The new site features a channel for consumers to report scams they’ve encountered, a “Scam Aggregator” with links to articles around the web, and email alerts.

I encourage you to poke around the site and sign up for the alerts. It’s still new, so it will be interesting to see what scams they uncover.

A telephone scam that attempts to steal credit card information from hotel guests has resurfaced in Alaska. The potential victim will receive a call on the phone in their hotel room. The caller claims to be an employee of the hotel, and tells the victim there was a problem processing their credit card, then attempts to get the victim to reveal credit card information over the phone.

If you receive such a call, hang up and contact the hotel desk directly and ask about the call. In almost every case, the front desk will tell you they didn’t place the call.

Of course, given my sense of humor, I would have gone the absurdist route. My hoaxes would have promised a virus that “MAKES A FIST ON YR SCREEN N PUNCHES YR FACE FOR REAL!!!” or something.

Of course, I might have been dismayed if people had actually believed it.

Alas, I never went that route (plus, I’m sure there’s some way you can get in legal trouble for that kind of monkey business, so there’s that, too). However, I still get a kick out of some of these. Here’s one that’s resurfaced:

Subject: URGENT!!! VIRUS WARNING:

URGENT!!
 
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CONTACTS!
 
In the coming days, you should be aware…..Do not open any message with an attachment called: Invitation FACEBOOK, regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an OlympIc torch that burns the whole hard disc C of your computer.
 
This virus will be received from someone you had in your address book. That’s why you should send this message to all your contacts. It is better to receive this email 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
 
If you receive an email called: Invitation FACEBOOK, though sent by a friend, do not open it and delete it immediately. It is the worst virus announced by CNN. A new virus has been discovered recently that has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
It is a Trojan Horse that asks you to install an adobe flash plug-in. Once you install it, it’s all over.. And there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information of their function is saved.
 
SNOPES SAYS THIS IS TRUE………… http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/youtube.asp

Actually, Snopes says this is a hoax. The link in the message is for a completely different threat.

Whoever wrote this does not have the faintest idea of how computers function. How exactly does it “burn” your “whole hard disc C”? Do they mean that literally, as in, there will be smoke and stuff?

For that matter, since when is Microsoft in the business of classifying computer viruses as the “most destructive virus ever”? Would Microsoft use language that inaccurate (“most _____ ever”)?

The real lesson here is this: if you get an email about a virus and uses any variation of “THIS IS NOT A HOAX!” (including references to Snopes), there is about a 99% chance that it is totally a hoax and that you should click “delete” instead of “forward.”

In any case, always check it out first, before you panic or forward the message.

From: Fraud Monitoring
Subject: CRITICAL: There may be a change to your Experian credit-score

ALERT: There may have been a change to one of your 3 credit-scores!

Your Experian, Equifax & TransUnion Scores are your Ticket to a New car, Credit-cards, a Mortgage & more!

Poor 301-600
Good 600-700
Excellent 700-849

View Your Up-to-the-minute Credit-Scores Now, It’s On Us! Click here.

[note: there were about twenty blank lines here]

To no longer receive notifications and updates about this offer, please use this safe unsub link.

[note: the following was in tiny white text, which made it invisible until you highlighted it]

Zuzim in which he would hardly with great deep sleep to Simeon and found there. And planted a mixed multitude of the man, and he can bear. Behold, to us, and I will send thee will harden the Egyptians in the daughters of Zibeon and kissed him, and thou art gone out to see the Red Sea; there is better that shall be buried him the children, or bad. And Jehovah went down, and thy hand of the people go, that my venison, and tarried there was dead, and go in the seven ears, withered, thin, well favored. Haste ye, and the men into the goats: and bring it was returned in them, and begat Lamech. And the land of Rebekah said unto the king of the righteous with the nakedness of the sheep, and begat a dream, and, behold, his sons, Shem, and ye to Paddan-aram. And Noah were both the sword. And when he made me in the thing was grain which he believed in blessing I pray you, and our God, the third stories shalt keep it; and will not who knew not regard not so to my signs in our land was good. And chose him for an officer of the children of the children of the generations ye shall eat every tree or not. And it unto him, Abraham. And he had, in at the water in the sons of the first-born. And he said, Behold now, Jehovah came in the same is the windows of thee. And God called Esau her son, while he did eat their generations. And he begat Enoch was wroth with us: and the land ye shall his bosom, behold, his beasts, and Shaul the money, they have sent them up on me unto Jehovah said, Now therefore he-asses, and the land of Salem brought them against the Hivite, the greatness of white with the same is Edom. And he had done this place. And Joseph said when we found: know him. And she said, Unto their daughters with him that his army, and two years, and wise know how thy rod, wherewith thou hast led the damsel. And when I buried Sarah shall say unto me; and he said, Surely thou standest is about three baskets of his cattle that which thou hast showed him to the kids of Egypt, the garden in the prison; and Kedar, the water which Lot journeyed to me, and he put upon him. And the Hebrews’ children. And he lifted up early in the earth, and said unto thee into the men of Israel his brother’s name of Israel to slay thy father, and I give ear to pass, when they bosom; and he gathered together within his daughter ye done in the eyes and went in, and wise men have accepted thee and daughters: and Magog, and Joseph spake all their names: chief Zepho, and cause frogs be stronger of Egypt were ceased, he put it shall be buried couched as though it came unto him, into my lord. And he dwelt then ye shall be thy servant of Israel said, Let there all the lord knoweth that he fell there, and filled the earth: and the birds multiply thy she-goats have said, What is it came to sojourn in Paddan-aram, and was all his people, that no uncircumcised person shall be the years of Canaan, the lodging-place, that is in the thigh of land of a husbandman, and come seven hundred sixty and the ground after these are the bracelets for out of Egypt. Then Joseph understood them;

