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Scams seem to be a growth industry on the Internet lately with Phishing scams at the top of the list and the Nigerian 419 scam not far behind. Scam messages appear to come from a legitimate person or company but are really from a scammer out to get your money or your identity.
Phishing. Phishing scams are information gathering scams for identity theft. They usually come as a message indicating that there is a problem with your account, credit card, etc. and ask for a lot of personal information such as your username and password. Usually they point you to some web pages that appear to be associated with the real company. They use all sorts of methods to hide the fact that you are not really where you think you are. The web pages contain a login page for your username and password and then a page for all your personal information. What you don't realize is that the login page accepts anything for a username and password and saves what you typed for the scammer. If you dutifully fill in all your personal information the scammer now has everything he needs to empty your bank accounts and charge items to your credit card. He can open new accounts in your name and make charges without paying. Eventually, you will find out when your bank account is empty or your credit report shows unpaid accounts.
A difficulty here is in determining if an e-mail message really came from your bank or came from a scammer. Most of the scam e-mails are crafted so that it is difficult to tell that you are not going to the company you expect to be going to. In the current ones you have to read the html source code for the message in order to tell where the link will really take you. The best course of action if you get a message of this type from a financial organization where you have an account is to open the organization's web page directly. Never use a link in an e-mail message to connect to your account. If there really is a problem with your account, you will be able to find that information when you login. You can also test the login by typing garbage for your username and password. If the website lets you in anyway, the site is a scam. Don't do this more than once or twice in a row as most sites disable your account if they get too many login failures. If the message is from an institution where you do not have an account, just put the message in the trash or send it to abuse@sitename and let the company handle it.
A useful link is the Anti-Phishing Working Group (http://www.antiphishing.org).
Advanced Fee Fraud. Probably the most well known examples of advanced fee fraud are the Nigerian 419 and Lottery scams. In advanced fee fraud, you are generally offered a lot of money in exchange for what appears to be a safe transaction. What happens later is that after you are "sucked in," the scammer will start asking for money for taxes, shipping, bribes, etc. in order to get the large amount of money out of the country. What's $10,000 when you are going to get $15,000,000 for just the use of your account? You may also be asked to travel to a foreign country to pick up the money. At which time you are kidnapped and your relatives are asked for money for your release or you enter the country illegally with the scammer's representative (he told you it is OK to enter without a visa) and are blackmailed into delivering more money.
The most well known of the advanced fee fraud is the Nigerian 419 scam. In this scam there is some money in a foreign country and the scammer wants you to help him get it out of the country. The money may be someone's inheritance, stolen money obtained from over billing a government, money stashed away by a dictator, or any other source of a large amount of money (usually many millions of dollars). The scammer only needs to use your bank account and offers you a substantial percentage for its use. You could give him access to an empty account but as soon as he has you hooked, he will start asking for money. Bribes, shipping fees, taxes, whatever he can talk you into until he cannot get any more and then he is gone.
Foreign Lottery scams are the second most well known of the advanced fee fraud schemes. In this scam you get a message from an official of the lottery telling you that you have won. Woopie, you are rich!! Of course you do not remember entering the lottery but they come up with some sort of a story for why you don't remember. They get your information and then you start getting requests for money. Taxes are due before the money can be paid out. A bribe is needed for a public official because it is illegal for an American to play foreign lotteries. And so on until they take as much from you as they can get.
A new version of advanced fee fraud involves people listing expensive items for sale on the Internet. The scammer sends you a message indicating that he wants to buy your item. Someone in your country owes him some money so that person is going to send you a cashier's check for your item and you should take out what you are owed for your item and forward a new cashier's check to him with the balance. As you might expect, the cashier's check sent to you is a fake but while you are waiting for the check to clear, the scammer will be bugging you to send him his share.
If you have been scammed, contact your local or federal law enforcement as soon as possible and change the passwords on all your accounts.
A very useful link is to Publication 300a at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It describes many of the frauds we see every day and describes what you will really get if you answer them. The IRS has also instituted a fraud and scams page on their website.
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Sept 2000
This scam has been seen in a lot of different forms but they all work the same way. Someone in a foreign country (usually Nigeria) has some large amount of money that they need to get into or out of the country. Their offer to make you a business partner where you set up a legitimate bank account and let them use it to transfer millions of dollars. For this, you get to keep 30% of the money plus 5% for expenses. Sounds great, they call you back and want you to put $10,000 in the account to get it open and cover some initial expenses and then give them access. As soon as you do that, your money disappears and so do your business partners. The U.S. Treasury has a good description of these scams (http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml) including where to report them if you have lost money.
This link has a large number of variants of the scam message: 419 Scam List.
Here is a real different variant that targets Baptist pastors.
