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Friday, 31 August 2012

Blocking Mobile Phone Text Spam

Posted on 15:54 by Unknown
Here are some tips if you have AT&T wireless service and you are getting text spam. I'm here to spread the word about item #6, which sounds so convenient! Just forward your text spam to code 7726 (SPAM).

1. Block all text messages from specific email addresses and/or Internet domains

Create a Message Preferences account to manage your email-to-text messaging options and block/allow lists.
To block messages from a specific email address and/or Internet domain:

- Set up Block lists online, from your Message Preferences account.
- Add an email address to your Block list directly from your handset whenever you receive a spam text message by replying with BLOCK in the body of the response.

2. Block all email messages sent to your device's default email address (i.e., your-10-digit-wireless-number@txt.att.net)

Create an email alias for your phone in Messaging Preferences, then change the Mobile Number Control settings so that only those text messages addressed to your email alias will be delivered to your wireless device.

3. Stop email-to-text messages from being sent to your handset

Reply to unsolicited short codes with STOP in the body of the response to prevent future messages from that sender.

4. Block all calls and text messages from specific phone numbers

Sign up for AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless and create a Blocked Numbers list. With Smart Limits you can designate up to 30 numbers to block, and designate how many texts can be sent.

5. Other sources of unwanted text messages

Opt-in alerts are sent to your wireless device via text message. If you've signed up for this type of alert, either knowingly or not, you have to proactively cancel or opt-out of your subscription to stop receiving unwanted messages. Learn more about opting out of text alert services here.

6. Additional Support

If spam continues to be a problem for you, contact Customer Service at 1-800-331-0500 for assistance with your issue. It is impossible for us to determine if a message is unsolicited unless you bring it to our attention. When you receive text spam, forward it to short code SPAM (7726) from your wireless device. There is no charge to report mobile spam. Messages forwarded to 7726 do not count toward your data usage or voice package.

SPRINT Mobile Users: To stop texts, Sprint customers can text various commands to 9999. The range of options is wide. For example, customers can block all messages from one Internet domain, like example.com, by texting “block @example.com.” Specific e-mail addresses can be blocked by texting “block” followed by the address, while text senders who use numeric short codes can be stopped by texting “block” and then the code.

Similarly, customers can create a list of e-mail addresses from which they’d like to receive messages by substituting “allow” for “block.”

A complete list of Sprint commands can be found at here.

T-MOBILE T-Mobile subscribers can block all text messages at no charge, but cannot selectively block texts from specific senders — with one exception.

If spammers are using PCs to send text messages, users can block specific ones based on content. To do so, you use the E-mail and Text Tools tab on the T-Mobile Web site to set up filters that look for specific words in the “from,” “to,” and “subject” fields.

For example, any spam texts that ask you to “lose weight fast, let me show you how” could be blocked by designating the word “weight” as a red flag.

VERIZON The nation’s largest carrier offers perhaps the most extensive palette of spam-blocking tools, and does so at no charge.

Verizon customers can block unwanted messages from individual cellphone numbers as well as e-mail addresses by using the company’s Spam Controls tools, found in the Verizon Safeguards area of its Web site (see this link for more information).

Up to 15 e-mail addresses and Internet domains, plus five phone numbers, can be blocked from sending text, picture or video messages.

All blocks expire 90 days after they are set, but they can be reactivated by revisiting the Spam Controls page.

--------------

And don't forget to check apps like Anti-SMS Spam, Call Blocker, Handcent SMS, smsBlocker, SMS Filter and Mr. Number.



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Posted in ATT, block callers, mobile phone, SMS, spam controls, Sprint, T-Mobile, text spam, Verizon | No comments

Thursday, 30 August 2012

Scam Email: Bruce Miller

Posted on 12:45 by Unknown
Here is an email forwarded to me from a reader. He was selling4 dodger tickets on Craigslist and the first email from this fake buyer came from bruce.miller05@gmail.com. When the seller replied that the tickets were still available, here is the next email he got:

From: Bonnie Reich [bonnie.symmetrycloset.com@gmail.com]
Subject: RE: Order Inquiry-I want to place an order

Am glad it's available. I'm going on a vacation but I will instruct my assistant to prepare and mail your payment which I'm sure you will get in about 4 - 5 business days. I'll add $50 extra for the delay. I'll pay by MO or cashier check so send me your info (i.e full name, mailing address and your phone number) so payment can be mailed out immediately. I will also make arrangement for pick-up which will be after you must have received and cashed the payment.Please take the posting off craigs list today and consider it sold to me.Expecting to hear from you soon.
Thanks

You can see it is from a completely different made up name and disposable email account - they often can not keep their fake identities straight...

