Highfields Amateur Radio Club
Scam Warnings.

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By Brian MW0GKX.

Expensive Joke or what?

I was thinking of putting this in the Humour section but it seems serious so I've put it here as a scam.

From a discussion on a web forum I frequently look at, a member posted a link to a web site that discusses a new fuse. he posted it with the heading:
The Ultimate Audiophoolery - HI-Fi Fuses!
It is about the HiFi-Tuning fuse.

I personally can't see how a fuse would:

• Give "better resonance characteristics"
• And improve "Colors and sound" on a TV!

Aside from the bad punctuation and spelling mistakes just how stupid do they think I am? (answers on a postcard please!) 250,000 US dollars won't go far to recompense the persons that were scammed, and I'm not one of them anyway!

NOTIFICATION OF PAYMENT VIA ATM CARD

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract file presently on my desk, and I found out that you have not received your payment due to your lack of co-operation and not fulfilling the obligations giving to you in respect to your payment.

Secondly, you are hereby advised to stop dealing with some non-officials in the bank and some of Attorney as this is an illegal act and will have to stop if you so wish to receive your payment immediately.After the Board of director's meeting held in Abuja, we have resolved in finding a solution to your problem. We have arranged your payment through our SWIFT CARD PAYMENT CENTRE in Europe, America, Africa and Asia Pacific; this is part of an instruction/mandate passed by the Senate in respect to overseas contract payment and debt re-scheduling.

We will send you an ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw your money via ATM MACHINE in any part of the world, and the maximum daily limit is Fifteen Thousand United States Dollars ($15,000.00).

If you like to receive your fund this way, kindly reconfirm your

(1) Your Full Name
(2) Full residential address.
(3) Phone and Direct mobile Number

We shall be expecting to receive your information as you have to stop any further communication with anybody or office.

I repeat again here that you are receiving this money due to we have verified your file presently on my desk, and I found out that you have not received your payment due to your lack of co-operation and not fulfilling the obligations giving to you in respect to your payment from bank, remember this IS not credit card which you will pay back later, you don't have to pay back we have already loaded your fund in to the ATM CARD.

Best Regards,

Dr Ephraim James

A little looking around finds that this email originates from Nigeria and been around for a while.

Looks too good to be true, someone is going to give you a cash card and you can draw $15,000 a day! It is too good to be true. You start by giving basic details for the card to be sent, then more details are requested along with a "processing fee". The there will be some sort of problem and your bank account details will be required, or further payment to "grease palms" or whatever it's called this week.

Personally I've never sent any "contract file" nor ever delt with anyone regarding the matter.

Unfortunately some people see the money and "go for it", losing their own money in the process.

There are a multitude of scams around the Internet and even the most intelligent newcomers often get "taken in". Unfortunately, their naivety leads to the spread of these scams to other people, a few of whom will be gullible and "spread the word".

If you receive any message which invites you to "forward this" or "send this to all your friends" or "send a message to xyz@abc.com" or similar, please DON'T (as web manager I often get various emailings like this. They take time to read, then, if they seem genuine, check up on. This all takes time that could be spent doing other, more productive, things).

The intention of these types of scams isn't always clear.
If an email address is given (send a message to xyz@abc.com), then it's probable that the originator wants to fill up the owner's "in box" with useless information.
If there's a web site address then a "denial of service" attack is probably going to be the outcome (flooding the server until it is shut down/blocked).
Sometimes they are sent out just for the heck of it to see how many gullible people will believe them. In this case they may ask every, say, 100th person to send an email back to them so they can see how quickly it's spreading.
Even if it comes from someone you know and is passed on in good faith it may only mean that they have been taken in as well! (An easy way to spot this is you may notice that the same email has been sent to a lot of people (To: name1,name2,name3, etc. or the email starts: From: Person To: Someone......... From: SomeoneTo: Someone........etc.) this type is often sent as a virus warning or other dire consiquence warning (such as the parcel scam below) but I often get jokes, a welcome diversion, forwarded this way).

Whatever the reason they are sent, it's usually intended to cause a problem for somebody. If nothing else, it's going to swamp the Internet with a LOT of unnecessary messages. Some companies are considering a charge for every email routed through them because of things like this. By sending on these messages, you help to bring that day closer.

Credit card scams have always been around but the Internet and email have allowed these scams to reach a far greater audience and potentially cause even more damage than in the past. Some of these credit card scams have two goals: to obtain valid credit card numbers and to harvest email addresses for future spam and scam purposes. Shown below is an example:

The recipient is then given two options: to enter a credit card number (and expiration date) or to press "No". Of course, entering the credit card number and pressing "Yes" will send that info to the malicious person behind the scam - and approve the charge. But clicking "No" also has an undesireable affect - it lets the sender know they've obtained a valid email address - one they will use for spam and scam campaigns in the future.

Frustratingly, emailing the sender and complaining does no good. These scams spoof the From address, using either fake or stolen email addresses. This common tactic is also used by many mass-mailing email worms to make it appear the email is coming from a completely innocent party.

My advice? Give no response and simply delete the email.

This is just one example of a popular credit card scam. Even more devious are those pretending to be email from eBay, PayPal, Wells Fargo, or other reputable merchant and banking organizations. These emails look very authentic and can easily trick unsuspecting users into divulging their credit card numbers, bank account information, and enough personal details to facilitate everything from credit card fraud to identity theft.

