This morning I received an email from American Airlines’ AAdvantage Reward Program:

Welcome to the American Airlines AAdvantage(R) program, the first and largest loyalty program in the world! We are proud to inform you that today, American Airlines launch a new reward program. Please take the 5 questions survey. For your effort you will be rewarded with $50 & 25,000 miles.

The sentences sound funny, don’t they? The phrasing is off. That should raise a red flag. Unfortunately, for many who received the email it might be too late. The message contained a link to an American Airlines phishing scam. Phishing, in this context, isn’t what most people think it is.

Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

This particular scam is a web page that looks like an authentic American Airlines web page, complete with a Login section designed to capture the AAdvantage number and Password.

The site looks legitimate, doesn’t it? Caveat emptor. Beware of what seems too good to be true.