OK, class, today we have a really odd scam.

If any company could compete with eBay for the title of "King of Internet Sales," it surely would be Amazon.com. Thus it is inevitable that someone, somewhere in world of scammers would decide to impersonate the online retailing giant. Nothing odd about that.

	This e-mail claims to be from Amazon.com and includes a ridiculously long bogus link. Click photo for larger image.

What is odd is that, first, this phishing attempt is unusually bold. Like most reputable businesses, Amazon makes a point of not requesting personal or account information via e-mail. Here, the scammer says Amazon's "new account verification procedure" may actually require you to a send a copy of a photo ID.

I have received a lot of scam e-mails, and before this, but have never seen one that asked for a photo ID.

The second odd thing about this one is that it is unusually sloppy in presenting what may be most critical element in a phishing e-mail: the link for your response.

Normally, such a link is a highlighted line of text that says something like "Click here," or gives an Internet address such as "www.amazon.com." However, regardless of what it says, the HTML code behind the link (HTML is the most basic programming language used in creating Web sites) will direct you to the scammer's fake Web site when you click on it.

Today's scam e-mail shows you the HTML that is usually hidden, allowing you see plainly that it is trying to get you to visit not a page at Amazon.com, but one at toreon.ee -- whatever that is (please, do not try to visit it).

Here's the complete thing; if you receive one like it, delete:

From:

Date: January 30, 2007 12:14:34 PM EST

To:

Subject: Maintaining the trust of our customers !!!

Reply-To:

Amazon.com

Dear Customer,

- Due to recent account takeovers and unauthorized listings, Amazon is requesting a new account verification procedure. From time to time, randomly selected accounts (seller and/or buyer) are placed under an advanced updating process based on merchant accounts/bank relations and on-file credit cards. Amazon may also request in an e-mail message scanned/faxed copies of one or more photo ID's. Your account confirmation may go wrong if your credit card/bank account has expired, or if you have changed/replaced your credit card without letting us know about the change.

Your account is not suspended, but if in 36 hours after you receive this message your account is not confirmed we reserve the right to terminate your Amazon subscription.

If you received this notice and you are not an authorized Amazon account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of Amazon policy to represent oneself as an Amazon user. Such action may also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law.

To confirm your identity with us click HERE

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause you and we would like to thank you for your cooperation as we review this matter.

Respectfully,

Amazon.com, Inc.

Copyright 2007 Amazon.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

Amazon sent this e-mail to you because your Notification Preferences indicate that you want to receive information about Special Events & Promotions. Amazon will request personal data (password, credit card/bank numbers) only on our home site, which is securely incrypted [sic] with SLL.