Cheap Bus to NY: Phishing Scam Alert

If you're one of the many folks who use the cheap so-called Chinatown buses between Washington and New York, you might have received an intriguing email on Friday, an offer for further discounts on 2007 travel to thank you for your patronage in 2006. The catch? The email, from "Gotobus. com Customer Service," is a scam, not an official communique from IvyMedia/GotoBus, the online company that sells tickets for several bus companies (including Eastern, Dragon and Vamoose).

The original email asks for -- and here's the tip-off -- your credit card information. Curious about the offer (which would further discount the $20 one-way fares to the Big Apple), I went to www.gotobus.com to see if there was an alert to the offer on its site. There wasn't. I didn't fill out the form -- and was glad when, just a few minutes later, I received another email, this time from "Support" and which let me know the original was a hoax. I went back to the original, clicked on the link provided, and lo and behold, now the "Page Cannot Be Found."

The lesson? Sometimes when things are too good to be true (an even-cheaper-than $20 ride?!) and pretty much always when your credit card is involved: Be wary.

By Anne McDonough |  January 22, 2007; 9:25 AM ET  | Category:  Anne McDonough
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Posted by: gnus | January 29, 2007 2:32 PM

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