Here is a link to some people who have played along with the scammers to see what they would do: Scam-o-Rama
Mr. Joseph Adisa Tel/Fax: 234 - 1 - 2664409 Lagos - Nigeria. ATTN: THE PRESIDENT / CEO Dear Sir, I know this letter will come to you as a surprise but suffice it to say that I got your contact from the Nigerian Export Promostion Council who assured me that you are capable and reliable to assist me in this transaction. Before I go into details, I will first introduce myself to you. I am Mr. Joseph Abudulkarim Adisa a son to Minister of Works and Housing of the Federal of Nigeria. Recently, my father was probed, guilty and sentenced to five (5) years imprisonment by the Federal Government, President Olusegun Obasanjo for some misappropriation while he was in office during the last Military regime of Gen. Abudusalam Abubakar. Before his ordeal I successfully get hold of a sum money in one of his duplexes. And since then I have being making arrangement of how to transfer this money which is ($25,500,000.00) Twenty Five, Million five hundred thousand United States dollars to a foreign account. Now, all my fathers account is now under government claim except this one that I contacted my friends uncle who was a Bank Manager to help me lodge the said amount in a bank account in his bank and fortunately for me he agreed to help me if only I can give him 10% of the whole amount. I agree with him on this basis and he has since being making all necessary arrangement to remit the amount to a foreign account which I will provide for him. This is the reason I contacted you to please help me by providing an account where I will deposit this money. I am soliciting you to please help me for this is the only hope I have since my father have been jailed. I also have intention of coming to your country to reside with you immediately after the remittance of the money for my life is uncomfortable here anymore due to what has happened, because the government go to an extent of throwing us out of our house and locked up the house. Please help me I promise to give you 30% of the total amount. If you are interested in helping me please reach me through the above Telephone/Fax number with the Bank Information where I will lodge the money for this is what I urgently need now. Once I get these details, I shall contact the Bank Manager who will smoothly transfer this money into your account within 10 bank working days (He has done the same deal for my cousin once) from the date I receive your reply. Remember that I shall come over to your country to collect my own share WHICH I WILL INVEST IN A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS based on your advice immediately the money is been transferred. Your share for this transaction is 30% total sum, 5% for local and international expenses (incurred by you and me). Note, there is no risk involved at all. Just comply and keep this strictly confidential. Best regards, Mr. Joseph A. Adisa.
July 2003
There are a lot of lottery scams floating around the net that are similar to the one below. They all claim that you have won a lottery that you did not enter and that you are going to receive a lot of money if you just follow the directions. Come on people; no one is going to send you millions of dollars from a lottery or sweepstakes that you did not enter either by paying for a ticket or by giving up some of your personal information.
These scams are similar to the Nigerian 419 scams in that they are another form of advanced fee fraud. What will happen is that you will eventually be asked to send some money to cover expenses, taxes, paperwork, shipping, whatever the scammer can think up, before you are sent the winning.
Guess what happens after you send that money.
You will be rolling in millions -- Not!
The same is true for offers to sell foreign lottery tickets through the mail. Most likely, they will take your money and disappear.
Note: It is illegal for a U.S. citizen to play foreign lotteries through the mail and it is illegal, except for state sponsored lotteries, to solicit for lotteries through the mail (See the postal document 300a linked to above).
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 17:40:03 -0700 Subject: CONGRATULATION,YOU ARE A WINNER OY KEIKKAUS NETHERLANDS SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY, n.l, BURDENSTRAAT 21B, 2053 DS AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS. FROM: THE DESK OF HAMZA LOIS, THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, REF: OYL /2551256003/22 BATCH: 14/0017/IPD ATTENTION SIR, RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, 30th, of june winners of the OYKEIKKAUS NETHERLANDS SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY/ INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS held on 20TH june. 2003. Your company, attached to ticket number 025-1146-1992-750, with serial number 2113 -22 drew the lucky numbers 13-15-22-37-39-43, and consequently won the lottery in the 3rd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$1.2m in cash credited to file REF NO. OYL/2551256003/22. This is from total prize of US$20,400,000.00 shared among the seventeen international winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn form 15 million names from Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe and North America and Africa as part of International Promotions Program, which is conducted annually. CONGRATULATIONS! Your fund is now deposited with a company insured in your name. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award strictly from public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. We hope with a part of you prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes US$1.3 billion International Lottery. To begin your claim, please contact your mandated claim's agent Dr Paul bauer in NETHERLANDas a shortlisted computer balloting system, Foreign Service Payment Director through the Above e mail address or paulbauer@fastermail.com For due processing and remittance of your prize to a designated account of your choice. Be categorically inform that any necessary obligation/requirement should be met by individuah beneficiary towards remmitance of your fund to your account. Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than 30th july 2003. A fter this date, all funds will be returned as unclaimed. NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in every one of your correspondences with your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible. Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program. Sincerely Hamza Lois. The Promotion Manager OY KEIKKAUS NETHERLANDS SWEEPSTAKES LOTTERY, N.L N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification. sorry for the late information Thanks Hamza Lois
October 2004
This is another variant of the Foreign Lottery Scam that claims it is funded by Microsoft. Of interest here are the follow-up letters between the scammer and the person who was being scammed. Here you see where the fraud begins as the scammer starts asking for money before the prize is delivered.
