"Yahoo Upgrade Now" Phishing Scams Being Sent by Cybercriminals
Yahoo users who have received email messages like the one below, which claim they need to upgrade their accounts now because their accounts are temporarily limited, are asked to delete them and should not follow the instructions in them. This is because the email messages are phishing scams being sent by cybercriminals to trick Yahoo users into clicking on the link in them, which goes to phishing websites that steal Yahoo usernames and passwords.
A Sample of the "Yahoo Upgrade Now" Scam
From: Yahoo Mail Security - account.notification@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, 1 November 2017, 11:31:53 GMT
Subject: ACCOUNT VERIFICATION ! ! !
YAHOO
Dear account user
Access to your account is temporarily limited for failing automated security server update.
Kindly upgrade your email with the link below to re-verify
account ownership or you will be locked out.
UPGRADE-NOW
Thanks for taking this additional step to secure your
account
Yahoo Mail Team
Yahoo users should never click on a link to sign into their accounts; they should instead, go directly to mail.yahoo.com or yahoo.com and sign-in from there. Once they are signed in, they will be alerted to updates, changes or other important notifications. Going directly to Yahoo’s website to sign into their accounts, will protect Yahoo users from phishing links that go to fake websites that steal usernames and passwords. Phishing websites steal their visitors’ usernames and passwords by asking them to sign into their accounts on the same fake website. Once visitors to the websites attempt to sign-in, their usernames and passwords (credentials) will be sent to the cybercriminals responsible for the phishing websites. As soon as the cyber criminals receive their potential victims’ usernames and passwords, they will sign into their accounts, hijack and use them fraudulently.
Yahoo users who have been tricked by the "Upgrade to Yahoo Mail 9.1" email scam, are asked to change their Yahoo passwords immediately before their accounts are hijacked and used fraudulently.
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Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.