Let’s kick off the long weekend with a derpy lottery scam

May 24, 2013

Many of us (here in the States, anyway) will spend today looking forward to a nice three-day weekend, visions of grilled meat, open-wheel race cars and (if you’re like me) binge-watching the entire fourth season of Arrested Development on Netflix dancing in their heads.

Seems like a good time for a “fun” sort of post, so let’s snark at a bad lottery scam email I received this morning:

From: [redacted]@co.pg.md.us
Subject: ! Are You Aware!!

Your email has been announced the winner of the Microsoft E-mail Sweepstakes of 5.6, Million Pounds. Please send these informations:
Full Name:
Address:
Tel / Mobile No.:
Country:
Occupation:
Sex / Age:
Alternative E-mail:
Contact Mrs. Kathrin Rogers: { Kath.rogers@msn.com<mailto:kath.rogers@msn.com> } OR { Kath.rogers@rogers.com<mailto:kath.rogers@rogers.com> } with details. Sincerely, Josphine B. Clay
(Microsoft Management Board, Copyright 1991-2013)

—————————————————————————————

This E-mail and any of its attachments may contain Prince George’s
County Government or Prince George’s County 7th Judicial Circuit
Court proprietary information or Protected Health Information,
which is privileged and confidential. This E-mail is intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this E-mail,
you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution,
copying, or action taken in relation to the contents of and
attachments to this E-mail is strictly prohibited by federal law
and may expose you to civil and/or criminal penalties. If you have
received this E-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately
and permanently delete the original and any copy of this E-mail and
any printout.

Oh, where to even begin?

For one thing, it doesn’t say I won anything. My email, on the other had, has won 5.6 million pounds. Fat lot of good it will do.

Also: pounds? Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, conducts business in pounds? Sure. Whatever.

“Please send these informations.” Uh-huh. Because Microsoft doesn’t have enough money to hire people who use proper grammar.

! Are You Aware!! Um, ?No I’m Am Not ! !!

Why would a message about a Microsoft sweepstakes come from a Prince George’s County, Maryland email address?

Why would the disclaimer refer to said county, and not, oh…I don’t know…maybe Microsoft?

Finally: there is absolutely no such thing as a Microsoft E-Mail Sweepstakes, nor has there ever been, and nor will there ever be. But if you’ve been reading this site for a while, you already knew that one, didn’t you?

Have a good weekend. Stay vigilant. (Also, try grilling corn with garlic butter and without wrapping it in foil if you’re cooking out this weekend. You have to move it around a lot to avoid flare-ups and burnt corn, but dude…seriously, you’ll never do it the old way again.)

Leave a Comment » | Lottery Scams | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Clint

Don’t try to get something for nothing

March 29, 2013

Sometimes you walk a fine line when you’re writing about how-to-not-get-swindled. On one hand, a victim is a victim, and it’s not nice to place blame on them. On the other, there are scams that prey upon some all-too-human tendencies  (which we all have within us, make no mistake about it) to be a little avaricious.

When it comes to this category of scams, here’s the rule: don’t try to get something for nothing.

Think about all the fake iPad scams you’ve heard about. A guy approaches you at a gas station and offers to sell you a brand new iPad for a super-low price. You find out later that the box contains a mirror or some other non-iPad object.

It’s no fun to get conned, but ask yourself: is there anything about a guy selling iPads at a gas station that doesn’t scream “This is not legit!” when you really think about it? Apple doesn’t sell its products from cars at filling stations.This is either a scam or an attempt to unload stolen goods. You’re almost better off with the mirror.

What about the Pigeon Drop scheme? Forget the whole “Let’s have this person hold your good-faith money while we do this-or-that to divvy up this satchel of cash we found” angle…how many movies do you have to watch to know that “satchel full of money” equals “drug dealers/hit men/bank heists/things you don’t want to get within ten miles of”? Honest people who find big stashes of currency contact law enforcement, because there’s no way that cash is not evidence of some major crime. It couldn’t be more obvious if it was in a big white sack with a huge dollar sign printed on it.

The rule applies to all manner of scams and rip-offs. $437 sounds a bit steep for an hour of work, doesn’t it? Then don’t fall for the secret shopper scams. Brand-name prescription drugs for a tenth of the cost? Sounds too good to be true! That’s because it is.

We’re all looking out for ourselves on some level. If I see a ten-dollar bill bouncing merrily down the sidewalk on a windy day, I’ll pick it up. But I’ll also check around me to make sure nobody was chasing it, or standing there with that distraught look that can only mean one thing: their tenner just blew away. (For the record: this never happens to me…I’m much more likely to be the one with the distraught face.)

However, moving forward, remember this: if someone approaches you offering something for nothing (or next to it), take warning. You’re either about to be scammed or become an accomplice.

Leave a Comment » | General Scams | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Clint

Lottery scam originates from 876 area code (Jamaica)

March 15, 2013

It’s an old scam with a slight twist: lottery scammers based in Jamaica are using threats of physical violence to get victims to wire money.

Usually if you ignore a scam, that’s the end of it. Apparently this group takes it really personally, though; if a potential victim refuses to bite, they make threats. At that point, I suppose the whole “you won the lottery” angle is abandoned and it just becomes pure extortion.

Sometimes I make really general statements, and I’m going to do it again here: unless you personally know someone who lives in Jamaica or own/work for a company that does business in the country, don’t even answer phone calls from the 876 area code. There are exactly zero good reasons you should be getting out-of-the-blue phone calls from random people in Jamaica. The St. Louis BBB has some additional information about this scam.

