Just wanted to make you all aware of a possible phishing scam with the perpetrators sending e-mails where they claim to be Sprue Brothers. The reason I say “possible” phishing scam is because I would have had to enter login information and see if I got hacked in order to confirm its a scam.
Here is what the body of the e-mail looks like:
# You’ve earned 48 Points!
Nice work! You placed an order and earned
48 Points
I did click on the unsubscribe button, which took me to a page that didn’t ask for login information. But, that unsubscribe page has a “visit store” link in it which I clicked on, and that took me to a very nicely-done “Sprue Brothers” page which looks legitimate…but VERY different from the page I get taken to when I go to the Sprue Brothers site the way I usually do. But, it asks for login info, which I didn’t give. The suspect page with the new look also does NOT come up AT ALL when you do a Google search for Sprue Brothers. The known, legitimate Sprue Brothers site also mentions NOTHING about any “points” system. Again, not confirmed, but entering login info from the site it links to seems a bit like shooting myself in order to confirm that a gun is loaded. Not gonna do it. Just wanted to get the word out. I’ll probably send an e-mail to Sprue Brothers to make them aware of it also.
Edit: Just sent an e-mail to Sprue Brothers about it. We’ll see what they say about it. Also sent them the IP address of where the e-mail came from so they can track it down.
Any email that asks you to enter login information should be deleted. A legit business that is on the up and up with web security would always ask you to go to their website and login normally.
Also, I would not have clicked on any link in a suspicious email. Clicking any link can cause malware/viruses to be downloaded to your computer. I would have contacted SB and asked them if the email is legit.
I didn’t know Sprue Bros did a points program, but I just checked my account online and apparently they do because I have accumulated points I was unaware of.
So this could easily be legitimate and the email thing is just new. That would be my guess, but it’s just a guess.
But…always better to be on the safe side so thanks for the head-up in either case.
Thanks for the info on that Greg. I just looked in a different place on my account and found the “MyRewards” points area. They sure don’t announce it anywhere on their site. Oh well…wouldn’t be the first time that the deployment of a new web-site and communications system had a few best-laid battle plans that didn’t survive first contact with the enemy. I’ll post the reply from Sprue Brothers when I hear back from them. The IP address is at least in the US, so that’s at least not a huge red flag. Could very well be legitimate.
Wow! I must have spent about $1000 there, over the last few years, and it appears I have a $7 reward waiting for me, but I can only redeem $4 at a time.
I don’t know what the problem is; I’ve been ordering my kits from a Nigerian Prince. He said sometimes it takes a while for the product to get sent, and please be patient. And then he mentioned that more postage is required . . . Seems to me they should have figured that out the first time.
Yes, there are people that would have believed that, and those folk should really just unplug their computers.
How interesting. I just recieved the bonus rewards email too. Didn’t open it. They just sent me a bunch of MRP paints yesterday and I was surprised to see a note appreciating my business with a 800 grit sanding stick. They usually send me products along with a postcard with a military vehicle on the front. I always get great service from them.
I’ll wait and see what you guys find out about this. Thanks for investigating Eagle.
Not sure if you got the same deal from him HooYah, but the Nigerian Prince told me I’d get free Tamiya kits for life if I just let him hide a little money in my bank account. Sounds like a square deal to me. [:D]
Funny Brian… I wonder if that’s the same Nigerian Prince who promised me a wonderful return if I could just invest in his government projects… Unfortunately I had to decline. He must have been very dissapointed because I havn’t heard from him since.
You are still ealing with those Princes? I got one from teh Chinese Consulate. The Consulate General was wanting to know where all the information was that I was holding for him and why I haven’t sent it yet. I’m still searching for it in one of the safes holding my supply of gold and silver left behind by the Incas that was buried in my back yard… I think my consulate out trumps your prince.
Just imagine how valuable that Inca gold will be now, since the whole 2012 prophecy petered out. Oh wait…maybe that was the Mayans.
Haven’t heard from the Chinese Consulate yet, but have been alerted to a few attempts of hacking my e-mail account from Chinese IP addresses in the past. I’m sure it was Xi Jinping himself who authorized it, because secret government hackers are never smart enough to use proxy servers…it HAD to be the Chinese government. [proplr]
The e-mails many of us have been receiving from Sprue Brothers are, in fact, from them. They just weren’t actually meant to go out to anybody.
Here is the reply I got today from Devin at Sprue Brothers:
Thank you for contacting me. I talked with the owner and he is aware of it. This is what he is sending to the other customers that have contacted us through the help email system:
Please disregard this email. The email is real (from us) but it was sent out to you in error (it was a test email that was supposed to go out to one person but was sent to many by mistake). It was inadvertently sent out by our developers working on our new webstore software that we announced earlier this week.
The current plan is to switch over to the new software sometime late Wednesday March 3 (please be aware that are webstore will be closed started at 10pm Central time Tuesday March 2 until the software transition is fully completed).