World of Warcraft - Account Investigation‏

A friend of mine forwarded this one to me and it is very clever. I'll add what he had to say about the email after he looked a little closer and even contacted Blizzard to verify.
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Just got this recently. A truly clever one. Looks VERY official... to the point of where I forwarded it to Blizzard just to verify. The only thing that is strange about this one is that it's from the "EU" division (Europe). All reference links are legitimate, but the one you are expected to use to take action is disguised.

While the link visibly says it takes you to "us.battle.net" if you right click the link and select "copy link location" then paste it in a document it says; **my email info removed**/dereferrer/?target=http%3A%2F%2Fus.battle.1ognin.net%2Flogin%2Fen%2Findex.htm%3Fref%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fus.battle.net%252Faccount%252Fmanagement%252Findex.xml%26app%3Dbam

Notice the portion I highlighted, one it's not the address visibly shown, and two it's faked to look like something official where 2Fus.battle is different and word "login" is spelled with a number 1 not a lower case L (Certain fonts make it hard to tell the difference. This example is easy because they didn't change the L in battle to match the 1 in Login.) Hyperlinks are useful tools but can be used to redirect you without your knowledge.

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And here is the email he received..

It is a very clever fake that almost any unsuspecting World of Warcraft user might fall for. By clicking on the link you would be sent to another fake page asking you to log in with your account details and the information you enter would be sent to the person responsible for this scam giving away your account info and costing you your account. (I can't show you the example of the page because it has already been taken down after being reported as fraud)

Maybe you're not a gamer and cannot possibly understand why someone would want to steal a World of Warcraft account. It's just a game right? To some, yes. To others its a LOT of time, effort, and money, put into a hobby and there are some people out there who want to take your time and effort from you, sell it, and profit from it.

You wouldn't sign something without reading it right? Don't ever click on hyperlink in your email or on facebook without first hovering over it and checking the bottom left corner of your screen to make sure you are actually going where you think you are. If the link destination does not show in the bottom of your screen simply do as my friend did and right click, copy link location, and paste in notepad. Because the next link you blindly click could be from an email appearing to be from your bank asking you to log in. How important are the contents of your back account to you? Worth taking a few seconds to look at a link i'd assume.

As always (although it doesn't pertain to this situation) if it looks too good to be true, it almost ALWAYS is. Have a great weekend!!

 - Thank you Mike for sending me this great example!

Shocking NEW VIDEO of Osama Bin Laden's DEATH!!

I know I havent posted any new posts lately on scams lately and I apologize to my readers, i'm very pregnant, and i'm very tired lately, but this is one I felt needed to be addressed.

We should all be familiar with these "shocking video" scams by now but I still see them posted throughout Facebook on occasion so I felt a reminder was in order.

Scammers jumped at the chance to create a video scam out of this recently big news and it is already getting attention. There is not now, nor will there ever be any exclusive, uncovered, banned video footage of Bin Laden's death. HOWEVER, there is some debate on weather or not the White House will release photos of his death (See news link at bottom of post for more info on this). If they are released, we will see them on the news, news sites, etc. NOT on Facebook! If you see someone has linked a picture in the near future from a site that claims to have released these photos, do NOT click on them, save yourself the hassle and just go directly to a news site such as CNN.com and look for them there yourself.

Once again, these "video" links will not take you to a video but to a Facebook page that you will be asked to "like" and then share with all your friends before you can view this "exclusive video". After that you will be asked to take a quick survey before viewing the video, then another survey, then another. All of these surveys are making the scammers money and will NEVER get you to see the video that you are looking to see. As much as some of us would love to see a video of Bin Laden being taken out, it will NEVER happen.

When in doubt, Google it, or go to CNN.com or another reputable news site to see for yourself. As always, as much as you know me or may trust me, hover over the link to make sure it goes where I claim it does, and make a habit of it. Thanks for reading!! Comments always welcome!
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/05/white-house-officials-debate-releasing-photographs-of-bin-ladens-corpse-1.html

Mother's maiden name? City of birth? Let's share!!!