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Posted in counterfeit money order, craigslist scams, fake buyer scam | No comments

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Internet Scam: PayPal Account Problem

Posted on 07:31 by Unknown
Here is an email I received this morning that looked super dangerous. It's a common scam, one that I discuss in my book, Top 10 Email Scams. It is a phishing scam (the email is set up to look exactly like an email coming from your bank or in this case from paypal.com) where the emails says there is a problem with your account and you need to click on the link in order to reactivate or resolve the problem. It's usually focusing on your bank account or paypal account, where they can get access to your money.

This email also looks loaded with a link that will do damage to your computer - it was written in HTML so the actual link is hidden from the user (unless you mouse over it without clicking on it) but look at what the actual link says - reboot.php... gads, that can't be good at all! And in the headers, it looked like they were set up to be falsified by the scammer but he didn't even bother to do that, because all he wants is for his victims to click on that link. Lord help the people that do.

Paypal is targeted so often for these scams that they have trouble sending legitimate emails to their users. Whenever I get an email from what looks like my bank or from paypal, I NEVER ever click on the link in the email. I open a new browser window and manually type in paypal.com (don't cut and paste from the email either) and track down if there is actually a real problem or not. Almost always, there is never a real problem. Worst case, pick up the phone and call them to check if the email is real or not.

Please be careful with these emails!

Received: by control.yourdomain.com (Postfix, from userid 0)
    id D65398EF53; Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:22:21 +0300 (EEST)
To:
Subject: [Ticket ##204496300##] - Your PayPal account has been limited
X-PHP-Originating-Script: 33:x.php
From: PayPal [service@secure.com]
Content-Type: text/html
Message-Id: [20120828092614.D65398EF53@control.yourdomain.com]
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:22:21 +0300 (EEST)
Return-Path: root@control.yourdomain.com

Dear Valued Member,

Following an audit of your account, we must advise that your account has been limited. PayPal is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience.

- Why is my account access limited?

- Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):

We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

- Please follow the link bellow and restore your account access

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run [actually links to: http://erpdev.4iapps.com/paypal.com-us.gi.bin.webscr.cmd/reboot.php]

Please accept our apologies for any possible inconvenience,however PayPal must adhere to strict security standards which are there to protect your account privacy. Please be aware that your account will remain limited until you comply with this request.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.

Kind regards,
PayPal Account Review Department 

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Posted in banking phishing emails, computer virus scams, email phishing scam, fake paypal scam, internet scammers, online fraud, paypal scam, phishing scams, scam ebooks | No comments

Thursday, 23 August 2012

When Good Credit Cards Are No Good

Posted on 08:42 by Unknown
Scammers use a particular "sweetspot" with credit cards and I wanted to write a post about it today, so that more people understand and are not exploited by this.

Scammers love their stolen credit card numbers. They rarely have the card itself but just the numbers. They are stolen in a variety of ways but typically hackers break into systems and get large volumes of credit card numbers and then sell them, or more often than you'd like, scammers are tricking people into providing the number themselves by going to bogus "phishing" websites where they think they are logging into a real and secure website but it is not.

When scammers pretend to buy something (when they have no intention of actually paying), they used to go the route of sending a counterfeit check or money order. Some still do this. But more and more scammers are using the stolen credit card number route because they save even more money not having to pay to mail a check to their potential victim.

Here's how it works: the scammer will ask if an item is still available for sale and if so, they would like to purchase it (sometimes the story is they are moving, sometimes the story is they are at sea and buying for someone else, etc.). They need to explain why the amount is going to be for more than the price of the item - typically the story includes something about a shipper who is handling their items and will pick up your item as well - so they overpay with a credit card number and ask you to forward the difference on to pay the shipper as well. The difference is often a lot - $1000 to $5000.

