avoid any kind of fraud" but I'm a bit suspicious: is this a legitimate way that Paypal is trying to get my help to avoid online scams, or is it a scam itself?...

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I'm a bit concerned, I got an email message from eNom tech support saying that they'd received a "third party complaint of invalid domain contact information in the Whois database" for one of my domains and that I needed up update the domain info or risk cancellation of the domain. But I logged in to eNom and found that there was nothing registered. So... what do I do?...

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I got an email from eBay saying that there was a dispute over non-payment of an auction I'd won and I know I paid it, so it's very weird. When I clicked on the "dispute" link, though, instead of going to eBay, I got a big screen saying "Reported Web Forgery!" So has someone hacked eBay, or what??...

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I'm anxious: I just received an email from Runescape saying that I needed to validate my account credentials. It says "We have information regarding you attemping to buy or sell your Runescape account. This is against the Terms of Use you agreed to when you created your account." What's up? I haven't done that!...

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I got an email from an eBay buyer saying that he had a question for me about an auction, but it's not an auction I'm running. Will I get into trouble with eBay if I don't answer the question? I mean, I don't really understand what's going on?...

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I have a similar problem to that which you wrote about in How to read message headers in Google Gmail: If i have received an email from my friend, how can I tell whether it is spoofed or not?...

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I've been using Hotmail for years without a problem but suddenly it rejects my password, and when I go to the password recovery option, it doesn't like my zip code or other secret information. I have vital information in my inbox! Can you reset my password for me or tell me the new password?...

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I dunno if this is legit or not, but I recently bumped into a note from someone claiming that there's a secret email address at Yahoo.com that lets you sneak into a backdoor and recover any account password for any account on Yahoo. The address was "recover_pswd@yahoo.com" and it sounds too good to be true. Is it?...

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I'm pretty confused: I just got what looks like an email from MySpace that says "Jason" has sent me a song, but it points me to a completely different Web site. I attach the message: is it legit or are they phishing for my MySpace account information?...

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Okay, I'm a bit puzzled. I just got an email from a Web site I've never heard of before asking me for my birthday so my "friend" can complete "their horoscope", but I have no idea who "they" are. Is this legit email or should I be suspicious of this sort of solicitation for personal information?...

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I'm kinda freaking out: I just got a receipt via email for an almost $500 purchase that I apparently made through Paypal to buy a cellphone from LWP Electronics, to be shipped to someone in Maine. But I didn't make the purchase and when I log in to my Paypal account, I don't see any trace of the transaction. What's going on?...

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I've become increasingly paranoid in the last few years and have long since lost any sense of innocence or even optimism regarding email. I trust noone and am leery of using any Web-based email service, but I have been exploring Google's Gmail service. My question to you: if someone emails me a virus will Gmail even recognize it, or do I just see it as a regular attachment? Also, how does Gmail filter spam out,...

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I'm trying to figure out if an email I got from my cellular provider, Verizon Wireless, is some sort of cunning phishing attempt or a real message from the company. It references an account number, but I don't think it's mine?...

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I buy and sell on eBay quite a bit, so it's really a pain to worry about possible phishing attempts from delinquents trying to get me to reveal my eBay account and password. How do I easily ascertain if a specific message is from eBay or a phisher?...

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