While facebook is a fun way to meet new people for games, networking, and just plain socializing, you could be giving away more info than you realize. So, you've started playing farmville, cityville, monopoly, etc etc etc... Only 3 of your friends want to play farmville with you.. Well thats a pity, you wont get anywhere with just 3 neighbors! So you go to the farmville page where you see thousands of comments of ADD ME, ADD ME!! So, you do. No harm in this really as long as you're ok with giving away some small bits of info like the city you live in, your birth date, stuff like that. Basic stuff you can get off of anyone's profile.

NOW... We all have friends that post things from status shuffle or little odd questions like...

"PLACE OF BIRTH! Everyone please play! You may find it interesting to know where your FB friends birth places are. Copy & paste this on your profile, then put your place of birth at the end of this sentence... "

Harmless enough right? Possibly.. But think back to your online bank account login you created, or that amazon.com login you made (where you also stored your credit card info). Did either of those sites ask you for a password retrieval question such as "What is your city of birth?" or "Mother's maiden name?" Now, you figure whats the harm, most of my hometown friends know where I was born right? True.. but the random guy you added for cityville didnt, until you just posted it in that status. What could he do with it? Well you must have a bank account somewhere right? On your info page is your email address right? And if I go to your profile page, were you one of those people who saved a user name for your account? Probably something you used for EVERY other page you visit.. including your bank account? But its ok, I dont have the password to your bank account even if i could figure out the login. I mean really, nobody posts pictures of their pets including their names, nobody posts pictures of their car, showing the make/model, and nobody answers those "What city were you born" questions right on their status message... So while i may not be able to figure out your password, with all this knowledge, i could answer your security question, (city of birth, mothers maiden name, name of first pet, make/model of your first car) create a new password and TADA, ur locked out, and i'm in.

Now, this is a FAR stretch someone would have to go to just to access your accounts, but it's do-able. So please, if you add random friends for gaming purposes on facebook, please be careful what info you give out.

A good rule of thumb with social networking sites is that information you would not give to a complete stranger, should not be on your profile or on your wall. Here is a link I came across to a helpful site that shows you how to use your facebook privacy settings if you are one of those people that adds everyone as a friend. http://mashable.com/2011/02/07/facebook-privacy-guide/

Happy Facebooking!
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As always guys, i'm still looking for scam stories or areas you want me to cover. Send suggestions, emails, pictures of scams, etc to weakscamattempts@gmail.com If you send me something interesting it will show up on my blog and you'll be saving me from writers block lol Thanks for reading!!

5000 Facebook credits for FREE.

Take a quick minute to check out the picture by clicking on it. It will open in a new window

This showed up as an event invite sent to me by someone on my friends list (who obviously has NOT read my blog!) This scam disappoints me because of how generic it is and for once I can see how many people are falling for it.. 6,382 people RSVP'd yes. To me that shows 6,382 people who are possibly falling for this and will click on the link. Now i'm sure not all 6,382 people will fill out the first survey they come across, but most will.... But how many will fill out the 2nd, or the 3rd, or the 4th? How much money will the scammers make off of these unsuspecting people?

On a positive note, 13,154 people said no.

Now, lets pick it apart. We've obviously seen this type of scam a million times and know why its a fake but for new readers sake.. Lets have some fun..

1. If Facebook was going to give away something they would, they would NOT require you to be invited to an event nor would they make you fill out surveys to give you this "reward"
2. Facebook SELLS these credits, they make money off of us this way to keep their site up and running, why would they give it away for free? 5000 of them? I doubt it.
3. Theres that shortened address again that you cant hover over to find out where it would take you.
4. There is no wall for guests to write on to let you know if its legit or not, why? CAUSE ITS NOT!
5. Now what happens if you click on the link. They just want you to fill out one teeny tiny survey and then you can claim your points.. one turns into two, two turns into five.. Yeah you wont see those credits. Before you get to this point though, they ask that you click attend (which just gives them a "sucker" headcount) and you have to share it to your friends, basically getting them more suckers to take their surveys for them and they make money off you and your friends and you will never receive those credits.