Here's where people are getting trapped - the credit card will actually clear. That is because scammers love stolen credit card numbers NOT yet reported as such. So they do as much damage as they can with it before it gets reported. So for you, you'll think its a good card, because it cleared, and then proceed to forward YOUR money on to their shipper (who is non-existent). How do they pull off this part? There will be some reason why the shipper can only receive the payment via wire transfer (typically Western Union) and who is really at the other end of that transaction? The scammer... who is untraceable once he's picked up your good money.

And still you think everything is ok. So you ship out the product. And then - days or sometimes even a week or so later, the credit card company comes back and says the money was fraudulent and we are doing a chargeback in behalf of the real owner of that card. So suddenly you are out your money and your product, with no payment.

That is how it works.

Even if a credit card clears - it doesn't mean its good!

How can you avoid this scam? A couple of ways.

1. always ask for the billing address, even if their lame-ass story includes that they are moving or "at sea".

2. NEVER NEVER NEVER take an overpayment or use wire transfer services in your business dealings. The scammer's scam can not exist without this step, so if you avoid overpayments and refuse to use wire transfers, you should be good.

Here is a real-life story, a cautionary tale, an email I received this morning that prompted me to write this post. Too many good people are falling for this scam - because these stolen credit cards are clearing at first. Be on the lookout for the overpayment and the request of the wire transfer.

Hi,

Found this blog a little to late i'm afraid!

Julie Smith & her daughter Valerie approached us in June with an email. Could they buy goods, would we pay shippers direct etc etc. I did speak to the organisation that manages our credit card payments but as the cards appeared legitimate they saw no cause for concern.

The payments, 4 in total, where all authorized via Worldpay and after waiting to ensure the credit card money hit our bank account we did transfer the money i'm afraid, but only after checking with CTT/Worldpay once again that the cards were legitimate.

Sure I don't need to tell you that some 6 weeks later we get a call to say a chargeback has been applied and yes the cards are stolen/cloned.

Reported them to Fraud Action in the UK, who told me they see an awful lot of this, for all the good it will do us, we are firmly out of pocket for the shipping money we transferred.

As it took so long for the Credit Card transaction company to notify us does anyone know if we have any way of holding them to account?

In short - if it looks to good to be true then it is to good to be true and no one needs to say what an arse I am for falling for it as I have called myself that and a lot worse!

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Posted in banking phishing emails, credit card fraud, fake buyer scam, phishing scams, stolen credit cards, Western Union, wire fraud, wire transfers | No comments

Monday, 20 August 2012

Internet Scam: iPhone Phishing Scams

Posted on 14:24 by Unknown
A weakness in iPhone text messages could leave a backdoor open for scammers to fake those headers and make the text appear like it is coming from your bank, much like they do with phishing emails, where they pretend something is wrong with your bank account and tricks the user into clicking on the link to reactivate their account - going to a bogus page where the scammer will collect your login information and gain access to your bank account.

So if scammers extend their reach from email to mobile phone text messages (and I have no reason to believe they won't figure out how to do this), you'll need to use the same caution with your text messages and you do with your emails. Don't click on links in text messages and log into your bank account MANUALLY or call them and double-check if there is a problem with your account. Be cautious. Scammers will find their way into every nook and cranny of technology.
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Posted in banking phishing emails, email phishing scam, iphone phishing, iphone scam, phishing scams | No comments

Internet Scam: PayPal Purchase

Posted on 09:14 by Unknown
This scam is really prevalent and easy to fall for when you are working fast and multitasking in processing your orders. The lesson here is SLOW DOWN and make sure everything has been thoroughly checked out. The scammer is counting on people not double checking the truth of the matter.

This scam is used in all ways paypal transactions are used - on eBay, on Etsy, Craigslist, your website - any place you are accepting paypal payments. The scammers are typically targeting high ticket items and things like electronics. iphones is a favorite one, but you can see this scam being used for just about anything the scammer wants.

Here is how this particular scam works:

The scammer pretends to buy something from you saying they will make their payment through PayPal.