From: "Microsoft Lottery" To: microscx@atlas.cz Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 21:18:42 +0200 Subject: CLAIM YOUR WINNING OFFER NOW ! FROM: THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR, INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT RESULTS FOR CATEGORY "A" DRAWS Congratulations to you as we bring to your notice, the results of the First Category draws of MICROSOFT LOTTERY NL. We are happy to inform you that you have emerged a winner under the First Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The draws were held on 25th September 2004 and results are being officially announced today 28th of September 2004. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals and companies from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania as part of our International Promotions Program. Your e-mail address, attached to ticket number 50941465206-529, with serial number 5772-54 drew the lucky numbers 3-4-17-28-35-44 and consequently won in the First Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of 1,000,000 (One Million Euros), which is the winning payout for Category A winners. This is from the total prize money from 2,000,000 shared among the 2 winners in this category CONGRATULATIONS! Your fund is now deposited with the paying out Bank. In your best interest to aviod mix up of numbers and names of any kind, we request that you keep the entire details of your award strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed, and your funds remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants/nonparticipants of this program. We also wish to bring to your notice our end of year premium stakes draw where you stand a chance of winning up to 50 million; we hope that with a part of your prize you will participate. Please contact your claims agent immediately for due processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice: To file for your claim,please contact our fiduciary agent. Mr. Harvey Kurt, Email:microsoftclaim04@netscape.net Koningshoef 265, 1156 H T Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You are advised to contact our agents by email within a week of receiving this notice. Failure to do so may warrant disqualification. NOTE: For easy reference and identification, find below your reference and Batch numbers. Remember to quote these numbers in every one of your correspondence with your claims agent. REFERENCE NUMBER: LSLUK/2031/8161/04 BATCH NUMBER: 14/011/IPD Congratulations once again from all our staff and thank you for being part of our promotions program. Sincerely Yours, MRS.ELIZABETH MOUS. THE LOTTERY COORDINATOR, MICROSOFT NL. N.B: Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your fiduciary agent immediately.
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 12:08:29 +0100 (BST) From: "xxxx" Subject: Claim To: microsoftclaim04@netscape.net 13 October 2004 Mr. Harvey Kurt, Email:microsoftclaim04@netscape.net Koningshoef 265, 1156 H T Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Dear Mr Harvey Kurt, I received notification "You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of 1,000,000 (One Million Euros), which is the winning payout for Category A winners. Even though I am late in making my claim, please let me know what is this all about, as to whether it is genuine or an internet fraud?! Sincerely, xxxx
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2004 12:51:18 -0400 From: microsoftclaims0@netscape.net To: xxx@yahoo.com Subject: LOTTERY CLAIM FORM Dear Winner, Please fill out this attached claim form and send back to us an e-mail attachment. Best Regard, Mr.Harvey kurt. Attachment LOTTERY_CLAIM_FORM.doc .doc file
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 13:07:56 -0700 From: "Ferrons Edgar" To: xxxxx@yahoo.com Subject: OPTIONS AND FEES. Dear xxxxxx Our paying bank is FORUM INTERNATIONAL BANK WEBISTE: http://www.fibint.com ,in this option you will pay for the opening of your account with the bank before you can transfer your cash to any other bank of your choice any where you wish. The cost of opening an account is 890.00 GBP United Kingdom Pounds And Know that the cheque must be registered and a code and tracking number from a SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC COURIER giving to you so that no other person can intercept it, in the cheque option 1. Cost of Transferring your Claim from our paying Bank to a bank draft, which our company normally pays. 2. Cost of couriering the draft to you which must be paid by the winner. This is 570.00 GBP United Kingdom Pounds Best Regards, Mr. Ferrons Edgar
June 1999
The following scam directs you to a web page (view a copy) that is not part of AOL. The web page asks you to enter your username and password, giving the scam artist access to your account. If you ever put your username and password into a page like this, change your AOL password immediately and contact AOL security.