Now, I just went back and checked the page and the 6,382 people that are attending has turned into 6,562. Please pass this on to your friends for them to read, or simply post something on your wall when you notice a scam like this. Help educate your friends!

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Once again guys, my posts are slowing down because i'm simply out of material to cover. If you know someone that was scammed, or were yourself scammed or you have an email lying in your inbox that you arent so sure about.. Email it to me! Have a question about a website that offers a work at home job? A craigslist ad? Email it to me and we'll pick it apart! Thanks for reading!

Scammed Victim Compensation?

Ok this one was just so funny I just had to share it with you all. Seems the scam business is not doing so well these days. Instead of trying to tell me I have won the lottery or my long lost relative has died they are now posing as "Scam Victim Compensation". I guess they are gambling on the fact that everyone is a scam victim of sorts and will fall for this fake compensation. Take a look..

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Greetings To You,
 
We notify you as a scammed victim beneficiary to be compensated
with $950, 000.00USD in the United Nation and Obama Foundation
Contact Dr.Pallidis Ilias For more Information.
 
You are to fill the appropriate form and submit to the bank.
 
[1] Full Names:________________
[2] Contact address______________________________
[3] Direct Telephone No: ___________________
|4| Occupation : ____________________________
Managing Director of the HSBC BANK,Malaysia
Name: Dr.Pallidis Ilias
Email: pallidis_00@blumail.org
 
Yours Faithfully,
Hon.Mr.Clow Griff
(Chief Co-ordinator)
OBAMA'S FOUNDATION
Copyright © 2003-2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: The information in this email is confidential and may be legally
privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee and others authorized to
receive it. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying,
distribution or action taken in reliance on its content is prohibited and
may be unlawful. 

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I love how they put disclaimers at the end of their emails in the hopes of making them look more legit lol. Let's start simple and with some common sense shall we? If I had contacted the Internet Crime Complaint Center to report a scam I would have been asked to provide the following:
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* Your name
* Your mailing address
* Your telephone number
* The name, address, telephone number, and Web address, if available, of the individual or organization you believe defrauded you.
* Specific details on how, why, and when you believe you were defrauded.
* Any other relevant information you believe is necessary to support your complaint.
---

So, why would they need most of that information again? Why would they want my occupation? What on earth could they possibly need that for?? Besides, if ANYONE is going to compensate me for a scam loss it would be the person who scammed me in the first place after my lawyer and I destroy them in court lol.

This email is a sad attempt to get me to contact them where they will most likely ask for my banking information to send me my $950,000.00 compensation (the dollar amount itself proves it to be an obvious fake, i mean really) and instead of seeing deposits of my compensation I would start to see random, and possibly large, withdraws from my account causing me overdraft fees and a long process of trying to prove that I did not authorize those amounts to be removed. Would I ever see that money again? Who knows? Is that a chance you're willing to take?

Thanks for reading!

Another Facebook Video Scam - Miley Cyrus

So, I heard rumor this one was out but I hadnt seen it yet until tonight so I figured now is a good time to go over this one.

You're scrolling through your friends news feeds and you see this..

..so you decide to get curious and want to see what Miley did that was so SICK! You find yourself just moments away from being able to see the video as long as you give them permission to access your account info. Why not? You give farmville, cityville, and all those other apps permission to access your info right? What harm could it do? Well they will post a link on your page just like the one above so that your friends click on it, and round and round the cycle goes...

So how do they benefit from posting this on everyone's page? Well in order to see the risky things Miley is doing these days you just have to fill out one quick survey, or so they say. This survey you fill out, THEY get paid for you to take it, THEY are making money off of you.

So what if they make a little money, you get to see what you came to see right?? WRONG! After that survey is.. TADA! Another survey!... and another, and another and another and in the end.. no video.


