* Identity Theft * Email Scams * Phishing Tips * Ebay Fraud * Dating Scams * Fake Websites * Bogus Job Offers * Web Scams *

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Many Thanks To The Victims That Contacted Me This Week


I am so sorry to hear of all of your misfortunes. This week I received 17 emails from people who were scammed. I truly hope you find help here on my site. Feel free to contact me if you need help.


I did receive a positive email just today! Woo Hoo!! Getting the word out is paying off. This is the email:

"Hi,

Firstly, Thanks. Your article:
Sending Money Via Western Union Type Service: A Scam Every Time - has probably saved me some money.

See below for examples of where I think I was being duped.

Please can you send me the URL for your website.

Cheers,
Neil"


Thank You, Neil, for the feedback, and I am so happy you found my article BEFORE you were scammed!


~ Together, we WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE, and STOP Internet Fraud!

call for help e-mail scam

This starts out slow...but seriously, it is worth watching. Good information on email scams.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

111 Scammers Arrested

Yipee.. Nice to know something is being done about scammers. I found this article at
http://www.africasia.com. The link is below.





News from Africa

16/06/2007 22:30 THE HAGUE, June 16 (AFP)
Dutch police arrest 111 over suspected Internet fraud

Police in Amsterdam arrested more than 100 West Africans Saturday as part of a seven month long investigation into Internet fraud, they said.

Spokeswoman Sita Koenders told AFP that 111 people were arrested for being in the Netherlands illegally and "now we must investigate in what way they are implicated in Internet fraud."

Eight of those arrested were carrying false papers and they have been prosecuted. The others were detained and then released unless there were any extra charges against them, the police said in a statement.

In October, Dutch police launched Operation Apollo to fight Internet fraud scams operated by West Africans and notably Nigerians.

The scams involve sending emails all over the world promising recipients quick financial gains from a make-believe inheritance or fictitious lottery wins in exchange for 'processing fees' of several thousand dollars.

Those who pay up never hear from the supposed organisations again nor see a penny of their promised windfall.

Since Operation Apollo began, police have arrested 80 suspects, most of them from Nigeria, and seized from their homes lists of email addresses, as well as fake documents.

Dutch police believe over 2,000 Internet fraudsters are active in the country.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Phishing Scams: How Scammers Get Your Info

SEE HOW OFFICIAL THIS EMAIL SEEMS? THE SCAMMERS ARE GOOD. DELETE THESE TYPES OF EMAILS IMMEDIATELY. PAYPAL WILL NEVER SEND YOU AN EMAIL LIKE THIS.





Warning Notification



Dear PayPal Costumer,

It has come to our attention that your PayPal account information needs to be updated as part of our continuing commitment to protect your account and to reduce the instance of fraud on our website. If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into any future problems with the online service.

However, failure to update your records will result in account suspension. Please update your records before PayPal June 2007.

Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal account activity will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.

Click here to update your PayPal account information






Copyright 1999-2007 PayPal. All rights reserved.
Information about FDIC pass-through insurance


*** There were also official paypal images on the email, however I deleted them for security reasons.

Never respond to an email with links asking for personal information, no matter who it says it is from.

BE AWARE OF FAKE PAYPAL EMAILS

Example of a "Phishing" scam email:

Never forget that scammers are good, and they are getting better at ways to fool the unsuspecting. Below is the email I received today.
PAYPAL WILL NEVER SEND YOU AN EMAIL LIKE THIS. NEVER FOLLOW A PAYPAL LINK (OR ANY LINK THAT WANTS PERSONAL INFO). ALWAYS LOG IN TO YOUR PAYPAL/BANK/CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS MANUALLY BY TYPING IN THE ADDRESS YOURSELF.

It is the same logic as if someone were to call you up on the phone and ask you for your bank account number - of course you would not give it to them. It is the same with emails- if you receive an email - and I do not care how official it looks - never ever give out personal information. This is the scam email:



"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):

June 09, 2007: 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.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-258-465-448 )

How can I restore my account access?

Please visit the Resolution Center and complete the steps to remove limitations.


To complete the verification process you must log in and go to resolution center and unlimit your account.

