# Internet Scam Alerts



## Uncle Festivus (8 June 2009)

General thread for posting internet scams - if none exists already??

Got an email from supposedly Commonwealth bank but Zone Alarm picked the link up as phishing site - Hastings music festival???


----------



## jono1887 (8 June 2009)

Uncle Festivus said:


> General thread for posting internet scams - if none exists already??
> 
> Got an email from supposedly Commonwealth bank but Zone Alarm picked the link up as phishing site - Hastings music festival???




hahaha... i cant believe the sheer number of these that get sent out and the number of people that actually follow the link and give their details 
i do however enjoy letting this program i have type random sequences in and sending them to the phishing site. good luck with them going through all that data


----------



## Tink (8 June 2009)

Yep internet banking scams - phone scams - the list goes on..

DELETE


----------



## So_Cynical (8 June 2009)

A couple of weeks ago i was getting 2 or 3 a day from the commonwealth bank to my Gmail account...all coming in straight to the spam folder even though they looked pretty genuine.

Of course i don't have any accounts with the commonwealth so knew they were spam.


----------



## white_crane (8 June 2009)

Here is a site that you may want to check out for information regarding internet/email scams
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/


----------



## gav (25 January 2010)

Hi guys, I received a very genuine looking scam today from Credit Union Australia.  It even had their ABN, AFSL and BSB at the bottom of the email.  Unfortunately for the scammer, I don't bank with CUA so I knew something was up.  Although I did make an online donation through World Vision for Haiti just before I received this email, so I thought maybe I mis-typed something when making the donation.  

I rang CUA immediately, and they confirmed it was a scam and asked me to forward it to their fraud prevention people.

Here it is:

Dear _< name removed >_,

This e-mail has been sent to you by Credit Union Australia to inform you that we were unable to verify your account details.
This might be due to either of the following reasons: 

  1. Submitting incorrect information during register process.
  2. A recent change in your personal information. (eg:  address, phone)

  Due to this, to ensure that your Web Banker  service is not interrupted, we request you to confirm and update 
your information today by following the link below

_< link removed >_

  If you have already confirmed your information then please  disregard this message.

Regards,
Credit Union Australia member services 

Thanks for your cooperation.     
 © Credit Union Australia Limited. ABN: 44 087 650 959 AFSL: 238317 BSB: 804050


----------



## awg (25 January 2010)

I am not sure whether this is the best thread

am curious how other posters view what level of threat is represented by several security issues that I have read a little about recently?

* password cracking programs...especially in relation to wireless network hacking, done using freeware and driving around with a laptop.

* key-logger programs...having one of these inserted on yr pc is nightmare...how realistic is this possibility?

I take various precautions that should defeat most threats, but the level of sophistication to ensure complete protection seems to be growing.

Doesnt help if you use more than one program, and yr firewall blocks yr malaware update, which then conflicts with anti-virus, leaving junk for the Registry cleaner.

Then you get into level of encryption, password security, erasure software etc.

I probably should not even post here


----------



## cornnfedd (25 January 2010)

If you use common sense it is highly unlikely you will ever get scammed or hacked, seriuosly most people that it happens to are people that have no clue, there are a few simple rules to follow and should be ok. I know some people who dont even have a virus scanner..


----------



## roland (21 October 2010)

Here's a new one:

Dear Ma/Sir

Established in 1992, Service Performance Group provides its clients a wide range of customer service solutions including mystery shopping, marketing and promotional agency support, Web or IVR built customer surveys or specialty projects. Through our state-of-the-art online reporting system, the end goal of our involvement is to provide accurate and timely data to assist our clients in providing the best service experience to their most important asset, the customer.Whether an ongoing partnership or a project based assignment, you can be assured we will seamlessly integrate our offerings to provide cost effective data from which you can make decisions and take action with complete confidence.

You will discover us to be a results driven company that takes our clients business seriously. That is our bottom line.once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job(either purchase things or require services), after which you would write a comment on the staffs activities and give a detailed record of your experience.

Examples of details you would forward to us are:

1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Smartness of the attendant
3)Customer service professionalism
4)Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they react to clients why they get tensed.

    And we turn the information over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving there services. Most companies employ our assistance when people give complains about their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve their customer service. your Identity would  be kept confidential as the job states (secret shopper) you would be paid $300 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance, and funds would be given to you if you have to dine as part of the duty.Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area.

No commitment is made on this job, and you would have flexible hours as it suits you. If you are interested do send in these information:

MYSTERY SHOPPER APPROVED/ FIRST ASSIGNMENT

FIRST ASSIGNMENT:

Shopper's Guide wants you to run a survey on two prominent companies in your area.

The 1st is a Western Union Location
The 2nd a Restaurant

There have been reports about laps in the services of their Management and some of their staffs,
Their complains are based on reports which their customers forwarded anonymously and Phone calls which

were also made to the head office.

The Western union location was reported for evaluation for the following reasons:
I) Customers have reported their money missing
ii) Slow services
iii) Unbalanced transfer charges

The 2nd company was reported to be rendering
(I) Poor services
(ii) Rudeness to customers
(iii) Excess charge
(iii) Late opening time and Closing before time.

Your Secret Evaluation would be
1) To make a transfer of funds from this western union location to our Mystery shopper, And the funds  would be picked up by another mystery shopper at another location where a customer reported her funds missing.

2) You would have to record the time at which you go to the location and how many minutes it took you to get service.

3) You would be sent a check/Money order which would cover your payment of $300 and also for the duty. As soon as you receive the check/money order, you should cash in at your bank, and deduct your $300, and use the rest of the money for the services.

4) Upon receiving the funds, the locations address would be forwarded to you, and also the Name and address of whom the Mystery shoppers transfer would be made to. You would have to keep a comprehensive report on every activity you carry out.

5) You would also provide me with the name of the cashier that attended to you.

Please send me a reply so that the check/Money order sent out to you ASAP

FULL NAME: 
CONTACT ADDRESSNO P O BOX) 
CITY: 
STATE: 
ZIP-CODE: 
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 
MOBILE NUMBER: 
AGE: 
OCCUPATION: 
EMAIL: 


So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service into, and your address would also be needed for your payments.


Thanks For Your Total Understanding.
Don Baylies
Staffing and Recruiting Dept,
Dynamic Advantage Inc
donbaylies0101@capsred.com


----------



## sails (21 October 2010)

Thanks for the heads up on another one, Roland...

Often punctuation and spelling gives these scams away - here is a sentence from the email you posted:



> "There have been reports about *laps* in the services of their Management and some of their *staffs*"




"Laps" for "lapse"
"Staff" doesn't need the "s"

We have a family member overseas at present who was looking for work. It didn't take long for an email to arrive offering an amazing job where there were very few hours of work which could be done at home.

It appears the catch came with the request for specific office equipment to be purchased and for which the supposed employer agreed to pay (by cheque).  However, if the employment didn't continue, they stated they had the right to come and remove all their office equipment.  We can only think the cheque would be forever in the mail or would bounce if it actually arrived and they would pick up equipment paid for by the hapless employee.

Again, spelling and punctuation in email initially raised the red flag.  Commas and full stops were frequently interchanged.

Thankfully, the family member had already accepted a real job so was in no danger of being caught. Just pretty sad for those who might desperately need work.  These scammers really do prey on the vulnerable...


----------



## It's Snake Pliskin (21 October 2010)

the first give away is the spelling in those scam messages. In australia we don't say informations, and the message reads like a scam with its fear message.


----------



## basilio (21 October 2010)

The scammers are getting cleverer. I'd like to alert members to the issue of trojans and other virus infections. Unfortunately they are getting nastier and better and drive by trojans which jump onto your machine when you simply visit a site are becoming very unnerving.