Always, ALWAYS remember the rules. If it seems to be too good to be true, it usually is. If you stop and stare at the "car accidents" you're bound to cause another one. If you notice a friend of yours has this on their page, comment (if there is a place to) that it may be a scam. If you arent sure, google it!! youtube it!! If its real, you know its on youtube and thats a site you can trust. If you noticed, the link above did not have a "comment" section on it. Very smart of them to find a way to leave that out so we cant warn each other. So take a minute and instead of using Status Shuffle to find something witty to say, post a message about the dangers of this link and ask your friends to pass it on. If you have 200 friends on your list thats 200 people you can potentially educate on this. If your 200 friends tell their 200 friends..  well you see where this is going..

As always, thanks for reading! Spot something online you want me to look into? Take a screen shot, forward me the mail, send me the link and i'll dig into it!

Work from home scams.

Everyone is looking for ways to make a quick buck in their spare time. You have a Monday through Friday, 9-5, and it pays the bills, but that's it. So you go online looking at the possibility of a second job in your free time. For most people that want to do this, they try to look for a second job with as little work as possible. After all, who wants to bust their butt from 9-5 and turn around and do it again from 6-11 only to get home at midnight and be up again at 5am! Nobody!

Here are a few things you should look out for...

Envelope stuffing jobs - Seems easy enough right? They mail you some envelopes, some papers, some address labels. You can do this in front of the TV! There is just one small catch, a "small fee" that you have to send them, to cover shipping of course. If you are going to make hundreds of money in your spare time for stuffing envelopes in front of Grey's Anatomy then why can't you fork over a teeny tiny fee to make this possible? Probably because once you do, they will inform you that they have JUST run out of work but you CAN make money sucking your friends into the job as well and getting them to pay their fees and round and round we go! You will most likely get money for getting your friends to join, but let's just hope your friends are smart enough NOT to pay that teeny tiny fee lol

Rebate processing - Now, I have personally done a job like this! The only difference is, i worked for a legit company, i went to an office 8 hours a day, sat at their computers, did actual work and best of all, they trained me for FREE. Why would a company hire someone and then have you pay them to train you! These ads will normally ask you for training and material fees. You will also probably pay a considerably larger fee to get your hands on an exclusive DVD showing you the secrets of the trade and how to make a fortune!!

Assembly jobs - Another one of those jobs you can do in front of your tv watching Ghost Hunters right? First you will have to send them money cause really they aren't just gonna send you supplies for free! So you'll pay your fee, get your supplies, mail them back only to be told how crappy of a job you did and how you aren't getting paid. Now you are stuck with a bunch of crafting supplies you don't want or need and no money to show for your hard work. You will, however, still have something to do while watching Desperate Housewives...


There are actual legit work from home jobs out there though! Always do your research first. Here is some helpful info from the FTC on questions you should ask the employer...

Get Answers in Writing

Legitimate work-at-home program sponsors should tell you — in writing — what’s involved in the program they’re selling. Here are some questions to ask:

• What tasks will I have to perform? (Ask the program sponsor to list every step of the job.)
• Will I be paid a salary or will I be paid on commission?
• What is the basis for your claims about my likely earnings? Do you survey everyone who purchased the program? What documents can you show me to prove your claims are true before I give you any money?
• Who will pay me?
• When will I get my first paycheck?
• What is the total cost of this work-at-home program, including supplies, equipment and membership fees? What will I get for my money?

The answers to these questions may help you determine whether a work-at-home program is legitimate, and if so, whether it’s a good fit for you.

You’ll also want to check out the company with your local consumer protection agency, state Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau, not only where the company is located, but also where you live. These organizations can tell you whether they’ve gotten complaints about a particular work-at-home program. But be wary: just because there aren’t complaints doesn’t mean the company is legitimate. Unscrupulous companies may settle complaints, change their names or move to avoid detection.