[note: the following was fully visible text]

All of a sudden, I was hearing stories about how difficult I was to work with, ridiculous rumors about drugs and what a diva I was. I never had to go to rehab or a program.

[note: it concluded with this footer image]

I thought it might be useful to point out a few things about this message.

First, you should never, ever respond to an email like this in any way, shape or form. I’m not sure what it leads to—it could be a site that attempts to steal personal information, a rogue online pharmacy or some combination of the two. Even clicking the “safe unsub link” could lead to problems.

Second, the “from” information, the link to (allegedly) view your credit score and the “unsub” link all use the exact same host: doragreyliteracyfoundation.com.

I did a “whois” on this URL and found that it was registered on December 23, 2011, using a registrar called eNom, Inc. Four things about this fun fact:

1. The website was registered eleven days before the message was sent, yet they somehow already had my email address.
2. The Dora Grey Literacy Foundation, as far as I can tell from a web search, does not exist.
3. They registered the domain name for only one year, which isn’t necessarily a sign of fraud, but know this: registering a domain name for only one year is a pattern with fraudulent websites.
4. As of October 2010, eNom, Inc. was the registrar for around 40% of rogue online pharmacy sites, according to a source cited at Krebsonsecurity.com.

Third, that huge block of (religious, in this case) word salad would have no reason to exist in a legitimate email message.

Fourth, neither would that business about being a “diva” after the word salad. I looked it up; it’s a quote from Irene Cara. Yeah, the person who sang “Fame” and played Coco Hernandez.

Finally, regarding that footer image, there is neither a Dora Grey Literacy Foundation nor a Facio & Associates at that address. “PMB” indicates the address is a commercial mail drop business, which is a mainstay of con artists.

Amazing what you can learn with a little research, isn’t it?

I don’t always write a new article about it because I would just end up with a template; “There’s a new scam on Facebook, claiming that ____ is giving away $_____ gift cards for liking a page. Don’t do it.” I’d rather just talk about the principle than rehash the specifics every single time.

For one thing, think about the numbers: Ikea is giving away $1,000 gift cards to everyone on Facebook? There are 800 million people on Facebook. That means their budget for this one promotion would be $800 billion. Ikea’s profits in 2010 were “only” 2.7 billion. Heck, the entire GDP of Sweden was $338 billion last year.

But, just in case you’d like a few examples of things you’re not going to get for free just for clicking “like” on a page, here’s a brief list:

• $100 Costco gift card
• $1,000 Ikea gift card
• Amazon.com gift card
• $100 KFC gift card
• $1,000 Walmart gift card
• Free iPad2
• $50 Starbucks gift card
• $25 iTunes gift card
• A free gift card in any amount, or a free trendy high-tech device, from any retailer in the entire Universe, including all possible parallel Universes and/or dimensions, from now until the very end of Time itself (and in all future incarnations thereof if it turns out Time is cyclical and is repeated on a Cosmic infinite loop of some kind), ever, just for “liking” page on Facebook. This includes if you find yourself in a whimsical land of magic and wonder after chasing a white rabbit down a hole, or after hiding in a wardrobe and ending up in a forest and being greeted by the Faun Tumnus.

That last one is a little more general.

The point is: these are scams. They always have been, and they always will be. Don’t “like” the pages, don’t even visit the pages. If you’ve got friends who keep falling for this stuff, tell them it’s a scam. Every single time if you have to. A little public shaming can go a long way.

Subject: The cheapest way to buy new car, once a year

Hi Regional Federal Credit Union, this is an Incredible Opportunity for You to get Brandnew Car at Super-Saving Price

Last Chance to get up to $7000 off on all Vehicles Model 2011 Blowout Sales.This happens only Once a year.
Register now for Free and get your price quote for all possible saving brandnew autos.
Hurry up, only few days left to win those crazy deals.

Start Saving up to $7000 by spending 2 minutes to fill out the registration form here

Rule #1 of dealing with spam: if they’re using the name of the place you work as if it’s your name, there is no logical reason to click on anything within the message or to respond in any way other than to delete the message.

Crooxting? Because they’re crooks, and they’re texting you. Something tells me this is going to be an uphill endeavor. Sort of like trying to make ‘fetch’ happen.