Copyright ©2007 PayPal



This is the FRAUD LINK that the email takes you to:




****FRAUD LINK*** http://www.paypal.billingline.com/cqi-bin/webscr.html?cmd=_login_run


Note how it is similar to the real paypal address- www.paypal.com. Please be careful. Delete these types of emails immediately.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Sad Story: A Friend Was Scammed



I know that you cannot help those who will not let you. I know that opinions are free and everyone carries their own boatload of them. But if I were looking for legal advice, I would ask a lawyer. Or a doctor is who I would visit for medical advice.
But just because I have been devoting all of my time into researching fraud and finding solutions for all of us, I guess stands for nothing. It gives me no credibility in the eyes of my friend Dorothy.

It upsets me every day to know what is happening, and I cannot do anything but watch in horror. I believe that the scammers found her by getting her information through other scammers, because like I have said before, people that have been scammed in the past are easy targets. (Which makes NO sense to me, I tend to learn my lesson on the first mistake). And yes, Dorothy has been scammed before. She is a sweet little old lady with a small bank account and a big heart.

The scammers have convinced her that her late husband has millions of dollars in oil stock in their country. Want to take a wild guess of what country?
Yep! Nigeria, the scam capital of the world. So, believing that she has millions coming her way, she has been sending money to who she believes is the "Prime Minister of Nigeria". I do not know exactly how much, because she will not tell me, and gets real secretive if I ask. And no matter what I say, no matter what type of proof I try to cram in her face, she will not have it, and just shuts me out. I have tried everything. I force my sister and mutual friends to call her and pound reality into her head, to no avail.

It is like knowing that a train wreck is about to happen, and all you can do is sit back helplessly and watch. All I can do is inform others of fraud schemes, I cannot stop them from getting involved. And that sucks, especially when it is someone close to me. Deep down I believe that we all know when something is wrong. It is called our gut. And that is why Dorothy gets real secretive and does not want to talk about it. If there was complete belief in her heart that this was 100% legitimate, she would stand up for her decisions and tell me to shut up, instead of trying to hide. She does not want to believe that it is not true, even if it is not.

Do not let hope and greed cloud your mind from reality. Of course, we all want more money. We all want financial freedom. I am yet to meet a person that tells me they wish they had less money. To make more money, it takes a little trait called work ethic. Did you know that 4 out of 5 millionaires have a college degree, and most work more than 45 hours per week?

Yet millions of Americans hold on to the hope of 'falling' into money, like winning the lottery for example. Instead of investing money to make more money or to save it for retirement, it is spent on a lottery ticket. Even though the chances of winning the lottery is 1 in 20 million.

Just to give you an example: According to the Colorado Lottery’s 2006 Annual Report, per capita the spending on lottery tickets was $95. That means every man, woman, and child in the state of Colorado spent $95 on lottery tickets last year.
The fact is, a person is more likely to be struck by lightning SEVEN times in a single year than to win the jackpot! So my advice is, just stop it! Stop holding on to some stupid unattainable notion that you will strike it rich. Stop letting the con artists steal your money. Stop fabricating these lies to yourself that you will come across a quick way to make a lot of money. And do what the rest of us do to make the best living you can for yourself and your family: Work your tail off until it pays off.

Untited Arab Scam

NEVER ANSWER THESE KIND OF EMAILS. NO MATTER HOW "OFFICIAL" IT SEEMS. I ASSURE YOU, IT IS NOT.



Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics,
P.O.Box 11232 Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirate.
RKCE.AD
rasalkhaimahceramics@rasalkhaimahceramics.cjb.net

RE: Offer to act as our Financial Representative in your country.

Good day and we hope this Job Offer reaches you in good faith. We are a
group of Registered Company based in Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics, UAE. We
are in the field of Exportation marketing. We deal on Manufacturing -
Pipes ceramics, Tiles & constructions. We seek representatives from the
United States of America , Canada and Mexico who will represent the
interest of this company. The representatives we seek are Individuals,
corporate body, and companies.

The Representatives will act as receiving payment agents, and also act
as a medium for our customers to place order for goods and products
from our company. As our Representative, you are guaranteed a minimum of
US$ 2,000 monthly and also 15% commission from any payment you receive
from our customers. This is a part time job and will not interfere with
your personal life or present job as this will not take 1hour of your
time weekly.

If you are interested, kindly provide the information below to the
enlistment officer of this Company Mr. Mohammed Mustapha via e-mail:
mustarefarmohd@yahoo.com.cn

Full Names:
House Address:
Zip Code:
City:
State:
Country:
Age:
Phone Number:
Fax:

We look forward to working with you and receiving the very best of your
qualitative services.

Thank you,

Mrs. El Fatima Hameed
Secretary

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