I've just been hit and i thought I was fairly careful and well protected. The interesting trick is when I suddenly got this flash from windows security which looked very much like the Microsoft windows logo saying there were trojans on my computers.  Flash flash, scare scare. I think I tried to "delete" these trojans but I think that action just let them in... 

Anyway it's not a good feel and I will probably have to either reformat my computer or it's been suggested I get a new one. (Mine is not that old but the consensus is that 6 years is an eternity in computer language.)

The takeaway message is to NEVER, NEVER,  EVER be hoaxed into responding to an urgent flash which says you have a virus on your machine. Immediately close the window at the top right hand corner or* shut it down even it means literally pulling the plug on the machine.* (I appreciate  this is not normal practice but in many circumstances your screen can be captured and frozen) 

Any other advice from members on how to successfully deal with these nasties ?


----------



## captain black (21 October 2010)

basilio said:


> Any other advice from members on how to successfully deal with these nasties ?




Do all your web browsing and email from either a computer running a Linux distro and/or run Linux as a guest in VirtualBox on a Windows PC. If you're using Firefox then the NoScript plugin is a worthwhile safety measure too. I use Claws mail on Ubuntu for all my email, automatically displays all HTML email as text. Linux wont solve all people's security problems but it's Unix background makes it much less prone to most of the nasties out there that plague Windows systems.

Here's the link to VirtualBox. VMWare is another option but I've found VirtualBox to be "smoother" to use (and the price is right too...)

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Of course another option is to run Windows in VirtualBox and take constant snapshots or images which can be restored if you come across another infection.


----------



## DB008 (21 October 2010)

There was a story on the 7:30 Report tonight in regards to all the cyber crime happening in Australia at present.

What l did find interesting was that in the UK, the banks are forced to reveal how much money has been stolen via cyber crime. That should also become law here. None of the banks will admit how much they are losing each year here. 

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s3044975.htm

Question:
Why do the banks let money go offshore from a normal savings account is beyond me? I would put a block on that ASAP and if you need to transfer money out of Australia, you have to visit a branch with ID and enter your PIN number? Surely that would slow it down a little bit? Or, am l missing something here?


----------



## pixel (22 October 2010)

> I would put a block on that ASAP and if you need to transfer money out of Australia, you have to visit a branch with ID and enter your PIN number? Surely that would slow it down a little bit? Or, am l missing something here?



You do seem to miss something, Dannyboy:
Many Australians are buying "stuff" Overseas via quite legitimate Internet trading; be it eBay, software direct, books, ... Having to walz over to a bank teller for such purchases would simply be impractical. As would be the requirement to open a special transaction account - in case you were thinking only of savings accounts being restricted that way.


----------



## roland (22 October 2010)

Another problem is the Privacy Issue, as a merchant, if I have a suspiscious transaction and call the bank (merchant services) they will not even confirm that the billing address is that of the card holder.

To me this is odd, since the card holder needs to provide this when making an online transaction anyway. Being able to confirm that the card holder has presented the correct billing address would help. Especially if the shipping address is also the same.


----------



## DB008 (22 October 2010)

pixel said:


> You do seem to miss something, Dannyboy:
> Many Australians are buying "stuff" Overseas via quite legitimate Internet trading; be it eBay, software direct, books, ... Having to walz over to a bank teller for such purchases would simply be impractical. As would be the requirement to open a special transaction account - in case you were thinking only of savings accounts being restricted that way.




Sorry, my bad.
I wasn't thinking of purchases at all. I was just thinking if someone got into your account and suddenly there was a $5k (<- put $$$ amount in) transaction to Eastern Europe/USA out of the blue. Or do they have systems in place for that already?


----------



## pixel (23 October 2010)

roland said:


> Another problem is the Privacy Issue, as a merchant, if I have a suspiscious transaction and call the bank (merchant services) they will not even confirm that the billing address is that of the card holder.
> 
> To me this is odd, since the card holder needs to provide this when making an online transaction anyway. Being able to confirm that the card holder has presented the correct billing address would help. Especially if the shipping address is also the same.




That is true,
but the card companies don't have the slightest interest in protecting the payer. Maximising their profit with an absolute minimum of effort is all they're interested in.


----------



## white_crane (24 October 2010)

DB008 said:


> Sorry, my bad.
> I wasn't thinking of purchases at all. I was just thinking if someone got into your account and suddenly there was a $5k (<- put $$$ amount in) transaction to Eastern Europe/USA out of the blue. Or do they have systems in place for that already?




SMS verification.  A text message containing a code is sent to your mobile phone.  The code must be entered into the transaction before the transaction can take place.  The code expires after a short period.


----------



## Julia (24 October 2010)

I'm privileged to receive personal attention from Robert Mueller of the FBI who is kindly protecting my financial interests.

Really, could anyone actually be taken in by this nonsense???



> Attention: Beneficairy.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## pixel (24 October 2010)

white_crane said:


> SMS verification.  A text message containing a code is sent to your mobile phone.  The code must be entered into the transaction before the transaction can take place.  The code expires after a short period.




Westpac are already offering this option - and I'm using it.
Macquarie send me an email every time an e-payment is made from one of my accounts.

Of my banking contacts, only ANZ and Visa are slack - I have to login to ANZ regularly to check transactions and balance. At least I can check both from a single login - got to be thankful for small mercies.


----------



## DB008 (24 October 2010)

white_crane said:


> SMS verification.  A text message containing a code is sent to your mobile phone.  The code must be entered into the transaction before the transaction can take place.  The code expires after a short period.




Cheers white_crane.
I am with BOQ (for some of my banking...) and no such security measures exist _unless_ you want to move more than 50k per day, then you get issued a security token. I was willing to take one,  but l was declined. They do post a brief transaction history as you log in, that's about it.

I personally feel that all transactions should have some sort of security token/sms measures. Maybe the banks can negotiate a $1 per month SMS service which includes 60 per month (hypothetical and it is widely known that it only costs the telco's, ie, Telstra 1 cent per SMS, so $1 would mean 100 SMS, to Telstra).

I also signed up to Vega Advantage which gives you your individual credit report annually and also when someone makes an inquiry into your credit history, eg, going for a new loan or credit card any directorships and ASIC listings, etc etc. VEDA bought Secure Sentinel and sister company  Ekko Guardian, a personal fraud protection line of products also. I can highly recommend Veda. I have been using Veda for about 3 years now, and it's very good service to have on your side!

http://www.vedaadvantage.com/

http://www.securesentinel.com.au/home/


----------



## roland (6 December 2010)

I've had this a couple of times:



> Progress of income tax return.
> 
> After calculations of your fiscal activity
> we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund.
> ...





Has an attachment which I have never looked at.

But check the sender: *ato.gov.au<no-replay@servises.com>* spelling is certainly not a spammers' forte


----------



## prawn_86 (6 December 2010)

I had one coming from 'Palpa1' that my account had been compromised. Didnt click the link obviously


----------



## sails (6 December 2010)

prawn_86 said:


> I had one coming from 'Palpa1' that my account had been compromised. Didnt click the link obviously




I had some supposedly from PayPal but the sender was "Paypal Payement On Ligne"....  And another sender who called themselves "Verified By World Visa Bank" with message title of "Your credit card has been suspenced"...

Absolutely did not click on the links they provided - sent to the spam box instead.

Yeah, easy to spot the spelling mistakes, punctuation that's all over the place and general sentence structure is usually non existent or quite poor at best.


----------



## newbie trader (6 December 2010)

How do they get the email address you use for your paypal?


----------



## sails (6 December 2010)

newbie trader said:


> How do they get the email address you use for your paypal?