Subject: AOL Database Corruption, Please View! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 2.5 for Windows To: undisclosed-recipients:; Dear Member: Hello. I am your AOL Technical Representative. Section 56 of our data base has lost all Linux functions. When your account logged onto our system, we were temporarily able to verify it as a registered user. Approximately 90 seconds ago, your verification was made void by loss of data in Section 56. Now, due to AOL verification protocol, it is mandatory for us to re-verify you. Please visit http://216.33.20.4/biz3/AOLTech142/index.html for more information. Regards, Michelle Community Action Team America Online, Inc. *Have you heard about AOL's newest and easiest to use software: Version 4.0? You can upgrade for free at keyword: Upgrade. With AOL 4.0, you can send multiple files, change screen names without signing off, customize your toolbar, and much, much more. Upgrade today!!
Sept 1999
This message takes you to a website that looks like AOL but that is just collecting personal information from you.
Subject: AOL Giveaways!!! For our AOL Members. Thank you for enjoying the best internet service on the net.Because we value our customers during our current update members must please submittheir information to be eligible for our FREE drawing of cash and prizes on November 12,1999. Winners will be randomly selected and notified through email.Best of luck to our Members!Aol Staff <A HREF="http://216.33.20.4/az2/tryfree/index.html">CLICK HERE</A>
November 2002
Here is another network service scam. This one wants you to go to a website and update your PayPal information. If you do, you will have given access to all your online money to some scammers to use. The message is in html so you can't immediately see where the "click here" link is going to take you. If you hold your mouse pointer over it most browsers will display the actual link. In this case, notice that the link is to:
www.paypal.com@az.ru
This link won't take you to paypal.com but to az.ru in Russia. You really don't want to go there (you can't anyway because this site has already been shut down) unless you like giving your money away to scammers.
From: "" To: Subject: Paypal System Update! Confirmation REQUIRED Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 23:24:23 Dear PayPal Customer,
This e-mail is to inform you of a recent update we have made to our systems. To avoid service interruption we require that you confirm your account as soon as possible. Please click here and take a moment to confirm your account.
Please follow the following steps:
1.) Click here to confirm your account.
2.) Your account will be updated in our system and you may continue using PayPal services without any interruptions.
Please note: If you fail to update your account, it will be 'flagged' with restricted status.
Thank you,
The Paypal Staff
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Here is another variant of the scam that has a form in an e-mail message for you to fill out and submit. Unfortunately, when you submit it, it goes to:
Which sure does not look like PayPal to me.
From: Paysecurity Subject: Dear PayPal customer To: xxx References: In-Reply-To:
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May 2003
Similar to the Paypal scam above, this scam goes after your Bank of America login and personal information. The link in the message appears to go to bankofamerica.com but actually goes to a website in Colorado.
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Dear Valued Customer, - Our new security system will help you to avoid frequently fraud transactions and to keep your deposited funds in safety. - Due to technical update we recommend you to reactivate your account. Click on the link below to login and begin using your updated Bank of America account. To log into your account, please visit the Bank of America website at: https://www.bankofamerica.com/index.html To review your statement, log into your Bank of America account and click the eStatements & eNotices button in the left navigation of your Account Summary page. Your new statement is listed in the left navigation of the page. If you have questions about your online statement, please send us a Bank Mail or call us at 1-888-BKONWEB (256-6932). We appreciate your business. It's truly our pleasure to serve you. Bank of America Customer Care This email is for notification only. To contact us, please log into your account and send a Bank Mail. |
June 2003
This message is supposed to be a warning that your account at BestBuy is being used by someone. The website you are taken to, www.digitalgamma.com, looks like the real thing but is not. It asks for a lot of personal information you should not give out.
A warning is available at the BestBuy website.
June 2003
And this e-mail is for E-Bay users. Filling it out and submitting it does not send your data to e-bay but to 64.143.143.46. Which happens to be a shared webhosting pool in Dallas, TX.
From: "aw-confirm@ebay.com" To: xxxxxxxxxxx.com Subject: Security Update. Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 15:16:46 -0400 (EDT)
January 2004
This one comes in your mail and threatens your bank accounts. It then wants you to connect to the FDIC website and verify your account information. If you check the link carefully, it actually goes to,
http://www.fdic.gov@211.191.98.216:3180/index.htm
Which is definitely not the FDIC. If you ever get something like this, call your bank and ask them what is going on and do not connect to the fraudulent web pages and give them any information.
There is also information on the FDIC website describing this scam.