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Posted by Clint

FTC lawsuit reveals what actually happens if you fall for one of those “Free Gift Card” spam text messages

March 8, 2013

Back in April 2012, The Consumerist reported that around 4.5 billion spam texts were sent to U.S. cell phones in 2011 (“Yeah, and I got about 2 billion of those myself,” I remember thinking).

Yesterday, The Consumerist released an article that gives a little insight into how those soul-crushingly irritating “Free $1,000 Gift Card” spam texts actually work. The good news is: the FTC has 29 people in their legal crosshairs, whom they believe to be responsible for 180 million of those texts. The “meh” news is: what about the other six quadrillion spam texts?

Anyway, for those unlucky enough to fall for the free gift card text scam, here’s a brief rundown of what actually happens:

  1. You’re directed to a website that collects an awful lot of personal information, including medical data in some cases, before you’re allowed to proceed
  2. You are taken to another site that requires participation in a bunch of “offers” before you can get the gift card
  3. This required more personal data, including credit card numbers for “subscriptions” or to actually apply for credit
  4. You’re told you have to get (i.e. trick) three more people into signing up before you can claim your gift card
  5. You never, ever, EVER actually get a free $1,000 gift card, because if spammers actually delivered on their promises, they wouldn’t be spammers.

For the FTC to go after 29 people is a good start, but you know as well as I do there are probably a thousand more involved in these schemes. So if the “Free $1,000 Best Buy Gift Card” texts continue to arrive, just continue to ignore ‘em, like always.

Comments Off | Spam | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Clint

Car Wrap Advertising Scam

March 1, 2013

There are times when a scam is completely new, but those instances are exceedingly rare. For the most part, “new” scams use tried-and-true methods to lure victims, and it usually doesn’t take long for a “new” scheme to enter familiar territory.

One “new” con is the Car Wrap Advertising Scam. It starts with an emailed offer to earn $400+ per week just to drive your own car with graphics from an energy drink or other company plastered all over it. It’s a novel offer, and it appears many of the emails are well-written and devoid of the broken English, weird tabbing/spacing and initial “Greetings!” salutation.

However, there are already three warning signs, and that’s without even looking at an actual example:

  1. The offer arrives via email
  2. They’re offering a lot of money for zero work
  3. Energy drink companies are, above all else, extremely image-conscious; they’re not going to send random people offers to wrap their cars if there’s any chance their logo might end up on some sketchy old pickup with rust holes a house cat could climb through.

So that last one’s a bit trickier, but still: at this point your inner “Scam Radar” should at least be registering that something isn’t quite right.

What happens if you respond to the message?

They send you a cashier’s check for a few thousand dollars. They tell you it’s your first payment in advance, and that the excess is for the graphic designer who will be applying the graphics to your car.

Can you guess what the victim’s next instructions are? (Hint: at this point, your inner Scam Radar should be on the brink of blowing up, because you’ve heard of this one before.)

If you said, “Wire the excess money to a stranger,” you win a shiny new silver dollar.*

It’s the secret shopper scam all over again: cash this check, wire it to us, find out a week later the check was fraudulent and you’re out several thousand dollars.

So today’s lesson is: beware of old scams wrapped in new, hip, edgy energy drink graphics.

*You don’t actually win a shiny new silver dollar.

2 Comments | Mystery Shopper Scams, Scams | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Clint

When a stranger calls…don’t go loading up a Green Dot card, then giving them the number and PIN

February 22, 2013

In what appears to be a new twist on an old scam (aren’t they all, though?), some people have reported a new round of lottery scam phone calls.

In this variation, the would-be victim is told they’ve won a major award, then instructed to purchase a Green Dot (or other brand) card, load it with a specific amount of money, then call the scammer back with the card number and PIN.

What would happen next, of course, is that the scammer would use this information to unload the card and leave the victim without a million dollars or a Mercedes.

It’s easy to see through once you take a step back: the out-of-nowhere call informs you of your fabulous prizes, the bizarre instructions to claim said prizes. The fact that, once you give someone a Green Dot card number and PIN, whatever money is in the account is as good as theirs.

You know what would be awesome? If they ever catch one of these scammers, instead of sending them to jail, forcing them to actually deliver the prizes they promised. “What? Six months in jail? Pfft. Oh, no. You told 106 people they’d won a Mercedes and a million dollars. Now cough ‘em up…“

Comments Off | Lottery Scams | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Clint

Beware sneaky web addresses

February 15, 2013

I came across something interesting not too long ago. I can’t remember if it was part of a junk email message or a spam comment on this site. It really doesn’t matter either way.

There was a pitch for some sketchy health/beauty/investment/dating product or service and a shortened URL. I already knew it was a scam or a rip-off, but I was curious to see where that shortened URL led. I copy-and-pasted it at LongURL, which is still a fine tool for checking out a link before you click.

I forget the specific contents of the website. Again, that part doesn’t matter so much for my purposes today. What does matter is the address the shortened URL pointed to: www.cnbc.com-feb-finance.net/[removed]. (By the way: there’s no link to the actual site for a reason).

Look at that address closely; it looks like it points to www.cnbc.com, the mainstream stock market and business news site, but it doesn’t.

The actual domain is “com-feb-finance.net“ — you’ve got to look closely to see that what comes after the “com” is not a slash, but a dash.

Most web browsers make detecting this trick relatively easy, since they highlight every website’s domain in some way (with a background color, bold text, etc.). But if you’re using an old web browser like Internet Explorer 6, you may glance at the URL, see “www.cnbc.com” and assume the site is reputable.

So be cautious when visiting a new website. If someone is attempting to deceive you with the URL, you can rest assured their motives are sinister.

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Posted by Clint

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