Phishing scams on the rise again!

by

Repost from Firestorm Blog.

Don’t be a victim, be informed! (re-post from April 2, 2012)

Phishing scams in Second Life.

There has been an increase in Phishing attempts in the last couple weeks and a lot of people have fallen for them and lost their Second Life Accounts.

Phishing in SL is mainly the act of tricking a user into giving their login and password information through fake yet convincing Second Life login webpages.

Here is how it works. 
– Someone posts a link and sometimes text to entice you to click it, sometimes this can be a friend or someone you know (because they’ve already had their accounts hacked).
– You click the link and it takes you to what looks like a Second Life Login screen.
– You log in using your SL Username and PW.
– You’ve just been Phished and given someone your SL Login information. They can now log into your SL account, take your money, destroy your SL Property, delete your inventory.. etc etc etc.

How to avoid being Phished

If you have clicked a link, and it takes you to a login page of some kind, no matter how much it looks real… DO NOT LOG INTO IT YET!

FIRST, look at the URL very carefully. The real Linden Lab Login URL starts with
https://id.secondlife.com/….
If it does NOT start with https://id.secondlife.com/, then it is not a real Second Life login web page. Do not log into it, and DO file an abuse report on the person who sent the link. From the Help menu,  Report Abuse.

If you are unsure, go to http://secondlife.com and click on the “LOGIN” at the top right. That will take you to the legit login page which starts with https://id.secondlife.com/… Log into that page, then follow the link. If the link still takes you to a log in widget.. it’s totally a scam.

If you’ve already been Phished

Immediately

– Go to http://secondlife.com
– Click the LOGIN link at the top right and enter your login information.
– On the right is a link called “Account” click it!
– Then click “Change Password” and change your password right away.

Please, protect your accounts. Think 3 times before entering your login information. Always check the URL.

Sincerely,

Jessica Lyon and the Phoenix/Firestorm Team