Subject: Important News About Your Bank Account To whom it may concern; In cooperation with the Department Of Homeland Security, Federal, State and Local Governments your account has been denied insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation due to suspected violations of the Patriot Act. While we have only a limited amount of evidence gathered on your account at this time it is enough to suspect that currency violations may have occurred in your account and due to this activity we have withdrawn Federal Deposit Insurance on your account until we verify that your account has not been used in a violation of the Patriot Act. As a result Department Of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has advised the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to suspend all deposit insurance on your account until such time as we can verify your identity and your account information. Please verify through our IDVerify below. This information will be checked against a federal government database for identity verification. This only takes up to a minute and when we have verified your identity you will be notified of said verification and all suspensions of insurance on your account will be lifted. http://www.fdic.gov/idverify/cgi-bin/index.htm Failure to use IDVerify below will cause all insurance for your account to be terminated and all records of your account history will be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington D.C. for analysis and verification. Failure to provide proper identity may also result in a visit from Local, State or Federal Government or Homeland Security Officials. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Donald E. Powell Chairman Emeritus FDIC John D. Hawke, Jr. Comptroller of the Currency Michael E. Bartell Chief Information Officer
January 2004
This was forwarded to me by a friend after she stopped laughing. Being a former school teacher, she noticed some definite problems with this message. In fact, it does not take a school teacher to realize that there is something wrong here.
If you examine the link,
You find that it does not take you to Citibank, but to,
in Russia. From the message headers, we found that the e-mail message actually came from a dial-up in Japan. You would think that a scammer who went to all the trouble of creating different accounts in different parts of the world would at least spell check his message.
Reply-To: CITIBANK Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 03:49:39 -0500 To: xxxxxx From: CITIBANK Subject: CITI-ONLINE E-mail Veerification - xxxxxx@earthlink.net MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Virus-Scanned: Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 Dear Citi-Card Mebmers, This e-mail was sentt by the Citibank-Online serevr to veerify your email adderss. You must clmotpee this process by clicking on the link below and enntering in the litle window your Citi ATM Card number and card pin that you use on local ATM Machine. That is donne for your ptcoretion -a- becouse some of our memmbers no lgeonr have accses to their email addeessrs and we must verify it. To veerify your e-mail adderss and akcess your Citi-Card account, klick on the link bellow. If nothing hapnpes when you klick on the link -B copy and pastte the link into the addres bar of your web broswer. http://www.citibank.com/?qX5ke2VRTgRDI2qnmyHPTME4MB24F2z6ZEqdHm6AEYdm1FLnet --------------------------------------------- Thank you for using Citi-Card! --------------------------------------------- This automaitc email sent to: xxxxxx@earthlink.net Do not rpely to this email. eXgR13u48a6Hg6lTi35o
March 2004
Here is another E-bay scam. Most of the links go to real E-bay places except for the one in the middle of the message.
While you may think it is going to
https://arribba.cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll
it is actually going to
http://%6F%6E%2D%74%72%61%63%6B%73%2E%63%6F%6D
which translates to:
http://on-tracks.com
It even has scripting to change the text in the status bar to appear to be going to e-bay.
Dear eBay User, Either your information has changed or it is incomplete. Please update and verify your information by signing in your account
below :
https://arribba.cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll *** Please Do Not Reply To This E-Mail As You Will Not Receive
A Response *** Thank you As outlined in our User Agreement, eBay will periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements. Visit our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have any questions.
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August 2005
This warning message describes a real scam that has been used in several states. The FBI has issued a warning about this scam.
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/092805.htm
In fact, this particular message appears to have been lifted verbatim from the Scambusters.com website.
http://www.scambusters.org/juryduty.html
The superior court in Riverside California issued a
warning
about this scam.
<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<> Jury Duty Scam Leads to Identity Theft <>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<> Here's a new twist scammers are using to commit identity theft: the jury duty scam. Here's how it works: The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and claims you've failed to report for jury duty. He tells you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for "verification" purposes. Specifically, the scammer asks for the victim's Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information -- exactly what the scammer needs to commit identity theft. So far, this jury duty scam has been reported in Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington state. It's easy to see why this works. The victim is clearly caught off guard, and is understandably upset at the prospect of a warrant being issued for his or her arrest. So, the victim is much less likely to be vigilant about protecting their confidential information. In reality, court workers will never call you to ask for social security numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts follow up via snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors. Action: Never give out your Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information when you receive a telephone call. This jury duty scam is the latest in a series of identity theft scams where scammers use the phone to try to get people to reveal their Social Security number, credit card numbers or other personal confidential information. It doesn't matter *why* they are calling -- all the reasons are just different variants of the same scam. Protecting yourself is simple: Never give this info out when you receive a phone call. For more on protecting yourself from identity theft, visit:
July 1999
This scam wants to make you a part of the World Currency Cartel who have this magic method for turning $25 into $100. Just send in your $29 (plus $5 postage and handling) and just like magic; you will never see it again.
July 23 , 1999
Dear Friend:
This is an extremely IMPORTANT announcement for you!
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Your Future May Depend on it!!!