The scammer waits a little and then sends a bogus email looking like it came from the paypal system saying the funds will be deposited into the account once a shipping tracking reference number is provided. But it is a bogus email and no money will be deposited and if the seller is not paying attention, they go ahead and ship out the product. Some scammers set up a bogus paypal page and provide a link in the email to click and enter the shipping reference number (and they get an extra opportunity to trick you into logging in with your paypal login and then they get access to your account and money) - other scammers are lazy and don't provide anything, figuring their scam is already complete because you've already shipped out the product.

This is slimy and successful because eBay has that whole annoying wait period to have your funds accessible while you have to enter shipping tracking numbers to prove you shipped within a certain period of time. The money HAS been deposited but they have a hold on accessing it (I never did feel that was somehow legal or right to do, given paypal is collecting the interest on the money in that hold). So the scammer is exploiting the confusion of that policy and sending a fake email saying the money is not being held but will be deposited when a tracking reference number is provided.

So many sellers falling for this scam.

You just have to get yourself into the habit of slowing down and taking the time to manually log into paypal yourself (don't click on any link in an email) and do not ship anything until you see that paypal has deposited the money in your account - whether they have a hold on it or not.

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Posted in email phishing scam, email scam, fake paypal scam, internet scammers, online fraud, paypal scam, phishing scams | No comments

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Internet Scam: Free Credit Service Website

Posted on 09:44 by Unknown
The IC3 has received over 2,000 complaints regarding a particular website that is claiming to offer free credit services such as credit scores and credit monitoring. Customers reported being charged a monthly service fee. However, the terms of the agreement advised that the "free" report only lasts for a limited time. At the end of the free term, the website used the customer's supplied financial information to charge a monthly membership service ranging from $19.95 to $29.95.

The terms and agreement from the website states the following:
"For Subscription Services which include a free-trial period, if you do not cancel your free trial within the free trial period, you will be charged at the monthly rate in effect at that time for the Subscription Services for which you enrolled. Your debit or credit card (including, if applicable, as automatically updated by your card provider following expiration or change in account number) will continue to be charged each month at the applicable monthly rate unless and until you cancel the Subscription Services."
The website, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), has been given an F rating for the following reasons:

- 1037 complaints filed against the business.
- 8 complaints filed against the business that were not resolved.
- 17 serious complaints filed against business.
- Advertising issues found by the BBB.
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Posted in credit service scam, free credit service, internet scammers, online fraud | No comments

Monday, 13 August 2012

Internet Scam: Fake Political Surveys

Posted on 09:39 by Unknown
The IC3 has been notified of a scam involving telephone calls conducting a multiple-choice "political survey." Following the survey, the recipients are told they have won a free cruise to the Bahamas. After providing a website address for legitimacy, the caller requests the "winner's" email address for notification purposes and credit card information to cover port fees.

The bogus website itself has very limited information, but does contain a few photos, testimonials and a "Caribbean Line" banner in an attempt to convince visitors it is legitimate. But it is not legitimate.
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Posted in email phishing scam, email scam, fake political survey, internet scammers, online fraud, political survey scams | No comments

Friday, 10 August 2012

Internet Scam: BBB Phishing Emails

Posted on 08:48 by Unknown
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) can often be used by scammers to try and steal money and/or identity information from victims. Scammers also use this phishing approach to install viruses on people's computer systems.

This is particularly tricky for small business people who, upon receiving this scam email, will be surprised that someone has lodged a BBB complaint against them and they'll want to click on the link to see what the complaint is about. And that is exactly what the scammer is hoping the victim will do.

If you run across one of these emails, DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS!!!! (Did I say that loud enough??)

If you are unsure of its validity, call the BBB on the phone or open a brand new browser window and *manually* type in bbb.org and see if you can verify the information yourself. But really this is a scam and all the information is made up to try and trick people into clicking on the link. Notice the randomized headers lines for 'Received' and 'Message-ID' below - not from the BBB...
Return-path: [complaints@bbb-email.org]
Received: from [33.4.55.57] (account complaints@bbb-email.org HELO cwofmesekt.akbtcwxwc.net)
From:    "Better Business Bureau" complaints@boston.bbb.org
Message-ID: [8879614814.KRL1FO0J147911@wkueyrdhnfyxxsx.axfwuvj.net]
Subject: Case# 9863703: Terrance Kendall

