Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Impertinent Criminals and their Offers

The latest internet scam offer I received purported to come from some one named MarkDavid28 and the subject of the email was: MY DEAR LET'S DO THIS BUSINESS WITH TRUST. The unmitigated gall of the sender struck me which is why I am posting the title of his 'offer' here. I could argue with almost every word in the subject of his email. I am not HIS Dear, for a start. The 'Business' to which he refers no doubt is simply a matter of fleecing a total stranger of his/her money and the idea of being able to conduct ANY interaction with this nefarious and shameless individual 'with trust' is inconceivable. I do not know if any one ever responds positively to these 'offers' at this point in time. It brings to mind a rather hilarious episode of 'Flight of the Conchords' where Murray (manager of the group) 'invested' their small profit with a Nigerian, after receiving an internet plea from the man. Of course, with the brilliance that characterised this show, the result was unexpected. The Nigerian actually WAS legitimate and came all the way to New York to return the fairly small sum of money he had 'borrowed' from Murray. I very much doubt that this ever has occurred in 'real life' which is why the episode was so amusing and clever.

In reality, I believe that most of these fraudulent pleas and offers are simply another means by which criminals phish for data. Even if the recipient never pays the money requested, by simply giving their own names and addresses, they are playing into the hands of the criminals. That is why it is best simply to ignore any of these internet email scams, even if one can be very tempted to respond with justified contempt and rage...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Another Fraud purportedly from the FBI

How any one could believe in any of the following gobbledegook is beyond me, but in case some one should be tempted, this is nothing more than another internet scam. Purporting to have been sent by the head of the FBI, it directs you to PAY almost $300. to an unknown woman who evidently is part of the scam. The criminal who cooked up this fraudulent stew has the impertinence, moreover to declare that 'we have verified the entire transaction to be Legitimate, Safe and 100% risk free of scams and frauds of any nature'. Yes, and Chicken Little declares that the sky is falling!

What is truly bizarre here is that the email claims to guarantee any financial loss incurred IF the so-called beneficiary (never named by the way!) does not receive the 'prize' and that a penalty somehow will be levied upon the FBI for $3000, stating: 'if you do not receive your winning prize of $850,000.00 US Dollars we
shall be held responsible for the loss and this shall invite a penalty of $3,000
which will be made PAYABLE ONLY by you (The Winner).'

It is all very complex and completely illogical, even though clothed in dubious legalese.


Anti-Terrorist and International Fraud Division
Federal Bureau Of Investigation.
Seattle, Washington.
Telephone/Fax Number: removed

Attn: Beneficiary

This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have
thoroughly completed an Investigation with the help of our Intelligence
Monitoring Network System that you legally won the sum of $850,000.00 US Dollars
from a Lottery Company in the United Kingdom. During our investigation we
discovered that your e-mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and we
have authorized this winning to be authentic and paid to you via a Certified
Cashier's Check. Normally, it will take up to 10 business days for an
International Check to be cashed by your local bank. We have successfully come
to an agreement this company on your behalf that funds are to be drawn from a
registered bank within the United States Of America so as to enable you cash the
check instantly without any delay, henceforth the stated amount of $850,000.00
US Dollars has been deposited with Bank Of America.

We have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved to receive the
winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be Legitimate, Safe
and 100% risk free of scams and frauds of any nature, due to the fact that the
funds have been deposited at Bank Of America you will be required to settle the
following bills directly to the lottery claims agent in-charge of this
transaction whom is located at the liaison office of the Lottery Company in
Seattle-Washington. According to our discoveries, you are required to pay for
the following:

(1) Deposit Fee's (Fee's paid by the lottery company for the deposit into an
American Bank which is - Bank of America)
(2) Cashier's Check Conversion Fee (Fee for converting the Wire Transfer payment
into a Certified Cashier's Check)
(3) Shipping Fee's (This is the charge for shipping the Cashier's Check to your
nominated destination)

The total amount for everything is $299.99 (Two Hundred & Ninety Nine United
States Dollars & Ninety Nine Cents). We have tried our possible best to indicate
that this $299.99 should be deducted from your winning prize but the funds have
already been deposited at The Bank of America and cannot be accessed by anyone
apart from you the winner. Therefore you will be required to pay the needed
funds to your lotto claims Agent in-charge of this transaction via Western Union
Money Transfer Or Money Gram. The payment will NOT reflect at the Bank of
America with the given transaction code(EA2948-910) until you have covered the
processing fees needed.
In order to proceed with this transaction, Click Here (linnk removed) to contact
your claims agent Mrs. Louise Major .You will be required to call her for verbal
verification and e-mail her with the following informations:

FULL NAME:
FULL MAILING ADDRESS(INCLUDING CITY/STATE/ZIPCODE):
AGE/SEX/OCCUPATION:
CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS(CELL & HOME):

You will also be required to request Western Union details on how to send the
required $299.99 in order to immediately ship your prize of $850,000.00 US
Dollars via Certified Cashier's Check drawn from The Bank of America, Also
include the following transaction code in order for her to immediately identify
this transaction : EA2948-910. This letter will serve as proof that the Federal
Bureau Of Investigation is authorizing you to pay the required $299.99 ONLY to
your claims agent via the information in which she shall send to you upon your
request, if you do not receive your winning prize of $850,000.00 US Dollars we
shall be held responsible for the loss and this shall invite a penalty of $3,000
which will be made PAYABLE ONLY by you (The Winner).


