How to Report an Instant Message Phishing Scam to Yahoo!

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By eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (4 Ratings)

Whether you have fallen for a scam on Yahoo! Messenger or just want to prevent a scammer from getting away with their mischief, contacting Yahoo! is the only way to ensure resolution.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Yahoo! Messenger
A computer with Internet access

Step 1

If you receive a fraudulent link in a Yahoo! Messenger window and betray your password information, change you password immediately.
Step 2

If you have already been locked out of your account, contact Yahoo! Customer Care immediately with your concerns.
Step 3

Yahoo! will evaluate the case and help you to regain access of your account, although it may take time to resolve.
Step 4

Email everyone on your contact list to make sure that they know that your Yahoo! account is not under your control.
Step 5

Even if you have not been locked out of your account, contact Yahoo! Customer Care as soon as you suspect you are being scammed, including a copy of all conversation with the suspected scammer and any links involved.

Tips & Warnings

Change your password frequently to help prevent account compromise.
Check the URL (the Web address) of any links that you click, and be sure that you only provide password information to a valid link.

Comments

ramco1 said

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on 9/18/2009 I just received this email indicating I won the Yahoo lottery does anyone know if this is a scam?
Dear Winner,

This is to inform you that you have won a prize money of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great Britain Pounds (GBP 250,000) for the Prize promotion which is organized by YAHOO AWARDS & WINDOWS LIVE. Yahoo collects all the email addresses of the people that are active online, among the millions that subscribed to Yahoo, Msn, chirumail, f-mail, Gmail, Hotmail, Juno, Aol, Comcast and few from other private/companies e-mail providers. Ten (10) people are selected quartely to benefit from this promotion and you are one of the Selected Winners.

PAYMENT OF PRIZE / CLAIMS

Winners shall be paid in accordance with their Settlement Centers. Yahoo Prize Award must be claimed not later than 30 days from date of Draw Notification. Any prize not claimed within this period will be f...

n0syam said

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on 5/12/2009 To all YM users Please avoid getting conversations with this user: " liway616 "...i report this user as a fraud and a thief. If i ever get my hands to whoever operates this user, your damn sure dead.

xilef1964 said

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on 1/9/2009 if you receive an email from Nigeria or London bearing ECOWAS, lottery and security funds in the bank, don't waste your time, delete it. Unsolicited emails from Nigeria are 100% sure a scammer. Don't waste your time. Make sure also if one of your email buddies asked for a help because he was stranded somewhere and needs money, asked for a clue.....lot of scammers are out there and those online protection can't protect you. be smart ass...

xilef1964 said

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on 1/9/2009 Hi guys, triple warning to those using Yahoo Messenger. One of your YM buddy will give you an instant messages with a webcam and tell you she/he will show you a pictures...and asked you to log on to a link like FLICKR...be careful, asked for a clue if she's really the one you're chatting to. If you logged on to that link using your email & password, change your password immediately because it is a scam, your YM was hijacked and will create havoc to everybody on your YM list.