Actually, that was another give away in that it wasn't the paypal email.


----------



## roland (10 February 2011)

I'm a winner!!!!




> CENTRAL CLAIM OFFICE, MACHESTER CITY
> 64B Ashbourne Avenue,
> Manchester, NW11 0DT,
> United Kingdom
> ...





Pity about the poor grammar


----------



## awg (10 February 2011)

Every damm day, Indian calls me from the " Microsoft support desk" tells me my system is sending warning messages etc etc, log on and we will fix it.

They download software that backdoors your PC

A mate of mine fell for this recently. 

After laughing, I told him he needed to do a full Windows instal 

They have name and addy, dont know how

( and it definitely aint from buying pr0n )

Apparently they are ringing every man and his dog


----------



## Ferret (10 February 2011)

Just about every time I open The Australian web site from Singapore, an ad tells me I'm the 1,000,000th person to visit the site.  

What are the odds of that happening so many times!  Surely my amazing luck is worth more than just the the opportunity to "click here" because I "might" have won an iphone.


----------



## sails (8 April 2011)

Just received this by email and comes with what seems to be the ATO logo at the top.  There is some punctuation is missing and when clicking on "properties" to see where it came from, it is an address from IBISTRANSLATIONS.COM

I copied the link they provided in the email and it goes straight to an address that is not in anyway linked to the ATO. 

It's easy to see how people can get caught as, at first glance, it looks legit. 




> From: Australian Taxation Office
> 
> 
> Dear Member,
> ...


----------



## Boggo (8 April 2011)

Notify the ATO asap sails.


----------



## sails (8 April 2011)

Boggo said:


> Notify the ATO asap sails.




Boggo, I did forward the email to their fraud reporting email address, but also noticed on their web site this isn't a new one.  A similar email is displayed on the ATO site along with other email scams using the ATO:
http://www.ato.gov.au/onlineservice...&page=7&H7=&pc=&mnu=41675&mfp=001/001&st=&cy=


----------



## Boggo (8 April 2011)

sails said:


> Boggo, I did forward the email to their fraud reporting email address, but also noticed on their web site this isn't a new one.  A similar email is displayed on the ATO site along with other email scams using the ATO:
> http://www.ato.gov.au/onlineservice...&page=7&H7=&pc=&mnu=41675&mfp=001/001&st=&cy=




I had a similiar situation with the Comm Bank, turned out they were aware of it too, you just never know when you are the first candidate on a new scam.


----------



## sails (8 April 2011)

Boggo said:


> I had a similiar situation with the Comm Bank, turned out they were aware of it too, you just never know when you are the first candidate on a new scam.




Agree.  And also the ATO requests that all scams are sent to them.  I guess they get a better idea of how prolific is becoming when people forward these emails on the them.

If anyone else gets it, here's the link to the ATO reporting of email fraud where you can either phone or send the offensive email to the address provided:
http://www.ato.gov.au/onlineservices/content.asp?doc=/content/00179605.htm&mnu=47106&mfp=001/010


----------



## Julia (8 April 2011)

sails said:


> Just received this by email and comes with what seems to be the ATO logo at the top.  There is some punctuation is missing and when clicking on "properties" to see where it came from, it is an address from IBISTRANSLATIONS.COM
> 
> I copied the link they provided in the email and it goes straight to an address that is not in anyway linked to the ATO.
> 
> It's easy to see how people can get caught as, at first glance, it looks legit.



The language is usually a give away.  I doubt any notice from the ATO would include "Regards" before the signature.  Also, it's just too generic.



Boggo said:


> I had a similiar situation with the Comm Bank, turned out they were aware of it too, you just never know when you are the first candidate on a new scam.



Hah, I get about one of these per week.  Quite funny their telling me my CBA a/c has been compromised when I don't have one.

Yesterday I received a new one which could have caught some people out.  The header was "Parcel Delivery" and the message was


> Dear customer
> 
> The parcel was sent your home adress
> And it will arrive within 10 business days
> ...



Then there was an attachment which likely would be fatal for the health of the PC.

If one had ordered something and was expecting a delivery, it could appear legit.
Spelling mistake (adress) is a clue.

And not an internet scam but becoming more irritating are the phone calls from the Indian voice 'on behalf of Microsoft', telling you Microsoft has a problem, but, hey, we're here to help, just follow these easy instructions. No doubt doing so will successfully lodge some nasty piece of spyware.

I got annoyed enough with about the fifth of these scam calls that I told the caller to just **** off.


----------



## DB008 (8 April 2011)

This thread is still going. Good.

In the interim l have had;



One of my credit cards hacked with 2000-pounds worth of air travel purchased on it, l was covered and new card issued.


Got a Security token for my BoQ account for all transfers.


Use Paypal for other purchases and am considering getting another token for online purchases, one-off $40AUD. https://idprotect.verisign.com/orderstart.v


----------



## pixel (8 April 2011)

UBS sent me a note advising that my "order" would be delivered within 7 to 10 days. Would I please "click here" to verify delivery address.

Funny thing - I don't expect any delivery from UBS. So, I translate the "here" to the red "X" in the tool bar on top of my WebMail program.

Yes, I'm sure all banks, ATO, and other finance-related institutions are aware of these phishy scams; every so often, one or the other sends me a note - Westpac recently even by snail mail - that they never ever will request information via email. So - why do people still fall for this kind of swindle?


----------



## Glen48 (8 April 2011)

i have spent 5 months  E mail BOQ to get my bank statement online to view they keep tell me to phone them , I would assume talking to some one on a phone is not as secure as having to code into their web site .

Customer service now thats a scam


----------



## Julia (8 April 2011)

DB008 said:


> This thread is still going. Good.
> 
> In the interim l have had;
> 
> ...



Danny, I recently received a scam email purporting to be from Paypal.  It was very convincing.  I even went to the extent of phoning Paypal to check it wasn't genuine.



pixel said:


> UBS sent me a note advising that my "order" would be delivered within 7 to 10 days. Would I please "click here" to verify delivery address.
> 
> Funny thing - I don't expect any delivery from UBS. So, I translate the "here" to the red "X" in the tool bar on top of my WebMail program.
> 
> Yes, I'm sure all banks, ATO, and other finance-related institutions are aware of these phishy scams; every so often, one or the other sends me a note - Westpac recently even by snail mail - that they never ever will request information via email. So - why do people still fall for this kind of swindle?



I suppose, pixel, for the same reason they continue to fall for the ubiquitous Nigerian et al emails which advise people that they have inherited some massive wealth from that part of the world.
How they will accept this, when they have never in their entire lives known anyone who has had anything to do with Nigeria et al, is quite beyond belief.


----------



## nunthewiser (8 April 2011)

pixel said:


> UBS sent me a note advising that my "order" would be delivered within 7 to 10 days. Would I please "click here" to verify delivery address.
> 
> ?




I am actually expecting delivery from the U.s ( motorcycle bitsnbobs)

it was lapeled "ups" but same email...

clicked on it but virus checker nailed it on  arrival... had 3 like it .

the internets full of weirdo,s i reckon


----------



## sails (13 April 2011)

I noticed this one supposedly from UPS and I'm thankfully not expecting a parcel  so became suspicious immediately.  The tricky thing with this is that the two links provided in the email are not what they appear.

When right clicking and copying the shortcut, those links below go to a different address - I have left a bit off so no-one gets curious!: genatrixcok.com/resume.php?tp=7a89fdc.

I have removed the www so the ASF software doesn't include it as a link & the blue and underline I have added for effect below, but still, it's pretty sneaky as it looked so legit in the email.

Also, the return address was from  hapoelj...



