“www.Tagged.com” scam stealing personal and financial information

This post was written by elisa cundiff, outreach coordinator on June 5, 2009
Posted Under: Consumer Protection

Tagged.com “Profile” site should not be trusted

Tagged.com is a highly organized phishing scam.

If you get a message from a friend sharing photos with you from a site called Tagged.com, do not open it.  Quickly delete it, and inform the friend that sent it to you that their email account has been compromised.

The email comes from the address book of one of your friends, whose information has been compromised.  If you click through (either “yes” or “no”), you’ll be taken to a fairly unassuming page that asks for some personal information.

As you click through, you’ll be asked for everything from your email account password – which they’ll use to send emails to all your friends -, to your credit card information.

There is always a risk in giving out your personal information.  But never, ever give out your passwords or financial information online.  No reputable business would ask for it in this way.

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  • Wow. I got one of these from someone I don't speak with often. I was a little suspicious and ended up ignoring the email. Good to know my instincts were correct.
  • Great instincts! Unfortunately, I have a few friends who weren't quite so discerning.
  • Pam
    I got an email from taggedand rgister only to find out my friend who supposedly contacted me said he had no idea how they got his email. the next time they emailed me I blocked them. the following day they were on my email again, so I blocked them a second time. I still received a third email from them, how to I get rid of these SOBs.
  • The good news is, that you haven't followed the links in the emails! Which means your a little bit ahead those who were tricked into handing over personal information.

    The tagged.com emails have an "unsubscribe" function on the bottom of them. Though, usually it's a bad idea to follow these links from disreputable businesses (as doing so only confirms to them that the email address is actively used and thus more valuable).

    My advice would be to simply keep marking tagged.com emails as "spam". You can also take action and report "tagged.com" to the FTC by emailing your experience to spam@uce.gov
  • y413111
    Your site has been blocked or sensorred for some reason in our country. Please invistigate this matter. Regards,,,
  • Which country would that be?
  • Roses
    Am a member of tagged and was never asked for my Credit Card Info. However after signing up, you'll be asked if you wish to invite friends. If you choose yes then you pick what e-mail service you use and then that's where your E-mail Address and Password is for. If you are gullible you'll do this and thus you e-mail will be compromised. There's not one site you enter for Socialization or other things that do not ask for your e-mail address and sometimes credit card information.

    Its Nice to know you Elisa, you want to help but don't post things that will hurt others for a moment in the spotlight. Now why do you need our e-mail address just to post a response to your blog? Huh
  • Please illuminate me with an example of any ANY other reputable social networking group that;

    1. asks for your email address AND email password (as this is what Tagged.com does in order to email blast everyone you've ever emailed)
    2. asks you for your credit card information during sign-up



    I am not the only one who feels the Tagged.com website is untrustworthy. Here are a few more examples of articles about the company -
    -http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1903810,00.html
    -http://www.brainhandles.com/techno-thoughts/are-taggedcoms-mails-spam-or-fraud
    - http://alanseideman.com/2007/06/13/tagged-is-de...
  • Please your site has been blocked here in Kuwait City ,
    Fastelco Company has blocked your site , Tagged , why they do this to us, in fact i got lot of friends , i miised them so much , i cant open my Tagged , please i need your help and please i take it rapid action...
    Urgently needed ,please.
  • winson
    i have been on tagged for almost a year and have not received any complaints from friends about emails like these. in fact, one of my former classmates from high school sent me an invitation to there, though she does not go there anymore. i personally love that site. it is fun way to meet new people, but just use your head because there are quite a few bogus profiles (anyone who shows their email address on the page is a big clue)
  • Jimmy
    People are so ignorant. Tagged never asks you for your credit card number. Obviously, there are people who create pages that appear to be from site "x" and fool people into sending private information. If you're that ignorant, you deserve to be scammed. It would teach you a lesson.
  • Jazmin
    I've been on tagged for a while now, and never did it ask me for my cc number at time of registration. Now, when i looked around to get the hang of things, I noticed that you can get more gold on your account so you can buy gifts or pets. You pay to get more gold and to get a VIP member tag. You get more privlages or options than the ones that get them as free. So, you dont have to give it, it's if you want to. I think that like all other sites, just be careful with that info...=)
  • Aya @ Thrive
    Interesting article: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced legal action against tagged.com
    http://www.oag.state.ny.us/media_center/2009/ju...

    Just thought it was relevant.
  • Aya,

    It's very relevant. Did you get a chance to read Tagged.com's response? Their reasoning does make sense. You can read it on blog.hsh.com.

    If Tagged is telling the truth, Cuomo seems to be blowing it far out of proportion. But, that's if they're telling the truth.

    Tim
  • Thanks for the heads up about the response - I just read your post as well as the actual blog post on Tagged blog. It's really hard to tell; part of me feels like if they're responding to the situation instead of ignoring it, there is something genuine about Tagged and the people that started it. But, the other part of me is still unsure of their intents when they started out and if they're just trying to save themselves because Cuomo has taken it this far. I mentioned it in my comment on your post, but how they're tallying up stats is something I'd like to know as well.
  • I mean, Tagged really presented a good argument with a good deal of evidence. However, they sure waited a good deal of time to issue a "look at the facts."

    Since social networking sites do spread by word of mouth, I wonder if this will hurt the site...
  • Jeff
    I received a personal email from a CEO of tagged.
    A first-year law student could hang him on his own words.
    The NY State Atty Gen is going to roll.
    Depending on how things go, I'll sue them (and win), myself.
    Never go to court unless you're certain you will win.
  • Jeff,

    If you don't mind, I'm curious to hear more about this email you were sent. What has made you so confident about Tagged wrongdoings?

    Thanks,
    Tim
  • Jeff
    Tim;
    I can't compromise the suit(s), but there are a lot of cases clearly available for study if you do a simple search on Google, like "Tagged.com Fraud" or "Tagged.com Complaints", etc.
  • sathya
    While going to tagged website page load error is occurring.
    what is the solution for this problem
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