yet another internet scam to look out for.

[erikasknight]

Hi all...I got the following email yesterday, and thought I'd post it here to warn you all.
Pathetic really...no last name, and by email instead of telephone, using only the info on my profile. Just hope nobody falls for that trash.

Dear Maximillion

I am Barrister Mrs J Azubuike a solicitor at law.I am the personal attorney to late Mr Hens Erika , who was an official contractor(category A) with an oil company,(Mobil Producing Unlimited) in BENIN REPUBLIC (COTONOU).

Here in after shall be referred to as my client. On the 10th of May 2002, my client, his wife and their only son were involved in a car accident along Asiyeye express road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives.

Since then I have made several inquiries and presentations to embassies to locate any of my client's extended relatives, this has also proved abortive.It is after these several unsuccessful attempts to locate any member of his family failed that I decided to contact you so that you can invariably be of help in this situation to stands as the next of kin to this my client or his business partner I am contacting you to assist in recovering the money Ten Million, Five Hundred Thousand ($5,5M) and valuables left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge deposit were lodged. Already, the finance company where the deceased had an account valued at about US$5.5 million dollars has issued me a notice/ultimatum to provide the next of kin or the account will be confiscated in the next one month .

Since It has been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2 years now, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at US$5.5 million dollars can be paid to your account and there after we can share (money )in the ratio of 6:4. That is, I will have 60% of the proceed while you have 40% for for your assistance.

I have all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make. All I require is your co-operation to enable us see this transaction through .I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement . Please get in touch with me by my email and send to me your telephone and fax numbers to enable us discuss further about this transaction,

Best regards,

Barr Mrs J Azubuike

 

[erikasknight]

Not to mention...this "lawyer" sent the email from a yahoo account.LOL!!!!
Where's HER phone and fax number? etc....
I've already forwarded the email to the police. Just reminding you all to never give out personal info.

 

[nessonite1]

hehehe that's a new one to me. 😛
Lately Ive been getting a lot of fake Online Banking emails. Saying somehting about my bank account info being stolen and needing to log into my online banking to confirm my identity.
Funny thing is, I dont have a bank account.
If I did it would really freak me out though. These were much moreprofessional looking than your average scam...even took you to a very believeable looking website.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

I remember getting something like this before, though it was some african renegade claiming he had found some loot and was willing to share it with me if I would harbor him here in America.

Lets remember one thing folks, well, two things actually:

1.) These people are stupid morons whom we cannot take even remotely seriously.

2.) These stupid morons are funny and obviously go to great lengths to make us laugh (though thats not their intent which makes it more funny for us and sad for them). I think theres some value in that.

 

[morgandee]

people would have to be pretty naive to fall for silly scams over the internet when it is so obvious that they are scams that it blows my mind hey mickey

hey mickey

oh mickey what a pity you don't understand

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

I got one say it was from eBay, and that they needed to confirm my account details by having me click on a link (in the email) and then logging in to eBay with my user ID and password at the login page.
Really realistic - both the email and the webpage it directed me to look identical to the real thing (as far as I could tell), except that the web address was totally wrong (I think the forged site was on Geocities).

I've similarly had several fake "You've Got Pictures" emails, supposedly from AOL. Just log in at the site that the link directs you to, to retrieve the pics that have been sent to you. That one actually got me the first time, and I had to change my internet connection password; didn't catch me out the other half dozen times, though. 😎

 

[MistressValerie1]

Here is a detailed article about "advance fees" scams: http://www.muscatinglott.net/artNigerianScams.htm

How the scam works
The scam varies, but usually a person receives a letter, or more often, a fax or email offering a business “proposal” or transaction. One will often wonder how his postal or e-mail number ended up being targeted by these fraudsters. Indeed, fraudsters have become even more sophisticated by personalising their scam e-mails. One should not be deceived by this, however. Computer software now makes it easier to personalise e-mails and specialised software enables “trawling” of e-mail addresses from websites without prior contact. Victims’ addresses are also obtained from telephone and e-mail directories.

The person writing may claim they are a government official, the widow of a government official, or from a charity or business group. The fraud is perpetrated by enticing the victim with a bogus “business” proposal which promises millions of US dollars as a reward.

The scam letter usually promises to transfer huge amounts of money, usually in US dollars, purported to be part proceeds of certain contracts, to the addressee’s bank account, to be shared in some proportion between the parties. This is only the beginning.

If the addressee replies, a favourable response to the letter is followed by excuses why the funds cannot be remitted readily and subsequently by demands for proportionate sharing of payments for various “advance fees” (e.g. customs, taxes, bribes) supposedly to facilitate the processing and remittance of the alleged funds. The use of “fake” official documents is a common practice. These fees are the real purpose of the scam, and may add up to tens of thousands of dollars. That is why such scam letters are also known as “advance fee letters”.