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BUT FIRST, please read the following Editorial Excerpts from some
important publications in the United States:
New York Times: "In concluding our review of financial organizations
''''''''''''''' to effect change in the 90's, special attention should
be called to 'World Currency Cartel' organization based in California. The
members of this organization are amassing hundreds of millions of dollars
in the currency market using a very LEGAL method which has NEVER
been divulged to the general public. While their purpose is not yet known,
their presence has most certainly been felt".
NBC Nightly News: "Members of the World Currency Cartel organization,
'''''''''''''''''' who always keep Low Profile of themselves, are some
of the most powerful and wealthiest people in this hemisphere".
More Excerpts later, but first let us give you this "Important Announcement":
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
We are glad to announce that for the very first time, the World Currency
Cartel organization will instruct a LIMITED number of people worldwide on
HOW TO CONVERT $25 INTO ONE HUNDRED OF LEGAL CURRENCY.
We will transact the first conversion for you, after that you can quickly and
easily do this on your own hundreds or even thousands of times each and
every month. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS "SECRET FLAW" !
==================================
It is even more explosive than we have yet disclosed. While currency does
fluctuates daily, we can show you HOW TO CONVERT $99 INTO $580 as
many times as you want. That means, you will be able to CONVERT $99
American Legal Currency Dollars for $580 OF THE SAME. You can do this
as many times as you wish, every day, every week, every month. All very
LEGALLY and effortlessly!
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Due to the nature of this rare opportunity, we keep everything under
very Low Profile. We do not advertise anywhere and the information
is not available anywhere at all but from us. The reason we are sharing
this with you is because we need few people to help us and share the
wealth around the world. You are one of the very few people to receive
this mail. Therefore, it is very important to emphasize on keeping it very
'Low Profile' when you become a member.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
It only takes about 5 to 10 minutes each time you do this. You can do this
from your home, your office or even while travelling. All you need is an access
to a phone line and an address. Best of all, you can do this from ANY CITY
ON THIS EARTH!!!
Again, we must reiterate, anyone can do this and the source is Never-Ending.
For as long as the global financial community continues to use different curr-
encies with varying exchange rate, this "SECRET FLAW" will exist.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
As we have said earlier, we will do the first transaction for you and will also
show you exactly how to do this on your own over and over again.
The amount of exchange you would do each time is entirely up to you.
Working just 2 to 10 hours a week, you can soon join the list of Millionaires
who do this on a daily basis several times a day. The transaction is so
simple that even a high school kid can do it!
We at the World Currency Cartel organization would like to see a uniform
global currency backed by Gold. But, until then, we will allow a LIMITED
number of individuals worldwide to share in the Unlimited Profits provided
for by the world currency differentials.
We will espouse no more political views nor will we ask you to do so. We
can say however, that our parent organization Wealth Exchange Int.
benefits greatly by the knowledge being shared as we ourselves along with
YOU benefit likewise. Your main concern surely will be, how you will benefit.
As soon as you become a member, you can start making transanctions
from your home, office, by telephone or through the mail and even while
travelling. As said earlier, we will do the first transanction for you and
will show you exactly how to do this on your own over and over again.
No one can stop you from earning hundreds of thousands and even millions
of dollars each year for as long as this "SECRET FLAW" exists.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Don't believe us, experience it for yourself!
============================================== Unlike anyone else, we will
assure you a great financial freedom and you will add to our quickly growing
base of supporters and you may join the list of Millionaires being created
using the "SECRET FLAW" in the world currency market.
===========
DON'T ENVY US, JOIN US TODAY!!!
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
There is a one time membership fee of only $195.00. BUT, if you reply by
AUGUST 15 , 1999; which is our company's 2nd Anniversary date, you
can join us for only $29 administrative cost. Your important documents,
instructions, contact name & addresses, phone numbers and all other
pertinent information will be mailed to you immediately. So, take
advantage of our Anniversary date and join us today.
If you are replying AFTER AUGUST 15 , 1999; you must pay $195.00
for the membership fee. NO EXCEPTIONS and no more e-mail inquiries
please.
Upon becoming a member, you promise to keep all infos CONFIDENTIAL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Should you choose to cancell your membership for any reason, you must
return all documents for a refund within 60 days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IMPORTANT:
*****************
1.....Write your name & mailing address VERY CLEARLY on paper
2..... Below your address, please write your E-mail address (Optional)
3..... At the top Left Hand corner, write the word "New Member"
4..... Attach a CHECK or M.O. for $29 plus $5 for postage & shipping
(TOTAL = US$ 34.00)
5..... Please make the Check/M.O. payable to "Wealth Exchange Int."
and mail it to :
WEALTH EXCHANGE INT.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
BEVERLY HILLS,
CA 90212. U.S.A.
