Comcast security / phishing scam

[Jim R]

This is mainly a heads up for anybody it may help, but I also will be floating a few general ideas and questions below.

I received an e-mail today, purporting to be from Comcast/Xfinity. The subject heading was "Comcast Account Maintenance", and it was sent from "Support (at) updatecomcastsupportmaintenanceserver (dot) com". At first glance, it appeared to be legit, but it didn't feel right when I read the body of the message:

"Comcast team helps ensure your safety online with products and services protecting you, your computer, and your family.

We are currently performing regular maintenance of our security measures. Your account has been randomly selected for this maintenance.

Comcast would be shutting down all unused accounts. In order to avoid the deactivation of your account, you will have to log into your account by clicking the link below.

What do I need to do?

1. Click the "Link" button below. You will be taken to the Data Security and Encryption page"

Below this was a link, which of course appeared to be legit. I wasn't about to click on it, but I wanted to find out for certain if there was anything legit about the e-mail. I did a quick search online using the e-mail's subject heading. I found only one link- to an "Alerts" page on the Xfinity/Comcast site: http://xfinity.comcast.net/constantguard/Alerts/

They list this (with today's date) as a "High" threat level phishing scam. So, the good news is that I know I can ignore/delete the e-mail. As I perused the rest of the Alerts page, I noticed that under each heading ("Phishing scams", "OS and Applications threats", "Recent spyware"), a link is provided to download their security products (Comcast's "Toolbar", Norton Security Suite).

Now... call me cynical, but I can't help but wonder if Comcast could be generating their own spam in order to scare people into using and (even if they appear to be "free") eventually paying for their security products. That may sound crazy to some, I know. Just putting it out there for some of you who are likely more knowledgeable than I on the subject.

I've always been on a Mac, and thus far (I think we've been with Comcast for about 10 years or so) the only times I've even thought about security issues are when I receive these kinds of scam e-mails, or occasionally (very rarely, in fact) seeing a malware alert while surfing the web. I'm becoming less and less trusting of anybody these days (including big companies like Comcast), and I'm not quick to jump on board for "free" offers like Comcast's "Toolbar" or Norton Security Suite when my system "ain't broke". In addition to that, I'm pretty sure that downloading software like this is likely to make using my computer less convenient. At least that's how these things (tweaking or adding new software) usually turn out for me.

End of ramble. Any and all thoughts appreciated.

[Tim McG]

Funny you should mention the security scam....we just switched back to Comcast [to get Giants games; ATT arbitrarily changed their viewing area saying we are an LA market. Sure. LA is some 250 miles to the South. Somebody needs to buy a map.] and one of the first things the sales dude on the other end said was they were offering a special on ADT home security.

I thought that was pretty odd