August 10, 2012 RE: Case# 9863703: Terrance Kendall

Dear Company:As you are aware, the Better  Business Bureau contacted  you regarding the above-named complainant, seeking a response to this complaint. Your position  is available  online.The following  URL (website  address)  below  will take you directly  to this complaint and you will be able to view the response directly  on our website:

http://complaint.app.bbb.org/complaint/view/9863703/b/163980832f (don't click on EITHER of these links, but in the HTML, this link actually goes to: <a href="http://www.11pacific.com/4jdkLnTb/index.html">http://complaint.app.bbb.org/complaint/view/9863703/b/163980832f</a>)

The complainant has been notified  of your  response.The BBB believes  that  your response adequately addresses the disputed  issues and/or  has exhibited  a good faith  effort  to resolve  the complaint. The complaint will close as "Administratively Judged Resolved"  and our records  will be updated.If you fail to honor  your agreement or if the consumer  has information that  disputes  the accuracy of your firm's  response, we will notify  your  office with  substantiation to support  the consumer's position  and the case will be re-opened.  Cases will not be re-opened without documentation or good cause.The BBB appreciates  this opportunity to serve you. Dispute  Resolution  Department.
This is a common scam. There was a massive flurry of them in 2007 and again the BBB warned of these in 2011. Here is their warning from 2011:
Better Business Bureau is issuing an urgent scam alert to local businesses about an e-mail that looks like it is from BBB. Businesses nationwide contacted BBB’s today after receiving an e-mail with the subject line, “BBB Case #64168176 (or other combination of numbers).”  A sample is reprinted below.

This e-mail is fraudulent. Recipients should ignore its contents and delete it immediately. If you clicked on the link in the e-mail message, BBB recommends you run a full virus scan of your computer.

Messages urgently request that recipients click enclosed links to handle pending consumer complaints. Recipients have reported that phishing e-mails are coming from "manager@bbb.org," "admin@bbb.org," "risk@bbb.org" and "alert@bbb.org." and appear to be from the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the national office of the BBB system. They also contain the BBB logo. A link to a non-BBB web site is embedded in the message.

“I suppose we should be honored to have our name used in this scam since this type of fraud typically targets respected organizations.” said David Weiss, President of Cleveland BBB.  “Regardless, it is a serious abuse of our organization and we wanted to alert the business community to this attack.”

While BBB does notify businesses by e-mail when a consumer complaint is received, the e-mail always comes from info@cleveland.bbb.org.  The subject line will be “You have a new message from the BBB Serving Greater Cleveland re: Complaint #XXXXX.”  Also, our phone number is included in the e-mail message – not the contact information for the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

National BBB authorities are working with law enforcement to determine the source of this attack and to stop the fraudulent campaign.
Guess they haven't been able to do much to stop the scammers from using this particular approach because here we are seeing emails exactly like this today. Don't fall for these!

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Posted in bbb scam, bbb scam emails, computer virus scams, email phishing scam, identity theft, phishing scams | No comments

Thursday, 9 August 2012

Facebook Has New Phishing Email

Posted on 09:20 by Unknown
Facebook has created an email address for people to report scams.

The address is phish(at)fb.com. Anyone - even those who aren't on Facebook - can use it to report malicious emails that pretend to come from Facebook.

Known as phishing, such emails attempt to get passwords and other information by pretending to come from a legitimate business. Because many people use the same passwords at banking and other sites, someone who gets account information for Facebook can log on elsewhere.

Facebook Inc. says scams tend to contain information that's more vague than what's in legitimate emails from Facebook.

Facebook says it will report scams to outside security companies and notify blacklists that Internet companies keep to block malicious websites. It will also prevent users from posting such links on Facebook.

Please use responsibly so Facebook can continue to provide this service, though I can't imagine how the scammers are not going to try and flood this address....

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Posted in banking phishing emails, email phishing scam, facebook scam, phishing scams, scam report | No comments

Monday, 6 August 2012

Internet Scam: Lawyers Can Be Victims, Too

Posted on 11:04 by Unknown
So many people who fall victim to internet scams feel shame and embarrassment and, frankly, they feel stupid. Like how could they have fallen for something like that. Here's a story to make you feel better.