You receive an email from your Bank, Building Society or similar (including PayPal). It looks genuine, has all the correct logos etc.
It says something along the lines of "Problems with security" or "Security Update" and informs you that you will be unable to use your on-line account if you don't click the link and fill in the form.

No UK banking institution will ever ask for you to do this. Scammers are out to get all the detail they can from you so that they can have your money!

If you use on-line banking only ever use the address that was given to you By the Bank concerned and follow the banks method for reporting any phishing emails. Ultimately delete them.

This is a joke but you would be surprised what some people fall for:

There have also been instances with eBay phishing as well, that could end up with a whole mess of problems!

Also there are fake survey emails. They offer a cash incentive for answering some simple survey questions. They then ask for personal details. Never give personal details in one of these surveys. I do participate with online surveys, but I sign up to a proper survey site and only supply Name, Address and Email address. If one were to ask for bank details (except for branch, sort code and account no for payment purposes) I would close the page and 'walk away'.

Best advice I can give is: If you receive ANY email asking for details like login info, passwords etc. Go to the site that (supposedly) requests the information But not via any links in the email! Log in to the site via your normal bookmark, favourite whatever and check your account. If there are any problems with accounts etc there should be an announcement of some sort on that website, if you find your account is in error contact the telephone helpline and sort it out. If there are no problems but you are worried then try the telephone helpline number and ask their advice.

Better to delete 10 valid emails from your bank than answer 1 phish!
Personally I've had this type of email from most UK based banks and building societies, despite the fact that I only bank with one! (who never contact me via email anyway as they don't have my email address (seems like they are the only ones not to.......)).

I had this email on 30 Nov 2007:

Dear Brian.
I am so surprised over your silence regarding to your inheritance, following your non compliance to my earlier mail to you for the past one month regarding to your late relative
Engr. PAUL N. MW0GKX, who died in 2002.
I wish to notify you that the governing council of our security company have put up a notice for immediate payment of this funds and as such you are entitled to your late relative fund which have accrued to US$6.3Million over years deposited with our branch (TRUST FUND SECURITY COMPANY.).
On receipt of your response with your full details i will properly guide you on the procedure we will embark on to facilitate the easy release of this funds for our mutual benefit.
Respond to my private email:{address removed}
Mr, Ismaila Jameel
{phone no. removed}
(Account adviser)

I had a good laugh at this one as I saved it for perpetuity! (Did you spot the main mistake? Look at the name of the 'deceased', strange surname that! Also this was the first time I had had a contact about his 'death'.)

Greeting card scams arrive in email pretending to be from a friend or family member. Clicking the link to view the card typically leads to a booby-trapped web page that downloads Trojans and other malicious software onto the systems of the unsuspecting.

I received one that seemed to be from my 'number 2' son (it mentioned his first name), whom I've not seen or heard from for some time. When I clicked on the "view card" link my pop-up blocker and anti-virus program went mad! Luckily I pulled the plug (litterally) and managed to clean up the computer (a couple of nasty bits of software did get through as they were not recognised).

To many users an attack like this (yes attack) may well go unnoticed and software they run in the background will register the websites you visit, log your usernames and passwords at login and report back to the perpetrator, who will then be able to access your bank etc. A re-boot will not cure it as the software sets itself up to run at start up.

Best advice I can give is: If you receive an online "Greetings Card" and you don't recognise the sender, it's not your birthday or you are just suspicious of it Delete it.

This one can also come through the post!

You receive an email (or letter) which states that you have won a major prize in an international lottery. Supposedly, your email address (name and address) was collected online or from a survey etc. and attached to a random number that was subsequently entered in a draw for the lottery. In order to claim your prize, you are instructed to contact the official "agent" in charge of your case. You are also advised to keep the win confidential for "security reasons". This part of the scam is basically a random phishing expedition. If you respond in any way to the email, the scammers will send further messages or even contact you by phone in an attempt to draw you deeper into the scam.

In the postal version there is usually a pre addressed envelope (may also be pre paid postage) for you to return the claim slip and your cheque.

DON'T reply. There was no Lottery. There were no winners. The only prize money is how much the scammers can take from YOU! (and you won't see it again!).

Generally, the Nigerian 419 scammer claims to be the relative of some high-profile deceased/arrested political figure. The scam claims this relative has horded or saved millions of dollars in cash and are now seeking someone to help transfer the money in exchange for a hefty percentage of the profits.

Sound to good to be true? It is. Those who have contacted the scammers are presented with many forged or official documents in an attempt to convince the victims that the promise of money is legitimate. Meanwhile, they claim fees and bribes must be paid and accounts must be setup. All this money is at the victim's (your) expense and there is no payout at the end.

But loss of your own funds may only be the tip of the iceberg. Some who have responded to Nigerian 419 scams have become victims of kidnapping and murder. So beware and remember, there's no pot of gold at the end of rainbows and an email promising you millions of dollars is a scam.

I first heard of this on a radio news program in London some years ago. Robert (ZHM) told me that it has arrived in Newport so I'll add it in here.

I have received several emails about a Parcel Delivery Scam. The text of them is always the same:

Can you circulate this around especially as Xmas is fast approaching - it has been confirmed by Royal Mail and Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

The Trading Standards Office are making people aware of the following scam:

A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 XXXXXXX (a premium rate number)....... {The remainder has been cut, you get the idea}

PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, have had to post this explanation:

PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, is aware that a chain e-mail about an alleged postal scam is being circulated on the internet. The email refers to the Royal Mail, Trading Standards and ICSTIS (PhonepayPlus’ former name).