( Outside U.S.A. Must add US$10 EXTRA for shipping). US$ FUNDS ONLY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Funds Must be payable at a bank in USA !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some more Editorial Excerpts:
Wall Street : "A discreet group of Americans, operating under the guise
of World Currency Cartel have recently begun making
rumbles in the world finance market. While at this time, their game is not
completely known, they certainly be watched by those making major moves
in the currency contracts".
Financial Week : "Watch them, monitor them, extract their knowledge
and try to become one of them. That is the soundest
financial advice we could give to someone".
National Business Weekly : "While this reporter has been left in the cold
as to its method of operation, we have been
able to confirm that World Currency Cartel and its members are literally
amassing a great fortune overnight".
February 2000
This is a hoax message that describes a real scam. It was ripped of from a 1996 ScamBusters report and revised with lots of errors added. See the Scambusters 809 report for more information. The real scam works much like the warning, but the numbers are wrong. The 809 area code serves the Dominican Republic and thus is an overseas call even though you dial it just like a long distance call within the U.S. Some numbers in the 809 area are pay per call numbers similar to 900 numbers except that there are no laws requiring them to tell you before you dial. This does not mean that you should never call an 809 number, just know who you are calling first. Other area codes to consider are:
In addition to the scambusters report, you can read about this scam on the A. T. & T. website. To see where an area code is located, call your operator or look it up on the Telecommunications Research & Action Center site.
SPECIAL ALERT - DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809 This is pretty scary -- especially given how they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this & pass it on to all your friends & family so they don't get scammed! SCAM: Don't Respond To Emails, Phone Calls, Or Web Pages which tell you to Call An "809" Phone Number. This is a very important issue of Internet ScamBusters! Because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading *extremely* quickly - can easily cost you $100 or more, and - is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it. We'd like to thank Paul Bruemmer and Brian Stains for bringing this scam to our attention. This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center and is costing victims a lot of money. There are lots of different permutations of this scam, but HERE'S HOW IT WORKS: Permutation #1: Internet Based Phone Scam Via Email You receive an email, typically with a subject line of "*ALERT*" or "Unpaid account." The message, which is being spammed across the net, says: I am writing to give you a final 24hrs to settle your outstanding account.. If I have not received the settlement in full, I will commence legal proceedings without further delay. If you would like to discuss this matter to avoid court action, call Mike Murray at Global Communications on at 1-809-496-2700. Permutation #2: Phone Or Pager Scam You receive a message on your answering machine or your pager which asks you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're asked to call varies: it can be to receive information about a family member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died, to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you're told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $25 per-minute! Sometimes the person who answers the phone will speak broken English and pretend not to understand you. Other times, you'll just get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $100.00. HERE'S WHY IT WORKS: The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (the Bahamas). The 809 area code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900 numbers in the US. Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by US regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call a "pay-per-call" number. There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many US phones have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, 900 number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 area code. We recommend that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number with an 809 area code that you don't recognize, investigate further and/or disregard the message. Be *very* wary of email or calls asking you to call an 809 area code number. it's important to prevent becoming a victim of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both our local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong. Please forward this entire issue of Internet ScamBusters! To your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam so they don't get ripped off.
October 2001
This one was really odd. The e-mail message below directs people to send their old printer cartridges to an address in Fairfax, VA. A link on the page opens a full screen ad that tells you how they are going to donate a dollar to the Families of Freedom® Scholarship fund (a real fund) for every old inkjet cartridge you send them. Note that Families of Freedom® was not a part of this scam. The instructions tell you to be sure you have your return address and e-mail address on the package so they can be sure to give you credit for donating to the fund. Initially, this sounded like a business trying to generate a mailing list of people who have printers and need to buy printer cartridges.
However, when I looked at the web page you were directed to, it came from a site in Taiwan and its contents were hidden. It turns out that it links to the actual web pages at a site in San Diego, CA. I tried finding the company, and there is a company that manufactures IQ Inkjet cartridges, but it is in the Philippines and has no information on its website about any donations for cartridges. I searched for the address in the e-mail and found, not an office building, but a truck rental and storage yard. When I called the storage yard, they said that there was no such business located there and that they would really appreciate it if people would not send their old printer cartridges to that address.
I still don't know what they were really trying to accomplish but if you get this message, don't pass it on.