Robert Mueller
Federal Bureau Of Investigation

NOTE: In order to ensure your check gets delivered to you ASAP, you are advised
to immediately contact Mrs. Louise Major via contact information provided above
and make the required payment of $299.99 to information in which she will
provide you.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Criminal alleged American Sergeant Suggests Theft from family of Iraq's President

Here's the newest type of scam letter circulating the internet:

Hello friend,

My name is David Inghram, I am an American soldier serving in the military with coalition force in Iraq , as you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs.We managed to move part of funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family .

The total amount is US$12 Million dollars in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills,this money has been kept somewhere outside Baghdad for some time but with the proposed troop in increase by president Barrack Obama, to end the suicide bombing and make peace with Iraq militant and terrorist ,we are afraid that the money may be discovered hence we want to move this money to you for safekeeping pending the completion of our assignment here.

READ THIS WEBSITE VERY WELL AND GET BACK TO ME.
(Link removed by me. I don't know if it leads to a real BBC article or is a phishing link but I don't intend to publish it.)

We are ready to compensate you with good percentage of the funds, No strings attached, Iraq is a war zone, we plan on using diplomatic means to ship the money out as military cargo to your home, under diplomatic immunity cover.

I am contacting you in confidence, all arrangement for the successful delivery has been put in place, all we need from you is to receive the cargo from the diplomat, If you are interested I will send you the full details, my job is to find a good partner that we can trust and that will assist us. Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest.

Note from Freyashawk: As much as this email infuriates me, first of all because I am UTTERLY OPPOSED to the military foreign invasion of Iraq as well and secondly, the calm assumption that ANY ONE, including me, would be interested in conspiring in a scheme to rape Saddam Hussein's family of their money, I resisted the urge to respond. Of course, the author of this email is a crook and has no access to funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family or any one else except the poor victims who responded to an email like this by giving this criminal access to THEIR funds. My response would have been outrage... but it is best not to give the writers of these emails ANY response, as confirmation of your own email address in a case like this can lead to identity theft.

As much as I oppose the U.S. foreign policy throughout the globe and its interference in the affairs of foreign sovereign nations under the spurious guise of the so-called 'war on terror', the fact remains that there are innocent if misguided individuals who would be inclined to respond positively to an email like this because THEY would want to support a member of the U.S. armed forces, and would not understand that the writer using a false identity as leverage. For shame! For shame to suggest a scheme to bilk the family of Iraq's deceased legitimate President out of their property... even though it's all smoke and mirrors. A part of me would be inclined to say that any one whho would grasp at this supposed opportunity to rob a third party eagerly deserves any loss he/she suffers in return, but I truly do not want to see ANY ONE become a victim of a criminal scam, no matter what their political stance. And thus, I have published this letter here, to warn people that the old Nigerian scam letter may have yielded its position to a new Iraq-oriented scam.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Rebecca Knaak and her scam

Am in a great sorrow writing you this note,Just wanted to inform you about something very important,i could barely think straight at this point,i hope you come to my aid Because something very terrible is happening to me now,i need a favor from you now,I had a trip here in UK

Unfortunately for me all my money got stolen on my way to the hotel where i lodged along with my bag were my passport was And since then i have been without any money i am even owing the hotel here.

So i have limited access to emails for now,please i need you to lend me about 900pounds so i can make arrangements and return back I am full of panic now,the police only asked me to write a statement about the incident and directed me to the embassy,i have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively,I will return the money back to you as soon as i get home,I am so confused right now.i wasn't injured because I complied immediately.


I will be waiting to hear from you since i can't access the internet always
Kind Regards
Rebecca Knaak

Freyashawk: 900 quid???!!! If only I had that sort of money... It infuriates me that some one would attempt to con another human being like this, trading upon natural compassion and sympathy.

If I had the energy and time, I would bait a trap for some of these thieves...

Interesting postscript to this particular fraudulent appeal. This email was received today from the same email address:

Sorry, I ventured in some risky ventures with this account, and somewhere along the way I got hacked. I am Comfortably at home in the US, and have never been in UK and never plan to go. Sorry if it gave you a scare. I will shut down this email soon after sending this. Those of you who are regular contacts have already received my new contact information. Goodbye and stay safe! Rebecca

Note from Freyashawk: Who knows??? I am publishing the postscript in case the person actually is a victim of identity theft...

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Shame on you, Jessica Friars!