> Dear client
> Your package has arrived.
> The tracking# is : 8Z25EH6653036446285 and can be used at :
> .....ups.com/tracking/tracking.html
> ...


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (13 April 2011)

nunthewiser said:


> I am actually expecting delivery from the U.s ( motorcycle bitsnbobs)
> 
> it was lapeled "ups" but same email...
> 
> ...






sails said:


> I noticed this one supposedly from UPS and I'm thankfully not expecting a parcel  so became suspicious immediately.  The tricky thing with this is that the two links provided in the email are not what they appear.
> 
> When right clicking and copying the shortcut, those links below go to a different address - I have left a bit off so no-one gets curious!: genatrixcok.com/resume.php?tp=7a89fdc.
> 
> ...




nun and sails,

I will discuss your concerns when I am next in Lagos at the International Nigerian Scam Association Congress on 29th February 2013.

The wife of the late Chief Maloo Peintpeelinonthesills, now a a nun called Sister Charity will be in touch with both of you.

gg


----------



## sails (13 April 2011)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> nun and sails,
> 
> I will discuss your concerns when I am next in Lagos at the International Nigerian Scam Association Congress on 29th February 2013.
> 
> ...




Thankyou GG - how very kind of you...


----------



## pixel (13 April 2011)

Julia said:


> I suppose, pixel, for the same reason they continue to fall for the ubiquitous Nigerian et al emails which advise people that they have inherited some massive wealth from that part of the world.
> How they will accept this, when they have never in their entire lives known anyone who has had anything to do with Nigeria et al, is quite beyond belief.



 LOL Julia,
that's another gimmick I received a little while ago. By snail mail actually.

Someone had actually smartened up their act and no longer sent the letter from Nigeria, but from Spain. And my dear departed family member hadn't been living in Nigeria, but in India. He also had a very credible Indian given name, Satesh, I believe it was. But in combination with my uniquely non-Indian surname, the result was hilarious!

I sent the entire bundle to fido - phone numbers and lawyer gobbledegook included. 
Sadly though, now I'll never know what happened to those ten Million Dollars. Oh well - it was only US Dollars anyway. Peanuts really


----------



## white_crane (16 April 2011)

Not an internet scam, but I received this on my mobile phone a few days ago:

"CONGRATS: YOUR MOBILE NUMBER HAS WON YOU THE SUM OF $2,000,000 USD ON THE ONGOING Black Berry PROMO. FOR CLAIMS EMAIL FULL NAMES & MOBILE NUMBER TO: claim2011pro@live.com"

The sending number was +27710440323
I think this is a South African number.


----------



## pixel (17 April 2011)

white_crane said:


> Not an internet scam, but I received this on my mobile phone a few days ago:
> 
> "CONGRATS: YOUR MOBILE NUMBER HAS WON YOU THE SUM OF $2,000,000 USD ON THE ONGOING Black Berry PROMO. FOR CLAIMS EMAIL FULL NAMES & MOBILE NUMBER TO: claim2011pro@live.com"
> 
> ...



 Congrats, white_crane!
You really must be "*the chosen one*"


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (17 April 2011)

white_crane said:


> Not an internet scam, but I received this on my mobile phone a few days ago:
> 
> "CONGRATS: YOUR MOBILE NUMBER HAS WON YOU THE SUM OF $2,000,000 USD ON THE ONGOING Black Berry PROMO. FOR CLAIMS EMAIL FULL NAMES & MOBILE NUMBER TO: claim2011pro@live.com"
> 
> ...




Sorry mate, that should have been ggumnut@live.com

It's still $2,000,000 USD

gg


----------



## DB008 (17 April 2011)

I put a car up for sale on drive.com.au the other day and got an e-mail buyer inquiry within 20 minutes.

Here is the conversation between me and the scammer...



> From: Nathan Swanson nathanswason03 @ hotmail.com
> Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011 1:46 PM
> To: ME
> Subject: RE: CAR
> ...







> From: ME
> To: Nathan Swanson nathanswason03 @ hotmail.com
> Subject: RE: CAR
> Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:57:56 +1000
> ...






> From: Nathan Swanson nathanswason03 @ hotmail.com
> Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011 2:10 PM
> To: ME
> Subject: RE: CAR
> ...






> From: ME
> To: Nathan Swanson nathanswason03 @ hotmail.com
> Subject: RE: CAR
> Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:18:19 +1000
> ...






> From: Nathan Swanson nathanswason03 @ hotmail.com
> Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011 4:45 PM
> To: ME
> Subject: RE: CAR
> ...




At this point, wanted to double check with a mate who is very knowledgeable on these matters (not to say that I didn't think it was a scam already, doesn't hurt to double check, right?)



> From: ME
> Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011 4:53 PM
> To: *Mate*
> Subject: Does this sound a little bit fishy to you?
> ...







> From: *Mate*
> Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011
> To: ME
> Subject: Does this sound a little bit fishy to you?
> ...




My reply to the scammer;



> From: ME
> Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011 5:34 PM
> To: 'Nathan Swanson'
> Subject: RE: CAR
> ...


----------



## Garpal Gumnut (17 April 2011)

DB008 said:


> I put a car up for sale on drive.com.au the other day and got an e-mail buyer inquiry within 20 minutes.
> 
> Here is the conversation between me and the scammer.
> 
> ...




I received a large amount of spam a few years ago. 

My tactic in response was.

Send a response to the first. Copy and paste all content from this email in to a response to the second. And then reply to the third, with a copy of all the second response in this email.

And so on to the last.

They were very long responses in the last few. 

The spam stopped.

gg


----------



## bellenuit (28 February 2012)

*Scam Alert: Revita Derm Moisturizing Cream*

A friend of mine has recently been caught by this scam.  Apparently when checking her hotmail e-mail account, there was an ad on the page for a free sample of Revita Derm Moisturing Cream. She clicked on the ad which brought her to another web site. It offered her a free sample of the cream, except she would have to pay a nominal amount for shipping costs, the latter to be charged to her credit card which she had to provide _(this should be warning enough that something was not quite right)_. 

The sample arrived, but a few weeks later she received another jar of the cream and again the same another couple of weeks after that. Her credit card was being charged $80 or so a pop for each jar she received. I did some internet searching for her and found that the sample offer is a scam. Not mentioned on the free sample offer page, but only discoverable if you click the very small terms & conditions link at the bottom of the page is that by registering for the sample you are automatically subscribing for regular deliveries of the product at $80 or so a pop, which you are authorising to be charged to the cc you provided for shipping. You must call a number in the UK to cancel the subscription. You will not be surprised to know that the number is never answered, even though it is described as a 24/7 number. 

The only option now seems to be to get the CC company to cancel further payments, but a refund for payments already made seems unlikely. Getting the CC company to cancel further payments isn't so easy. They apparently are suggesting that the auto deductions are valid and my friend must get supplier to cancel the order. I'm awaiting to hear further developments in that respect. I can't see how the CC company can take that attitude if you can show that its impossible to get hold of the supplier to do a cancellation.

I am not 100% sure if Revita Derm themselves are involved in the scam, or whether it is others, but using the Revita Derm product.


----------



## luke256 (28 February 2012)

bellenuit said:


> *Scam Alert: Revita Derm Moisturizing Cream*




Your friend could report the credit card as lost or damaged and request a new card be sent out. 

The new card should have a new number . Any further attempts of them trying to deduct money from her account using the old credit card details should be rejected.

It worked for a friend of mine who was in a similar situation.


----------



## DB008 (28 February 2012)

Pure GOLD! 


http://www.notla.com/archives/2010/07/nigerian-scammer-gets-a-laptop-from-me/


----------



## DB008 (26 September 2012)

Got this one today...