Lawyers who warn clients against risky transactions are not supposed to get drawn in themselves.

But some are turning out to be easy prey for email swindlers using a sophisticated Internet scam that has bilked millions from law firms across North America, as the WSJ reported Monday.

The scheme isn’t new — essentially, scammers posing as would-be clients living abroad convince lawyers to cash counterfeit “settlement” checks, take a cut as attorney fees, then wire the balance to overseas bank accounts. The money is gone by the time the law firm’s bank figures out the check was fake.

Sounds pretty transparent, right?

But federal investigators say the scams are so elaborate — and targeted to mimic the way many lawyers now get online client referrals — that attorneys continue to fall for them.

In a first here in the U.S., an alleged ringleader of one such scam is set to go on trial this fall in U.S. district court in Pennsylvania. Federal prosecutors say Emmanuel Ekhator, a Nigerian national, bilked firms of at least $32 million that way. Mr. Ekhator, who prosecutors said was living in Canada at the time of the alleged frauds, has plead not guilty. His lawyer declined to comment.

Despite the publicity surrounding the Ekhator case — and numerous warnings over the years from law enforcement and bar associations — the victims continue to pile up.

“We have this wide-ranging scam that continues even though we have made these arrests,” said Christy H. Fawcett, an assistant U.S. Attorney in Harrisburg who is prosecuting the case. “We continue to have victims, both here and in Canada.”

Internet swindlers can reap much as $100,000 to $400,000 each time a law firm is duped, according to court records and federal law enforcement officials.

The schemes span the globe, authorities say. Scammers set up pop-up bank accounts in Asia that open and are closed before lawyers realize they’ve been had. Others blast out solicitation emails from Internet cafés in Nigeria and elsewhere that function as “boiler rooms” for the scam. Much of the activity is coordinated by scammers living in West African expatriate communities in Canada, Ms. Fawcett said.

“Many of them belong to a particular social club in Toronto,” Ms. Fawcett said. “They’ll hear this has been a good scam, this is a good bank account number in Asia.”

More indictments are pending for suspected co-conspirators of Mr. Ekhator who are currently in Canada and elsewhere. “There are a number of other individuals that are going to be indicted,” she said. “We are working with law enforcement in Nigeria and in Japan, and in Korea.”

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Posted in 419 nigerian scam, counterfeit checks, internet scammers, lawyer scams, online fraud | No comments

Friday, 3 August 2012

How To Beat Nigerian Scammers

Posted on 16:49 by Unknown
While the premise of the article in the link at the bottom of this article is interesting - I've always thought the time you spend using up a scammer's time with you - who will never send them money is time they are not spending on other people who may fall for sending them money, somehow I wonder if this is just an escalation of the "war".

There are scam baiter sites already (I don't recommend their advanced techniques to the casual person), but also the idea of software sending false account information from phishing pages to muck up their databases is interesting. I admit to really enjoying the photos of how the scam baiters get the nigerian scammers to hold up these fuinny signs and take a photo of themselves, not knowing what the signs say because they don't understand english but they'll almost do anything thinking that money is forthcoming (when it's really not).

In the early days of spam, we used to use software scripts to send fake email addresses to spambots collecting up visible emails on websites, until they bandwidth got too intense just delivering those "false positives" back to the scammers databases. And after a while, the odds of randomly generated emails actually matching a real person became a real problem. I began crashing my own server sending the scammers so many fake email addresses.




And really, if you are going to "play" with the scammers and mess up their money-making activities, you want to do it in a way that they can not easily track you down, because they will unleash unpleasant things on you, like take down your website or do a denial-of-service attack on your server. So you would want to be as sleuthy and difficult to track down as they are.

But interesting to contemplate creative ways to muddle up a scammer's activites online.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443931404577548813973954518.html
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Posted in 419 nigerian scam, email phishing scam, email scam, internet scammers, phishing scams, scam baiters | No comments

Thursday, 2 August 2012

Internet Scam: Fake Online Coupons

Posted on 14:29 by Unknown
I saw a news report today that is unusual in that the scammer caught was a 22 year old college kid (okay, that is not unusual at all), a computer security student (that also doesn't surprise me) but that he is in the U.S. (Texas). Certainly there are scammers in the U.S., but they are more likely to operate outside the reach of law enforcement in other countries. They found him working at McDonald's.