 

[MistressValerie1]

Here is Microsoft's article about "phishing" scams: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/phishing.mspx

Excerpt:

How does phishing work?

A phishing scam sent by e-mail may start with con artists who send millions of e-mail messages that appear to come from popular Web sites or sites that you trust, like your bank or credit card company. The e-mail messages, pop-up windows, and the Web sites they link to appear official enough that they deceive many people into believing that they are legitimate. Unsuspecting people too often respond to these requests for their credit card numbers, passwords, account information, or other personal data.

 

[erikasknight]

Sadly, many people out there fall for these scams.
I've reported it to yahoo's mail fraud division as well as the F.B.I.
I doubt they'll be caught, but at least others can be warned.
BTW...anyone ever hear of any people getting arrested for these scams?

 

[morgandee]

i don't know, i always check the email headers et cetera if something's pretty dubious and things like that are too easy to not fall for as far as i'm concerned

but i am also the king of awesome unlike the rest of us

 

[shark]

*snickers*

The Secret Service handles this type particular type of scam.

I've been told that many of these are actually generated by "gypsies" who create addresses as fast as they can be closed down. The sad part is how many people actually fall for it....about $100,000,000 worth according to an article in Readers Digest.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Oh, and then theres the one about the russian hooker who needs to get away from her miserable life and will "f*ck my brains out" (among other things she'll do) if I consent to marry her so she can get her a visa and nationalization, etc.

Whats sad about this is that its probably true in most other cases...

 

[erikasknight]

@ Vlad...indeed it could have been true. I was in Russia to set up a radio station not long after the collapse and had several offers in person. Quite unfortunate really.

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Completely off topic, but general concensus seems to be that russian women are too masculine and built like men and are ugly. In their defense, its like that with every nationality, its just part of some people's gene pool and I've seen some pretty attractive, no, downright sexy russian women. They always get a hard rap. I feel bad for them.

 

[CellarDweller]

I've gotten emails that my ebay account may have been compromised, my online banking account, and my paypal account. Each time, it was a fraudulent email trying to get my personal info.

I have a lot of experience with this. I work for a bank, and the security dept. here is constantly sending out information on this type of scam.

Sad part is, a lot of people fall for it, and lose a lot of money. People also think that the bank will replace that money for them. We don't. If they were the ones who gave the money away, we are not at fault.

 

[erikasknight]

Completely off topic, but general concensus seems to be that russian women are too masculine and built like men and are ugly. In their defense, its like that with every nationality, its just part of some people's gene pool and I've seen some pretty attractive, no, downright sexy russian women. They always get a hard rap. I feel bad for them.

Vlad my friend...I was there for a year...and let me tell you they should sell whiplash insurance there for all the times my head whipped around to look at a pretty gal. LOL
Propaganda my friend. Though I will freely admit there are some of those masculine women there...I ask you... what country DOESN'T have those?

There's an old joke...80% of the people in the world are ugly,
if you don't believe that, next time you get on a bus...look directly in front of you after you sit down. Chances are that person will be ugly. You'll remember being told this and laugh.
Now...if after you sit down and look directly in front of you...and that person is laughing...well...
Anyhow...I've travelled to many countries in my life so far and can say that there are some awesome looking women in every corner of this rock we all live on. Let's not believe things we're told just to keep us hating on countries we were enemies with.

 

[CellarDweller]

Vlad my friend...I was there for a year...and let me tell you they should sell whiplash insurance there for all the times my head whipped around to look at a pretty gal. LOL Propaganda my friend.

Well, I've never been to Russia, however, as a gay man, my taste in sports runs differently than most men, and I favor figure skating.

In my years of watching Russian women on ice, I can say that yes, they can be very masculine. However, there a number I have seen that can be just as beautiful.

 

[morgandee]

figure skating just like shermie from king of fighters wai wai
^_^_6-66-^_^_^_^_^ wai

 

[Celtic_Emperor]

Vlad my friend...I was there for a year...and let me tell you they should sell whiplash insurance there for all the times my head whipped around to look at a pretty gal. LOL
Propaganda my friend. Though I will freely admit there are some of those masculine women there...I ask you... what country DOESN'T have those?

There's an old joke...80% of the people in the world are ugly,
if you don't believe that, next time you get on a bus...look directly in front of you after you sit down. Chances are that person will be ugly. You'll remember being told this and laugh.
Now...if after you sit down and look directly in front of you...and that person is laughing...well...
Anyhow...I've travelled to many countries in my life so far and can say that there are some awesome looking women in every corner of this rock we all live on. Let's not believe things we're told just to keep us hating on countries we were enemies with.

Thats a funny joke. ^^

 

[TickledToDeath]

OH brother!

I am surprised the scammer didn't ask for your bank account number so as the inheritance can be directly deposited for SAFE KEEPING, away from the other bad banks trying to confiscate the millions.

LOL

TTD