> Good day,
> 
> I am Nikolay Sintsov, personal assistant to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once rated as the richest man in Russia and owner of YUKOS OIL (Russian largest oil company),chairman CEO: Menatep SBP Bank (a well reputable financial institution with its branches all over the world).
> 
> ...


----------



## dutchie (17 November 2012)

ANZ SCAM ALERT

Received this email today:

Dear ANZ customer,

We are currently updating our database in order to introduce a new security measure intended to protect our members from fraud and unauthorized account usage.

You are required to take 2-3 minutes of your time and complete our online form. Please note that failure in validating your information will result in limiting your account.

To access our online form click on the following link:

Click here to access the online form

Thank you,
Jessica Robson,
IT Executive Manager,
ANZ Australia.


----------



## Sir Osisofliver (14 March 2014)

My Wife had an interesting scam I've never seen before happen last night...it wasn't actually an Internet or e-mail scam, so it looks like the scam artists are getting a little more sophisticated.

Here's the skinny.

My wife got a phone call, claiming to be *National Australia Bank fraud division* telling her that her credit card was being used and they urgently needed authorisation to stop the fraudulent transaction from being processed. This was actually pretty clever because I know that the Banks actually do make that kind of phone call and it was outside the normal office hours of the banks phone services. To my wife they sounded very convincing, because they could quote to her the first six numbers of her credit card.  (For those of you who don't know, the first six numbers of your credit card are the IIN Issuer Identification Number, used to be called the Bank identification number, and merely refers to the banking issuer of the VISA card...apparently this information is not hard to find out.)

When my wife began pulling out some documents and *started* quoting account numbers (I shut her down on that *really quickly*) I had her hand the phone over to me....Sir Osisofliver AKA Suspicious bastard with built in bull**** detector.

Within one minute I knew it was a scam... but I have to say it could have fooled my wife who is quite a smart woman, here's why I knew it was a scam....

1) The Indian or Pakistani (see what they did there) accented gentleman on the other end of the phone stressed the urgency of the call...so much that he started to talk over the top of my questions. (I asked him to identify himself and to ask me a security question). His response was that he needed to do this now and I could hold on for the security questions. *(awooga awooga red flag).* Bank staff are trained to asked security questions, and generally let clients know that the phone call is being recorded. If the guy couldn't tell me my full name and the last three transactions on the card he didn't work for the bank.

2) I asked him to call me on my mobile phone (I didn't give him the number) as the home phone handset was almost out of battery. He seemed extremely loathe to do so and attempted to avoid my follow-up question of why don't you have my mobile number on file by getting grumpy and talking over the top of me.

3) By now I'm sure that this is a scam, so I asked him what my last three transactions on the card were. When he couldn't tell me that, I asked him if he knew Bruce Munro (Munro is head of Risk at NAB), because I know Bruce and that my next phone call would be to call the 24 hour security hotline for NAB (which BTW was staffed by a lovely gentleman with an Australian accent down in Melbourne called Brian when I called), lock the card and give Bruce a heads up that scammers were trying to target his clients.

*click*......

This was a pretty sophisticated scam, they had number blockers on the line used, and when I checked the incoming number it was simply listed as +23  (+23) is not a complete country code. These require a third digit to complete the country and specify one of ten possible countries in Africa: 

230: Mauritius 
231: Liberia 
232: Sierra Leone 
233: Ghana 
*234: Nigeria *
235: Chad 
236: Central African Republic 
237: Cameroon 
238 Cape Verde Islands 
239: Sao Tome & Principe


Yup Scam

Cheers

Sir O


----------



## So_Cynical (14 March 2014)

Sir Osisofliver said:


> My Wife had an interesting scam I've never seen before happen last night...it wasn't actually an Internet or e-mail scam, so it looks like the scam artists are getting a little more sophisticated.
> 
> Here's the skinny.
> 
> My wife got a phone call, claiming to be *National Australia Bank fraud division* telling her that her credit card was being used and they urgently needed authorisation to stop the fraudulent transaction from being processed.




Damm that's a nice scam, gona make some Nigerians a lot of money...cold call scamming.


----------



## sptrawler (14 March 2014)

Many thanks for the heads up, SirOsi, will email a heads up to my kids and friends.


----------



## Julia (14 March 2014)

Sir Osisofliver said:


> My Wife had an interesting scam I've never seen before happen last night...it wasn't actually an Internet or e-mail scam, so it looks like the scam artists are getting a little more sophisticated.



Wasn't the only thing you or your wife needed to do was to say you would call the bank to verify the authenticity of the call, rather than get involved in a detailed conversation?
AFAIK the banks are available by phone 24/7 (ANZ certainly is).
It's my bet that you'd only have to say that you would check and the caller would hang up.

I had the experience a couple of years ago of my credit card details being hacked somehow.  No email, no phone call, nothing.  The card has never been out of my sight for a minute.  

Just three completely false charges on the card.  I check my credit card fairly regularly on the website, contacted the bank, and the card was immediately cancelled.  When I asked why their fraud system hadn't picked it up, the reason offered was that the charges were incurred within Australia, and the system is only geared to pick up overseas transactions.
Not good enough imo.


----------



## sptrawler (14 March 2014)

Julia said:


> Wasn't the only thing you or your wife needed to do was to say you would call the bank to verify the authenticity of the call, rather than get involved in a detailed conversation?
> AFAIK the banks are available by phone 24/7 (ANZ certainly is).
> It's my bet that you'd only have to say that you would check and the caller would hang up.
> 
> ...




I have a daughter that is hearing impaired, yet we have encouraged her to be independent. 
I am really grateful of people that can inform me, so I can pre warn her.
She lives independently, bringing up her son and is really proud of her achievements.
It wouldn't take much to make her world come crashing down.

God help anybody that did that.


----------



## Sir Osisofliver (14 March 2014)

Julia said:


> Wasn't the only thing you or your wife needed to do was to say you would call the bank to verify the authenticity of the call, rather than get involved in a detailed conversation?
> AFAIK the banks are available by phone 24/7 (ANZ certainly is).
> It's my bet that you'd only have to say that you would check and the caller would hang up.
> 
> ...




You are of course absolutely correct Julia. In fact that is what I did when I got off the phone...called the bank and verified that it was a scam call and as a prophylactic measure had the bank cancel and reissue the card.

For some people though I can see them getting caught by this and I didn't see anything on the ASIC website about it.

Cheers

Sir O


----------



## DocK (15 March 2014)

Sir Osisofliver said:


> You are of course absolutely correct Julia. In fact that is what I did when I got off the phone...called the bank and verified that it was a scam call and as a prophylactic measure had the bank cancel and reissue the card.
> 
> For some people though I can see them getting caught by this and I didn't see anything on the ASIC website about it.
> 
> ...




I had exactly the same phone call a couple of nights ago, Sir O.  You can generally know you're about to be targeted by a spammer as soon as you answer the phone, as there's a delay of a couple of seconds before the caller responds - I think the numbers are dialled by computer and passed on the scammer if they're answered, or something like that.  Anyway, I was told he was from Mastercard and Visa security and that my card had been used to transfer about $900 to a Brian someone in NZ.  Could I verify that this was correct or did I want to cancel the transaction?  I immediately asked him to give his full name, position and phone number and told him I'd ring him back.  As you've described, he started to talk over the top of me, saying he was from NAB and ANZ credit card security - I cut him off and simply said "nice try mate but I'm not with either" and hung up.  (Then proceeded to quickly check Netbank....).

