Have you had a similar problem with Skype?

The other day I received a chat message through skype. It was from an unknown sender and written in Chinese so I ignored it.

A little while later a couple more messages came through, also in Chinese. I don’t understand the language but there was a link in these messages that looked like they came from Skype (skypeht.com/skypecn — don’t go there just in case) and telephone numbers from them so I asked my wife to translate…

She said that there was a draw and Skype had chosen me as a winner – “Oh Yeah?”

I thought this was a scam so I asked her to call the number and see what they said.

The guy who answered confirmed the draw story and said “… to claim your prize, go to the Skype website – there’s a link provided – Enter the passcode from the message in the form provided and you will be taken to another page where you will be asked to fill in some more details…”

Now this sounded highly suspicious to me especially as the guy mentioned that I’d have to deposit Y1100 (about $140) ‘tax’ into their account then I would be given the prize of Y28,000 ($3500) — deposited to my bank account – no less!

And… A new Sony Viaos Laptop would be posted to me which I would receive in 3 days.

Here’s where I said a double “Oh Yeah, Really!!”

Now I think this could be a scam of the highest order, so I’ve sent the info to Skype and await their reply.

The chat was in Chinese so it may be limited to mainland China users. But it was well done and looked official – three or four manned landline numbers. Pictures and graphics from Skype and Sony – Logos, screenshots of the computer and the like – all over the one website I visited out of curiosity. (I didn’t click the link just in case, but typed it in my browser.)

I wasn’t even in ‘Skypeme’ mode, I had my status set to ‘online’ when I received the chats… (This begs the question… “Are there ’scraper-bots’ picking up Skype ID’s the same way they pick up email addresses off your web page now?” If so it would be wise to only accept chats from known users and be careful who you add to your address book)

I am living in China at the moment so you may not have been troubled by this type of thing ‘attack’. This is certainly the first time I’ve heard of this type of suspected phishing / pharming attack on Skype.

So… I thought I’d ask you if you’ve ever had a similar experience… If you haven’t here’s a warning for you of what could be a new trend.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, you can leave a comment below.

Take care online!

Stuart.