Not sure if anyone has mentioned this here yet, but this week has seen emails purporting to be from PokerStars asking players to click on a link to their accounts...

Not sure how to share an image exactly, but the link to the image is on gyazo

Not sure how widely the email has been sent - I personally haven't received anything, (although I can no longer play on Stars here in Prague even if I wanted to, and not sure how phishers actually target players - by country, or by e-mail provider, or...?)

If that's what the email looks like, then they are probably targeting people whose account name and email is known. Likely because they reuse signup information on other sites.

This information is probably on a list somewhere and anyone getting such an email should expect further phishing emails.

I suggest using multiple email accounts. I use three -- one containing my real name for real-life correspondence or online accounts I would provide personal information for, one for online accounts I care about or important online correspondence, and one for online accounts I do not care about. This way, if my "online" email is compromised (more likely to happen on a random webforum, like for instance ), my important personal email isn't revealed.

There are no spelling or grammar mistakes. Are you sure it's not genuine?

(The Stars email address is legit too.)

You're joking right? Awkward phrasing, poor formatting, that email is 99.99% a scam.

So you're telling me there's a chance?

It should be a .eu address if its for euro players. OP seems to be from prague so .com email seems fishy.

Without having anything to go on outside the image, this number is waaaay too high. Definitely could be a scam, but for my money it really depends on whether "Bushman" requested a password reset or not.

Given that OP specifically says he hasn't received anything, that's not especially relevant.

I don't know about that. I'm a software developer and I've worked on companies email campaigns before. There's a load of things wrong with that email - that I can tell from looking at it.

And then there's the awkward phrasing that was pointed out.

Honestly - if that is a legitimate email, then it's a really poor effort.


Also - if you follow the link and it asks you for your password - then it is 100% a scam.

No site sends out emails asking for account passwords. Further - that isn't how password resets work, the whole point of those is that you've forgotten your password. If you know your password and you're resetting it, then you'll be able to do it internally in the system; no need for an email reset.

i heard that creating a fake email adress that look the same as legit is no problem.

I don't want to take us too far off topic, but I've reread that thing a few times and still can't find this awkward phrasing that keeps getting mentioned. Certainly not more awkward than I've seen in dozens of official emails.

As for being asked for a password, I'd agree, it would absolutely be a scam. But that's another missing piece of information - nothing in the OP or in that image necessarily indicates that a password is being asked for.

That said, I don't want to give the impression that I'm suggesting the email is legit - I assume that OP created the thread because the link was suspicious, or it asked for a password, or because a password request hadn't been made, or many other things. Like most of us, I've received hundreds (thousands?) of phishing emails, and I've yet to be sucked into one - usually there are a few giveaways, as there may have been here.

All I'm saying is that, given the information provided thus far, it's not impossible that the email is legit IMO.

I don't see anything wrong with the wording at all - certainly no worse than any generic 'support' email I've received from dozens of sites :/

I posted it just to let people know - and as far as I know it's not the same email address as support usually use, and not the usual method for a password reset?!

Haven't had a reply from PokerStars about it yet (btw, it's not my account). I'd certainly say it's a better-looking attempt at phishing or malware than most I've come across.

I changed my pw yesterday so here's the legit email for reference. Sn removed by me.

Look almost identical

wp phishers

Yes, thank you, I imagine every idiot knows that. I mentioned it because in the past, when first introduced, that specific email address has been questioned on this forum as being genuine.

you know that's how you phish right?

"You're joking right? Awkward phrasing, poor formatting, that email is 99.99% a scam."

was getting a feeling like some people didn't think it looked too legit

Clearly this one is also a fake. Just look at that awkward phrasing.

Hey guys, this is a copy of the REAL PokerStars password change e-mail:

If OP could post the email headers, that would be the easiest way to determine if this came from Stars or not.

Edit: Please remove your personal email address from the headers, so this entire thread doesn't see them.

I find it odd that Stars refers to it as account(s) rather than account.

And a $25 charge?

$25 looked like it was maybe shopped in as a 'joke'?
Accounts(s) could perhaps refer to having accounts across different PokerStars clients (i.e. different countries)

I think you are probably right but...

Yay, someone is making a joke in a phishing scam thread.

Ok, ok it went over my head I suppose. There is some humor to be found there.

Doesn't Stars always list ones starscoin balance in emails to verify that they're real?

While I can't comment specifically on the authenticity of OP's email, the examples in this thread are consistent with our password reset procedure and email formats (minus the $25 service fee...).

I have passed the feedback on to my relevant colleagues that have oversight on these.

Regards,
Dylan