For the past 12 months or so I've been feeling totally harassed by what sounds like the same man, purporting to be from Microsoft security and telling me I have a virus on my computer - obviously they wish to take control of it remotely.  I can't understand why he keeps ringing my number as I constantly either just hang up without saying a word, or simply tell him I know it's a scam and that he's wasting his time - and then hang up.  One afternoon I think he was just on a power trip, as every time I'd hang up the phone it would ring in 5 mins and it would be him again.  I eventually redirected it to my husband's phone at work and when he answered the phone it finally stopped.  It annoys me greatly that it sometimes seems to take a male voice to convince these spammers that they're wasting their time.  sigh.  I've contacted Telstra to see if there's some way of blocking these calls and they tell me that there're routed through so many different numbers that constantly change that there's little they can do.  Getting a silent number seems to be the only option of removing one's number from public access by these computer operated scam set-ups.

My oldest son has a fun time with them though.  If I get the "microsoft virus" scam call when he's home he loves to pretend to follow all the steps they tell him to follow on the computer, only to say at the very end "Oh damn, I've accidentally turned it off, can we start all over?".  They'll generally suss out that they're being played with and just hang up on him.  I occasionally pretend I'm going to another room to switch on the computer and just put the phone down on the bench and leave them hang.  My husband once answered the phone (after the tell-tale few seconds of silence) with a fake Indian accent of his own and proceeded to ask the caller whether he knew "insert long list of fake Indian sounding names" until they hung up on him.   A friend of mine keeps a whistle next to her phone, and gives them a good long blast - I'm thinking of doing that if these calls persist.

My 84 year old mother has received the Microsoft scam call a few times, but admitted that she may have been fooled for at least a short while by the credit card security scam call, if the caller didn't have an accent.  She assured me that she'd never give any details to anyone over the phone, but said she'd be sure to tell all her friends at Bridge Club as she's sure there's quite a few who would simply be too trusting or gullible.  I hate to think how many people are sucked in and robbed by these scum.


----------



## rumpole (15 March 2014)

I'm not bothered by scammers

I have an answering machine which I let take all calls.

If someone I know speaks, then I take manual control.

Scammers, charity collectors, and whoever else just hang up.


----------



## Julia (15 March 2014)

rumpole said:


> I'm not bothered by scammers
> 
> I have an answering machine which I let take all calls.
> 
> ...




+1.  Saves time and irritation.


----------



## basilio (22 May 2014)

Not yet sure if this is as serious as I see it but I'm very keen to hear some informed comment from IT people.
This  is my writing which I have posted on other forums.


*Critical Issue with Paypal
*
Something has happened this morning with my partners Paypal account that is ringing every red light and bell. I'd like to know if it is happening to anyone else and if it is as serious as I think it might be.

Mary* decided to buy some ink on Ebay. She wanted to pay for it through her Paypal account. She logged in but then she was taken to a security page which wanted here to re identify her account details as a security measure. They had a prompt with the expiry date and the last 4 digits of her accounts of which 2 were "x".

I was initially concerned because I thought this might be phishing exercise. We rang Paypal and the lady on the end said this a legitimate Paypal security request.

*However we then realised that the account prompts were not accurate. Both accounts were not even close to her true details.*

The Paypal women could offer no explanation for the incorrect information being thrown up on Marys account. She said it must be an old account.

*There is no old account. There has only ever been one bank account on her Paypal. Mary had to go to work and the conversation was concluded*

Later today I reviewed the situation. I am now thinking that perhaps there has been a hacking/corruption of Paypals accounting systems. I am thinking that someone now has access to the security page (but not the actual bank details) and as people respond to the security request they are harvesting hundreds/thousands of bank account details....!

30 Minutes ago I rang Paypal again off my own bat to voice my concerns. I reiterated in detail what had happened to a manager who at least seems to understand the potential implications of what I have seen. Because I wasn't the account holder I'm not sure action will be taken until Mary is contacted.

*So. Does anyone here have a possible legit explanation for the incorrect account prompts ? Is my concern legitimate ? Is this happening to anyone ? Could it be connected to the mass hacking of E Bay accounts ?*

    Mary is a pseudonym


Thanks


----------



## Craton (22 May 2014)

Hi basilio,

Check out my posts here: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28466

and here: https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28467

I doubt PayPal has been compromised but ya never know.

Ebay insists that all financial data hasn't been compromised but as the eBay hack appears to be from the inside and executed several months ago, them's hackers have had plenty of time to play silly bugga's.

A RAT attack, now that's entirely possible.

There's also the spectre of the Chinese Army hacking Unit 61398 to consider...
http://tinyurl.com/aophcy2

http://tinyurl.com/o8d74fr

http://tinyurl.com/octybun

Disclaimer. My work is in I.T. servicing and installation


----------



## basilio (22 May 2014)

I did see your posts and thanks.

Still wondering how Paypal gives the wrong prompts for completion of a bank account without something seriously dodgy going on.. Doesn't look at all right..


----------



## Craton (22 May 2014)

I agree that this is very disconcerning.

Without knowing the specifics, this could be a browser hijack or some other malware installed on Mary's system. Check to see system has latest patches and a reliable up-to-date Internet Security solution installed.

MS Essentials or MS Defender aren't ideal for this.

At the very least I'd be changing pwd's ASAP on eBay and PayPal.


----------



## Craton (22 May 2014)

Oh, and has she verified her bank account details within PayPal, I'm guessing she has, juz saying. Good luck with it.


----------



## basilio (22 May 2014)

Pay Pal issue all solved 

The mistaken numbers were a combination of misunderstanding bank details  and forgotten card changes ....

Very glad to say there was no security breach in this case. Yah


----------



## DB008 (22 May 2014)

In future, type the name of the site you are concerned about (eg; eBay), and search it in google.

You could have something like this pop up...



> *eBay Alert: Change Your Passwords Says Auction Site After Massive Security Breach*
> 
> Ebay users, it's that time again: change your password.
> 
> ...




http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/05/21/ebay-password-alert_n_5364499.html


----------



## Craton (23 May 2014)

basilio said:


> Pay Pal issue all solved
> 
> The mistaken numbers were a combination of misunderstanding bank details  and forgotten card changes ....
> 
> Very glad to say there was no security breach in this case. Yah




Ah, that pesky ol' EU (End User) bug strikes again.  Cool it's been sorted and stress levels lowered.


----------



## Judd (29 May 2014)

A variation to the Windows Help Centre calls, folks.  It's now from "Telstra bigpond about your internet connection."  Heavily accented voice and a bit of an amateurish initial presentation at this stage of the game but be warned.


----------



## Julia (12 July 2014)

"Telstra" needing your billing details in order to include you in a wonderful new promotion.

The following might be entirely genuine but I just don't recall Etrade writing anything similar before, so just wondering if other Etrade customers have received this email?


> We are writing to let you know that we have consolidated and simplified our disclosure documents and Terms and Conditions.
> 
> Links to the documents that have been updated are below, please review and save a copy for future reference.
> 
> ...




The Trading Terms and Conditions
Financial Services Guide
Exchange Traded Options Product Disclosure Statement

are all underlined, as in a link.

Rabodirect regularly write to customers and perhaps Etrade has now decided to do the same?


----------



## macca (14 July 2014)

Julia said:


> "Telstra" needing your billing details in order to include you in a wonderful new promotion.
> 
> The following might be entirely genuine but I just don't recall Etrade writing anything similar before, so just wondering if other Etrade customers have received this email?
> 
> ...





Hi Julia,

Just don't click on the link !!!!!!!!!

Use your own link in favourites or Google and go to the website that way, much safer for any of these potential scams or unexpected emails.


----------



## Julia (14 July 2014)

Macca, I had no intention of clicking on the link.  Never do.  I was just curious about whether anyone else had received a similar email.  It's very detailed and could suck in quite a few.