Hello,
How are you doing ? Sorry I didn't inform you about my traveling to London for a program, I'm presently in London and am having some little difficulties here because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money,and other valuable things were kept.I will like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently with the sum of (970GBP) to sort-out my hotel bills and to get me back home. I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with, I'll Refund the money back to you as soon as i return,let me know if you can be of any help?
Thanks,
Jessica
(Jessica Friars, supposedly)

Note from Freyashawk: I don't know this person, obviously. It's another internet scam, appealing to my soft-hearted nature. The fact that I have less money than SHE or HE does is irrelevant to this individual. Selfish, selfish to the core, devoid of honour and human compassion... people like this think only of themselves and feel clever if they manage to defraud some one else. At least she or he didn't compound the fraud by addressing me as a 'dear friend'... And what on earth is a 'soft loan'???

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Criminal Sankara Ahmed's 'Special Bogus Deal'

Hello My Dear friend,

How are you doing together with your entire family, I hope all is well? Please
carefully read and understand my reason of contacting you through this email. I
am Mr SANKARA AHMED. The chief Auditor Bill and Exchange Foreign Remittance Unit
African Development Bank (ADB) (address removed)

Here. I am contacting you because of an abandoned sum of Nineteen Million Three
Hundred Thousand United State Dollars. ($19.3 Million) that was deposited by a
late customer of this bank called Mr. Rafik Bahaa Edine Hariri.

A very prominent man who was doing business transaction with our bank. He was a
citizen of Lebanon. This bank unfortunately lost his life through assassinated
on February 14, 2005 when explosives equivalent to around 300 kg of C4 were
detonated as his motorcade drove past the Saint George Hotel in the Lebanese
capital, Beirut.

The bank has no knowledge about his death. Upon this discovery that i decided to
make this business proposal to you since the banking laws and guidelines here
stipulate that if such funds remain unclaimed here after nine years, the money
will be transferred into the Central Bank Treasury as unclaimed fund.

My stand to contact you now is that, a foreign has the legal right to put claim
to such deposit followed by you will proof your claim with the bank. Therefore,
I want you to apply as his business partner.

This transaction is going to be a success because, a foreigner is compulsorily
needed to present himself or herself as the next of kin to this deceased bank
customer and hence the beneficiary of the fundbecause the fund
depositor was a foreigner. I therefore, desperately need your assistance to
claim and receive this huge sum of money into your account.

For the assistance in this transaction, you will be entitled to 40% of the total
fund in respect of the provision of your bank account and the assistance
you are to render on the process. 55% would be for me as the originator and
initiator of the transaction, and the rest 5% will be used to off-set any minor
expenses which may arise during the process of transferring the fund into your
account.

I and my entire family will leave here immediately for your country in order to
share the profits and we also invest part of my own share over there, as soon as
the fund
is transferred into your account.

Please endeavour to keep this transaction very secret and highly confidential
because i will lose my work here as bank staff, where the bank authority here
finds out that you and I are collaborating in this "Special Deal". Please also
be rest-assured that this business is 100% risk-free, and all the information
and data's you will need to make successful claim of this fund in the bank here
are fully ready with me here.

Note Well: Please urgently confirm your willingness and interest to assist me by
filling and sending back to me the needed information below and also call me
immediately on my private phone numbers: (number removed)

1. NAME IN FULL:.........................................
2. ADDRESS:.............................................
3. NATIONALITY:.......................
4. AGE:.............................................
5. Sex..................................................
6. OCCUPATION:...................................
7. MARITAL STATUS:............................
8. PHONE................................................
9. FAX:.................................................

AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING MANEGER,
BANK OF AFRICA (A.D.B)

Criminal Aisha Saleeb purportedly from Darfur

Hello ,
Greetings of the season to you and your family.
I decided to contact you because of the urgency of my situation here ,I am miss Aisha Yormie Saleeb 22 years old girl from Kiara Sudan,the only daughter of Late Dr.Robert Saleeb the deputy minister of national security under the leadership of President Al-Bashir Omar,he was killed because he is from the region of Darfur,so many innocent soul were killed in Darfur,My father was killed by government of President Al-Bashir Omar,he accused my father of coup attempt.
Please listen to this,i have my late father's statement of account (as his next of kin)here with me which i will send to you latter,because when he was alive he deposited some amount of money in a leading bank here which he used my name as the next of kin,the amount in question is $4.5m(Four Million five Hundred Thousand Dollars) So what i need from you is, for you to see that this money is transfered to a good account and also to make arrangement on how i will come over and stay with you and continue my life and education.

My choosing you is a question i knew you must ask and i think it is a good question.i have two reasons for choosing you, i choosed you because it is the will of God.and i believe knowing you will bring hope back again to my life.My choosing you does not mean i do not have anybody from africa.i have two uncles,that is my late fathers junior brothers whom i think are suppose to be taking care of me but they do not care,all they did was to sell my late father's houses and company to one mr olson steven from united states and enjoy the money with their wives. I wanted to tell olson about it but should my uncles know of the money,they can kill me ,so as to eat the money.
As soon as I receive your positive response showing your interest I will put things into action immediately.
In the light of the above, I shall appreciate an urgent message indicating your ability and willingness to handle this transaction sincerely.i am staying at the female hostel,so i am nearer to the Student's Communication Room.I will be able to
check my email every morning & Night.

Awaiting your urgent and positive response. Please do keep this only to your self and do not disclose it to anyone till i come over once the fund has been transfered.
thanks,
Aisha Saleeb.