In this same, it did not immediately appear that this kid benefited financially from his scam, but various companies lost some money as users cashed in very real-looking coupons and cashiers at the grocery stores accepted them. Now he's pleaded guilty and is facing up to three years. Such a waste.

Counterfeit coupons are a growing problem. It's more about saving money for groceries than a scammer making money, but scammers have been selling counterfeit coupons online for some time. Scammers will always find a way to make money illegally.

Some tips to keep in mind:

- Never pay money for a coupon.

- Only print coupons from a brand's Web site or other reputable sites. Here are a few to try: www.coupons.com, www.coolsavings.com, www.redplum.com.

- Look for special software to download that can ensure bar codes are printed correctly.

- To check if a coupon you want to use is counterfeit, visit the Coupon Information Corporation's Web site.


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Posted in counterfeit coupons, email scam, fake coupons, online fraud, wire fraud | No comments

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Internet Scam: Email Account Phishing Scam

Posted on 11:00 by Unknown
Here is an example of where scammers try and collect up your email account information, mostly to get into your account so they can send out more spam emails to catch other people's personal and financial information, until they can hit on getting credit card numbers, or access to their paypal account. It does typically happen more with the web-based email services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.

Never click on links within emails when you have received a notification that something is wrong with ANY account. Always open a new browser window and manually type in the url and check yourself. And make sure you have a good password. And that you change it periodically.
From: Yahoo! Account Service! [churchofgoddc@sbcglobal.net]
Date: July 26, 2012 12:36:37 PM PDT
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
Subject: ACCOUNT UPDATING!!

Account Information




Dear Valid User,








This is for your own safety to avoid your account closed,you will have to verify your account by Clicking Here (actually links out to http://erteresrhergeeg.3owl.com/siaxxxsia1.html which is definitely NOT yahoo). We apologies for any inconvenience.
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Posted in email phishing scam, internet scammers, malware scam, online fraud, phishing scams, scam ebooks | No comments
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  • Internet Scam: Triangle Credit Card Fraud
    This is a tricky one, called the Triangle Credit Card Scam and here is how it works: 1. The scam seller, on some auction or selling site lik...
  • Grandmother Scams
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  • Internet Scam: Fake Job Employment Scam
    Given so many people are out of work and/or need extra money, this scam really has seen a spike in victims. There are many variations and I...
  • Internet Scam: Fake Craigslist Buyers
    Here is an email I just received: Kathleen, I just received this email a few days ago... Its normal for me to receive emails about booking t...
  • Scam Email: Mark Peters
    This is a pretty classic exchange of emails between a scammer and their potential victim, until the victim realized it was a scam in time to...
  • "Did you log into Facebook from somewhere new?" Facebook Email
    Many of my friends are receiving this email. Is it a phishing scam email or not? From: Facebook <notification+i-m5m7hi@facebookmail.com...
  • Internet Scam: Fake Lottery
    It continues to amaze me how successful this scam is at getting victims who think they've won a lottery that they have never entered (an...
  • Book: Amazon Review
    It is a special feeling when you finally get that book done, all edited and formatted, and uploaded to Amazon to be reviewed and have a proo...
  • Internet Scam: Fake Tax Refund Email
    In these scams, the scammers send the email to everyone, but their target would be those people who are in the UK and would think (or hope) ...
  • How To Beat Nigerian Scammers
    While the premise of the article in the link at the bottom of this article is interesting - I've always thought the time you spend using...

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      • Blocking Mobile Phone Text Spam
      • Scam Email: Bruce Miller
      • Internet Scam: PayPal Account Problem
      • When Good Credit Cards Are No Good
      • Internet Scam: iPhone Phishing Scams
      • Internet Scam: PayPal Purchase
      • Internet Scam: Free Credit Service Website
      • Internet Scam: Fake Political Surveys
      • Internet Scam: BBB Phishing Emails
      • Facebook Has New Phishing Email
      • Internet Scam: Lawyers Can Be Victims, Too
      • How To Beat Nigerian Scammers
      • Internet Scam: Fake Online Coupons
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