----------



## SirRumpole (14 July 2014)

> My oldest son has a fun time with them though. If I get the "microsoft virus" scam call when he's home he loves to pretend to follow all the steps they tell him to follow on the computer, only to say at the very end "Oh damn, I've accidentally turned it off, can we start all over?".




A relative of mine kept a Microsoft scammer hanging on for half an hour going through all the procedures until finally he (the relative) said "are you sure this is right I don't see the screen you say I should, this is for a Mac isn't it ?"

Click.

Personally, I don't know why he would bother, just hanging up would be the best answer.


----------



## macca (15 July 2014)

Julia said:


> Macca, I had no intention of clicking on the link.  Never do.  I was just curious about whether anyone else had received a similar email.  It's very detailed and could suck in quite a few.




I agree, they are very realistic, I have received them for all sorts of utility companies plus the court appearance version. Mine usually come with the red highlight as being urgent, a dead give away as they are the only people who use it 

I can well imagine an older person being tricked or for that matter, a younger less experienced net surfer, I find it best to trust nothing that is not a reply to one of my emails.

Recently I contacted my local MP and after a month I got a reply and I came so close to deleting it because it only had a reference number on it, no text available as identification until double clicked. Perhaps that is how they avoid replying again, most people would just delete it immediately.


----------



## Julia (19 August 2014)

I doubt anyone here would fall for it, but a current scam attempt purports to be ASIC doing a survey about grocery prices.  Obviously not ASIC's field but some people might not realise that.


----------



## SirRumpole (19 August 2014)

Shortly after joining Facebook I received via email a bogus invoice from someone I have never heard of for goods I had not bought.

I adjusted my privacy settings so that (hopefully) only 'friends' could contact me via email, but I just wonder how many (like me before I found out), don't know that your email address is publicly accessible via Facebook until you change the settings.


----------



## DB008 (27 February 2015)

*Pacific Tycoon*​
*WA Scamnet​*


> Caution urged over sea container investment schemes and promotions (also known as ‘acquisition of maritime containers’)
> 
> WA ScamNet has never received any reports of monetary loss to sea container investment schemes but blog threads suggest there are people who have lost money and what has been a genuine line of business now appears to be a target for scammers.
> 
> ...







*Pacific Tycoon – Investor Red Alert*​


> Pacific Tycoon is a Ponzi Scheme based in Saigon, Vietnam. It does have an office in HK to meet clients, which is at a different address from one published on the website. PT staffs pick up clients at the airport or hotel and take them to that office. They always ask clients the exact date and time they are coming to visit Hong Kong, so as to book flight tickets to get there from Vietnam and fill up the empty office. There are also two part-time local Hong Kong staffs.
> 
> Pacific Tycoon does have Hong Kong phone numbers (land and mobile) beginning with 852, which are just SIMs they bought in HK and bring the phone to Vietnam.
> 
> ...


----------



## trainspotter (20 July 2015)

Placed an ad on Gumtree to sell a quad bike ... within 20 minutes I get an email like this ...



> Thanks for the response,I would have loved to call you directly but due to the nature i work with New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZOG) and we are presently offshore in New Zealand Taranaki Basin on kupe project work, we do not have access to phone at the moment,which is why I contacted you with internet messaging facility.
> 
> I am buying this for my first son who just graduated on top of his class at Aviation University in Western Australia ,I want it to be the perfect graduation gift for him and am making it a surprise package ,Does it have any history I should be aware of? and why are you selling if you don't mind my asking. I don't mind adding an extra $300.00 for you just to take down the posting..I am already in talks with freighters that will handle the pickup and delivery .I will really appreciate if you can email more info
> 
> Due to the nature of my work i am a very busy man working all day, am a (Operating Manager) am presently on-board, i don't have access to my bank account online as am not with my credit card details here but i have my ANZ bank account link up with my PayPal account so I will be paying you through Account to your nominated bank account or better still is if you have a PayPal account ,please get back to me with your BSB and account details or PayPal account so i can proceed with the payment and contact the courier agent who will come to pick it up and deliver it in NT for my son .Await your reply




Sure thing buddy I am going to give you my Paypal and bank account details ...moron.


----------



## SirRumpole (20 July 2015)

trainspotter said:


> Placed an ad on Gumtree to sell a quad bike ... within 20 minutes I get an email like this ...
> 
> 
> 
> Sure thing buddy I am going to give you my Paypal and bank account details ...moron.




No mention of the actual article , only 'it' would act as a warning as well.


----------



## trainspotter (20 July 2015)

SirRumpole said:


> No mention of the actual article , only 'it' would act as a warning as well.




Try Google if you want 1000's of links to the "oil rig" scam trying to get your Paypal and bank account details


----------



## SirRumpole (19 November 2015)

Anyone else getting a recorded message on their phone saying they are about to be arrested for tax evasion ?


----------



## CanOz (19 November 2015)

SirRumpole said:


> Anyone else getting a recorded message on their phone saying they are about to be arrested for tax evasion ?




I heard about that weeks ago on Ross Greenwoods Money News podcast....Total scam...Apparently if you call back if a number is given you can get sworn at by a real person...


----------



## SirRumpole (19 November 2015)

CanOz said:


> I heard about that weeks ago on Ross Greenwoods Money News podcast....Total scam...Apparently if you call back if a number is given you can get sworn at by a real person...




I thought about ringing back and swearing at the mongrel, but deleted the message instead.


----------



## pixel (19 November 2015)

SirRumpole said:


> I thought about ringing back and swearing at the mongrel, but deleted the message instead.




Deleting it is by far he smartest option. Why waste time and money on a call that can't serve any other purpose than telling a d***head something he already knows!


----------



## Tom32 (19 November 2015)

SirRumpole said:


> Anyone else getting a recorded message on their phone saying they are about to be arrested for tax evasion ?




Got same around 2 months ago.

My wife got the message on the answering machine rang me at work panicking. I got her to play the message over the phone. Plugged name of message leaver into Google and discovered it was a hoax.


----------



## Tisme (20 November 2015)

When one of my employees started making lewd calls to my wife, the Federal police recommended a whistle blast into the mouth piece. Call me Tim the Toolman, but I found one of those party air horns much more effective......if you get my drift.


----------



## poverty (20 November 2015)

Tisme said:


> When one of my employees started making lewd calls to my wife, the Federal police recommended a whistle blast into the mouth piece. Call me Tim the Toolman, but I found one of those party air horns much more effective......if you get my drift.




How did his annual performance review go that year?


----------



## SirRumpole (3 June 2018)

Webcam scam.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-...cked-to-make-secret-recordings-online/9807960


----------



## basilio (14 June 2019)

SirRumpole said:


> Webcam scam.
> 
> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-...cked-to-make-secret-recordings-online/9807960





This is an exceptionally clever scam. Well worth reading the story to keep up to date with how you can be fooled. I couldn't fault the pitch..
_________________________________________________

Another story. Another clever scam. 

* My Supermarket Sweep hell: how a visa scam ruined my holiday *
Brigid Delaney
I got scammed by a fake visa website and had to panic buy presents before my money was cut off. No time!

I apply for an Indian tourist visa after going online and googling “India tourist visa”.

I have travelled to India before – and unfortunately was robbed on my first day (during a street food tour in Old Delhi) after I gave my wallet to a friend to put in his backpack for safekeeping. While sampling samosas, his backpack was slashed with a knife and my wallet taken.

This visit will be different. I am determined not to be robbed again!

On Monday, applying for a tourist visa, I become bored with the amount of questions on the form. Mother’s maiden name? Her date of birth? My bank account details? Four photos of me? A scan of my passport? My last trip to India? Where did I go? (“Delhi,” I answer somewhat sourly).

The fee for the visa is almost $300. That’s weird, I think. It should be US$80.