Anyway, this showed up on my phone the other day, in two parts:

FRM:ci2 h5j8
MSG:Bestbuys giving away
Leftover Cyber-Monday
$1000 giftcards at:
goo.gl/6u2nQ?QQHEJ go
claim yours

ci2 is texting
you for free using Textie
app. You can reply or text
‘stop’ to block, Get Textie
free in the iPhone App
Store.

I’ll give you a shiny new penny* if you can find five things that DON’T scream “absolute scam” about this, because I sure couldn’t.

I also won’t be texting ‘stop’ to anyone, either; I don’t want to confirm that mine was a genuine phone number.

If you get one of these, just delete it.

*Disclaimer: Not a genuine offer. I don’t have a shiny new penny. Which is making this Penny Racer totally unfun to play with, by the way. No wheelie action at all.

Example #1:

This one showed up on Weather.com today (without the arrows and giant NO, obviously; those are my additions).

Now, that’s a pretty reputable website. I mean, generally you look at your city’s weather page and it says SNOW, and you look out the window and hey presto, it’s actually snowing. But the site is just littered with ads like this. You’re not getting a gigantic TV for 60 bucks, and you’re not getting car insurance for $9, unless they mean per day. Don’t click.

Example #2:

This one came from CNN.com, another reputable website. Nobody is selling an iPad for $14. Nobody. Apple doesn’t discount. Know why? They don’t have to. They could come out with a $7,500 Macbook tomorrow, in this economy, and it would be a hit with their core users.

Once again, just ignore these ads. Do what I would do if I wasn’t paying attention to this junk for the purpose of writing about it. (I’d also ignore that noise about “penny stock rockets” and “Royal Caribbean whatever”, too.)

Never give money or personal information to a person who calls, emails or approaches you out of the blue. If you receive a request to donate, research the charity before you respond. www.bbb.org and www.charitynavigator.org are a great place to start.

Beware of charities with names that are similar to well-known organizations, and never make a check out to an individual. Also never make a check out to “CAS,” no matter what “CAS” allegedly stands for; a crook has simply to add an “H” and they’ve got a check from you made out to “CASH.”

Better yet, decide now which charities you’d like to support, and make your donation early. When asked to donate to others, politely explain that you’ve completed your budgeted giving for the year.

Dear sir/madam
 
This is a personal email directed to you. I and my wife won a Jackpot Lottery of $11.3 million in July and have voluntarily decided to donate the sum of $500,000.00 USD to you as part of our own charity project to improve the lot of 10 lucky individuals all over the world. If you have received this email then you are one of the lucky recipients and all you have to do is get back with us so that we can send your details to the payout bank. Please you have to help me in prayer for my wife, You can verify this by visiting the web pages below.*(allen.violet.large01@filipinos.ca)*
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40009180/ns/us_news-giving/t/retired-couple-gives-away-million-lottery-win/
 
Note: YOU HAVE TO CONTACT MY PRIVATE EMAIL *( allen.violet.large01@filipinos.ca )* FOR MORE INFO
 
Goodluck,
Allen and Violet Large
Email: allen.violet.large01@filipinos.ca

Here’s what was so brilliant about it: you know how these scam email messages always contain disguised links (e.g., the link says “chase.com” but really takes you to some spyware-infested website with a .ru domain)?

The website shown in the message wasn’t disguised at all. Furthermore, it really takes you to an MSNBC article. Further furthermore, there really was an elderly couple from Nova Scotia named Allen and Violet Large, who really won $11 million playing the lottery, and who really did give it all away. I didn’t remove the link from the message quoted above—it’s safe to go ahead and click on it (it’s actually kind of a neat story).

So how do I know it’s not real, and is in fact just another Nigerian 419-style scam?

First off, it arrived via email. To me, it’s already suspicious. Secondly, it’s an email that’s telling me I’m going to get a large amount of cash for doing nothing. At this point, I’m already one thousand percent sure it’s fraudulent.

But let’s really make a case against it, shall we? Read the first paragraph of the MSNBC article (emphasis mine):

An elderly couple who won around $11 million from a lottery ticket in Canada have given the money away to good causes and family, according to media reports.

Have given. Not “are giving.” It’s a done deal, dude; if you’re not a good cause or related to the Larges, and if you haven’t already received money from them, you’re not getting any ’cause there ain’t no more.

Finally, the senders made a rookie mistake: the “from” line didn’t say Allen Large or Violet Large, nor did it contain the “filipinos.ca” email address; instead the message appeared to come from a completely different name with a scasd.us email address (it’s that of a real person, so I won’t give any more details than that).

I don’t know where this scam is coming from, so I can’t say if it’s just a plain old Nigerian 419-style scam or a Nigerian Nigerian 419 scam, but I noticed the signature at the end uses the word “Goodluck” instead of “good luck,” and it only stood out to me because I know that the President of Nigeria is actually named Goodluck Jonathan.

Then again, that could just be a typo; since we already know it’s a scam, we’re really just sort of nitpicking at this point.