Subject: Don't throw out your empty inkjet cartridges. Now you can help.......... Help us raise $1 million for the Families of Freedom Scholarship fund by sending us your trash! Every day, over one million empty inkjet cartridges are thrown out, ending up in our landfills. Now, if you send us your empty inkjet cartridges instead of throwing them away, we will donate money to a great charity that is trying to raise $100 million dollars to aid families affected by the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Several weeks ago, President Bill Clinton and Bob Dole announced their involvement in a project called the Families of Freedom fund. The goal of the fund is to raise $100 million in order to establish scholarship money for the children of those tragically killed in the terrorist attacks. IQ Inkjets is trying to help. For every empty inkjet cartridge you send to us, we donate $1 to the fund. With your help, we will collect one million empty cartridges in the next six months and donate $1 million to the fund. We are proud to be a part of this great charity drive and thank you for your efforts in helping us. Please CLICK HERE to go to our collection website and send us your empty inkjet cartridges. Or, you can send your empties to: IQ Inkjet Products Suite 1009 2944 Prosperity Avenue Fairfax, VA 22031 Thanks for your support. We look forward to receiving your empty cartridges soon.
January 2002
Fraudulent tax preparers have been running a "Black Inheritance Tax" or "Slavery Reparation" scams, claiming that you can get money from the government if your ancestors were slaves. They charge you $100 to help you apply for the credit. There is no such tax refund, in fact, there is no Federal Inheritance Tax to get a refund from. At the Federal level it is called an Estate Tax. Applying for the false credit and scamming others into applying for it can get you in deep trouble. See the IRS Warning and Congresswoman Johnson's statement about this scam for more details.
Subject: FW: FW: Tax Refund (Please send to everyone you can!)
This goes out to all my friends, family, and everyone in the African
American community. Once you receive this message please write down
the number and then pass it along to every African American you know.
As you my know, all African Americans living here in the United States
are descendants of slavery, therefore our government has finally passed
a bill to pay all descendants back. The way they are paying us back
is through a refund called the, "Black Inheritance Tax Refund/40 Acres
and a Mule". When you call this number you'll give them your name,
address, and phone number and they'll send you out a packet, which includes
further details and information on how to receive the refund. I was
informed that it will take only two weeks to receive the packet and then
two weeks to receive the money. Now, if you know our government I bet
they are not expecting a lot of people to call for this refund, and they
may be right, because many of us will not be informed of this. Therefore,
this is why I am taking it upon myself to pass on this information, so our
community will soon be informed through word-of-mouth about what has been
owed to our ancestors all these years.
Black Inheritance Tax Refund
1-800-xxx-xxxx press #3 to direct you to the appropriate line
open between 7am and 12am (EST)
West Coast: 4am and 9pm
Expect to wait anywhere from 5mins-25mins
(There will not be any music to entertain you while you wait!)
Ps: You must be 18 years or older and I'm assuming a legal
residence of the United States. So, request an application for
yourself, husband, wife, sister, brother, father, mother, etc,
or just pass the number along.
I had this checked out and it is legit. When I called the
number, the lady said that some people have already began
receiving their checks. She said that President Clinton wrote
the bill and it has finally been passed. The IRS will not tell
you these things, because they don't won't us to be education
about our rights.
She said to make sure you fill the application out accurately
and completely, because if not the application will be not be
processed.
January 2002
This particular warning really did appear on the Michigan Department of Treasury web page for about a week. It turns out that after investigating it, the IRS determined it was a joke and had no malicious intent.
While this particular scam did not occur, there are plenty of others that are real. Keep in mind that you should never give personal and financial information to anyone who calls you up or sends you e-mail no matter who they claim they are. Demand identification, including name and phone number and then offer to call them back. You can then call their company or agency, using a number from the phone book (not one they give you,) and verify their name and phone number. Keep in mind that ID cards are easy to fake and would you recognize an IRS ID card if it was presented to you? Check first to make sure you know who you are talking to before giving out confidential information.
Special Alert to the Public _____ The Michigan Department of Treasury recently received an alert from the InternalRevenueService about a fraudulent scam being conducted via E mail that you should be on the look out for: Some taxpayers have received an e mail from a non-IRS source indicating that the taxpayer is under audit and needs to complete a questionnaire within 48 hours to avoid The assessment of penalties and interest. The e mail refers to an "e-audit" and references IRS form 1040. The taxpayer is asked for social security numbers, bank account numbers and other confidential information. THE IRS DOES NOT CONDUCT E-AUDITS, NOR DOES IT NOTIFY TAXPAYERS OF A PENDING AUDIT VIA E MAIL. THIS E MAIL IS NOT FROM THE IRS. Do not provide the requested information - this may be an identity-theft attempt. If you receive an e mail of this nature - the source may be the address blesstheday.com, please contact the Internal Revenue Service office in your area.
October 2007
The e-mail below was sent to a large number of people, indicating that the DOE was going to send you a refund on your energy bill. Well, guess what, it is not going to happen. The link takes you to a site where you input your credit/debit card information so the refund can be put directly into your account. You can guess what really happens.
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