I don’t think much more of it, until Wednesday morning in London, when I can’t access my online banking.

Calling my bank in Australia, I am put through to the fraud team.

“We think your account was accessed without authorisation,” they tell me. Using my details from the fake Indian visa website, someone has made a copy of my bank card and attached it to their phone. The previous night they have gone on a spending spree around Melbourne.
https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-sweep-hell-how-a-visa-scam-ruined-my-holiday


----------



## basilio (8 January 2020)

*Travelex 'being held to ransom' by hackers said to be demanding $3m*
Cyber-attack forced currency exchange firm to take down all its global websites
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...x-being-held-ransom-hackers-said-demanding-3m


----------



## moXJO (14 October 2020)

Commonwealth bank accounts are currently getting hacked. Turn off overseas payments if you use the app


----------



## basilio (17 November 2020)

The BitCoin scam program has a very persuasive pitch.
Seems like even Tony Abbott is spruiking it.. (*No he isn't..)*

national
*breaking news*
 *FINANCIAL INSPECTION: Tony Abbott risks 10 years in prison for Australians using his new app to "get rich too fast"  *

_          Australian citizens are already raking in millions of dollars from home using this "wealth loophole" - but is it legitimate?  

https://smartinvestors.guru/Abbott-...&rc_uuid=2fb42693-d827-4155-a3cd-10b9f79b5b5b_


----------



## noirua (22 March 2021)

Resident Evil 8 just the latest game plagued by fake demos and early access scams
					

We look at the rise in video game scams promising early access to upcoming titles, but delivering nothing but phishing and malware




					blog.malwarebytes.com


----------



## basilio (16 April 2021)

*Stay alert if you intend to buy a Tesla car.*

Dangerous and quite effective scam around which has targeted people buying a Tesla. Tesla deals directly with the customers sends and invoice for the car and requests transfer of funds into their account.
Perhaps.. 









						Andrea wanted to drive a Tesla for the 'rest of her days'. Scammers got in the way
					

Two Australian Tesla customers lost thousands of dollars after invoices sent by Tesla were hacked and the payment details changed. They say something needs to change to protect consumers.




					www.abc.net.au


----------



## basilio (19 May 2021)

Here's something to consider when your browsing the next "wow" product* being promoted on Google or elsewhere.*
I saw an ad for Infinitkcloud which promises to let you simply, easily and safely back up your computer, hone or other device.  Wow really ?

The pitch was excellent. Just so real and authentic ! I felt a (strong) twinge of desire for this new marvel that would ensure  some security for my temperamental IT.

Anyway I took the next step which for me is typing in  Infinitikloud scam and seeing what came up.

This find from Trust Pilot is well worth sharing. Well worth checking out the other reviews of this *very compelling *scam.


 
           Dystran

                               1 review

                                       GB








Updated 1 May 2021


                        How scams can work                ​ 
_This is what I noticed based on my research. Companies make a bad, cheap, or fake item. The put up a website using daft "applying discounts" and other highly exaggerated marketing gimmicks. They then set up their own range of websites pretending to be independent review sites (or pay fake review sites to rate their products) and which rate their own product as a top product. 

They pay google ads or similar is used to bring those websites to the top pf search engines when people search for their products. They sometimes compare their products within the reviews to other bad products that they also own or sell, just in case someone buys those instead. When they see bad reviews on websites, they copy paste stock nice polite responses, just in case that might persuade a couple more people to ignore the bad review and carry on buying.

 Lesson is to use ratings from *respectable established* independent review website, *forget anything that is a google ad, *and consider buying an establish product brand if you wish to remove the risk. I am sure you can decide how much of the above relates to this product.









						Infinitikloud is rated "Bad" with 1.4 / 5 on Trustpilot
					

Do you agree with Infinitikloud's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 48 customers have already said.




					au.trustpilot.com
				



_


----------



## basilio (19 May 2021)

This is the pitch that sucks you into Infinitikloud




__





						I Almost Lost EVERYTHING on My Computer — This Device Saved Me!
					





					techly.so
				




By the way the rest of the Trust Pilot reviews give a indication of the pain this deal will cause.
You might consider forwarding the ad to someone who needs to have their character strengthened.. but that would result in some pretty bad karma.


----------



## basilio (19 May 2021)

As an afterthought has anyone here seriously believed you can save 90% of your power bill will a simple little device ?
There are a hundred versions of this  "scam story" that routinely pop up on my phone and computer.
Makes one wonder about the role of google ads  in supporting the scam economy.


----------



## bellenuit (19 May 2021)

basilio said:


> As an afterthought has anyone here seriously believed you can save 90% of your power bill will a simple little device ?



Master On/Off switch?


----------



## basilio (25 August 2021)

A bit of history.
Who remembers the story of Robert Vesco?

The heading says it all. (In fact he created a company called  RPL  )

*RAPE, PLUNDER AND LOOT: THE STORY OF THE FUGITIVE FINANCIER*​





Mo Lidsky
Mar 3, 2020·7 min read






Robert Lee Vesco was determined that his humble beginnings would not define him. Born to a Detroit autoworker in 1935, he lied about his age to begin working at an auto repair shop at age fifteen and then enrolled in night school to become an engineer. From there, he moved to New Jersey to work at a machine tool plant, eventually taking it over when it went bankrupt and dropping out of school to focus on promoting his business. In 1966, Vesco merged his defunct company with another equally unsuccessful enterprise to form a shell company named Cryogenics, which he referred to as a “fabulous moneymaking machine.” He began borrowing oodles of money and specialized in finding weak companies on which to perform hostile takeovers.

rape, plunder and loot: the story of the fugitive financier​https://medium.com › ...

He found “more” in the ruins of _Bernie Cornfeld_. Cornfeld was a celebrated playboy ... So he gladly lent Vesco the $5 million to present to _IOS_ as his own.


----------



## mullokintyre (4 February 2022)

Farewell suckers, I doubt I will be posting on here any more as the UN is about to give me over 5mill  for nothing.
Got this fantastic email today.
Mick



> Attention: Beneficiary
> 
> How are you doing today? Hope all is well with you and family? You may not Understand why this mail came to you. We have been having a meeting for the past Seven months which ended 3 days ago with the former secretaries to the UNITED NATIONS.
> 
> ...


----------



## Belli (10 February 2022)

This is a new one for me.

Received an email from supposedly EBay advising goods had been delivered.  Looked very legit.  I haven't bought anything from EBay for a number of years.  Sent to Google as a phishing email, not that that will do any good, and then deleted it without opening.


----------



## rederob (10 February 2022)

Belli said:


> This is a new one for me.
> 
> Received an email from supposedly EBay advising goods had been delivered.  Looked very legit.  I haven't bought anything from EBay for a number of years.  Sent to Google as a phishing email, not that that will do any good, and then deleted it without opening.



I get most of these scams on my mobile - nearly every weekday now - with a link to check delivery arrangements.  Every single one has a different originating mobile number so I cannot block them.
I wonder why carriers cannot do something to kill them off!


----------



## Joe Blow (10 February 2022)

rederob said:


> I wonder why carriers cannot do something to kill them off!




The SMS messages are being sent from phones that have been infected by Malware (i.e. they have clicked the link sent to them by other infected phones and have also clicked the link). So there's not much the carriers can do as the messages are being sent from legitimate customer accounts. If you SMS one of these numbers back it will be received by some person who may not know their phone has been infected by Malware and is sending out SMS messages on behalf of scammers. 

I get a lot of them too and looked into why so many different numbers were being used to send these messages.


----------



## mullokintyre (10 February 2022)

My blocked caller list is almost the size of the old Melbourne white pages.
Mick


----------

