Had a new one in my inbox today from "https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk" - the format of the email was a perfect replica of the real one from "https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status", and the various weblinks plausible-looking. The car mentioned is not one I have ever owned, but was near enough to nearly have me following a link to point-out the apparent errors.
I don't know if this a scam to charge an unnecessary middleman-fee, an attempt to infest your computer with trojan software, a phishing attempt - or of course, all 3. Either way be wary - this lot have, for once, taken some trouble over their scam.
I highly doubt that the https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk site is false, just to be clear about that - there are stringent controls on registering gov.uk domain names, and the SSL certificate is from a legitimate authority (Globalsign). Of course it's possible that a legitimate link might be used in a phishing attempt if they're trying to have you follow some other link.
The email won’t have come from a website (www. something).
What was the e-mail address you received it from?Originally Posted by earlofsodbury
The first website is for checking MOT history, the second is for current MOD status. Both are valid .gov websites, neither are e-mail addresses.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
That’s not an email.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
OK, I didn't word it in a foolproof manner - several of the links on the email are correct, and somehow they have managed to make the originating email address appear correct as well, however the car is not one I have ever owned, and the link you are likeliest to use to try to find out why you have such a message about a car that is not yours is this: https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ - when the real one for this service is this: https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/
I'm obviously not progressing further down that particular wormhole since I have reason to suspect it is not what it seems.
Again, to be clear, both of those links are real gov.uk services, and legitimate.
If there’s no personal information requested I can’t quite see what the angle might be, unless malicious hyperlinks are being disguised by the apparently genuine ones.
Anyhow, if you are suspicious send it in to SERS.
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/...picious-emails
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Why not just tell us what the originating email address was?
There are two separate fields in the RFC822 standard for an "originating" email address - FROM and SENDER. We'd really need both.
Also, it's possible for a web address to disguise itself in an email - so what looks like a .gov.uk web address can actually be a different (and potentially malicious) domain. Like this picture of fluffy kittens.
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