In addition, consider other people’s experience by entering the company or promoter’s name with the word complaints into a search engine. Read what others have to say. After all, you are making a decision that involves spending your money.
 

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 Here is some more helpful information from the FTC on what to do if you feel you may be a victim of a work-from-home scam..

Where to Complain

If you have spent money and time on a work-at-home program and now believe the program may not be legitimate, contact the company and ask for a refund. Let company representatives know that you plan to notify law enforcement officials about your experience. If you can’t resolve the dispute with the company, file a complaint with these organizations:

• The Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint or 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
• The Attorney General’s office in your state or the state where the company is located. Visit naag.org; the office will be able to tell you whether you’re protected by any state law that may regulate work-at-home programs.
• Your local consumer protection offices.
• Your local Better Business Bureau at bbb.org.
• Your local postmaster. The U.S. Postal Service investigates fraudulent mail practices. Visit postalinspectors.uspis.gov.
• The advertising manager of the publication that ran the ad. The manager may be interested to learn about the problems you’ve had with the company.

For More Information

The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Watch a video, How to File a Complaint, at ftc.gov/video to learn more. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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More information can be found on the FTC website at http://ftc.gov. As always, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Happy job hunting!!

Where did I go?

Hi readers, sorry I disappeared for a week or so. Been kinda busy but I will start blogs back up in the next few days or so. I have nothing in mind yet so if there is a scam subject you want me to tackle send me an email at weakscamattempts@gmail.com and i'll dig up the info for you! Thanks!

World of Warcraft Login Validation

The wonderful people of World of Warcraft have contacted me to let me know that I need to verify my account information or they will lock my account. OH NO!! Quite a few things wrong here but i'll let you check out the email first..Click on the picture to enlarge them.

First things first.. I DONT HAVE A WORLD OF WARCRAFT ACCOUNT! lol. Next, they start the letter with "Dear Customer", now if this was an actual email from a company they would refer to you as your login name. The "Thank you for contacting customer support", well, since I dont have an account with them, I never contacted them lol. (Unless i'm sleep emailing again, thats always embarrassing lol). The link they instruct me to click on looks legit at first glance, i'm assuming so because i've never been to their website but as i've mentioned in other posts, if you hover over the link, at the bottom left you will see this.

At first glance, looks ok, doesn't match the link on the email but looks legit.... Until you look very closely at the first bit of the link.. www.worldofWARCARFT.BRTTLE.net  Just to glance at the picture, it looks ok until you look closely at the spelling and realize either they hired idiots at WoW that can't spell, or its a link to a fake information verification page which, if filled out, will give them all sorts of information. Information that will give someone access to your account. For the WoW players out there, you know what kind of damage that can do to your months or years of effort put into the game.  And quite possibly, the biggest thing here... MY HOTMAIL FLAGGED IT AS SUSPICIOUS! I know sometimes things that aren't spam end up in your junk box but make sure to take a very close look at any email that your inbox flags as suspicious before you click on anything.

I dug further into my junk box and found a few more from them...

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Greetings
This is an automated notification regarding the recent change(s)As you may or may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement.If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled. It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard Entertainment's employees.If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account ownership.If the information is deemed accurate, the investigation will be dropped.
This action is taken because we at Blizzard Entertainment take these salesquite seriously. We need to confirm you are the original owner of the account.This is easiest done by confirming your personal information along with concealed information about your account.
we recommend you Login verify Information your account:
http://battle-account-confirm.net/account/login.html?app=wam&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldofwarcraft.com%2Faccount%2F&eor=0&app=bam
If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently. Once we verify your account,we will reply to your e-mail informing you that we have dropped the investigation.billing@blizzard.com. Account security is solely the responsibility of the accoun tholder. Please be advised that in the event of a compromised account, Blizzardrepresentatives typically must lock the account. In these cases the Account,Administration team will require faxed receipt of ID materials before releasing the account for play.


Regards,
Blizzard Entertainment Inc Account Administration Team

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Greetings!

It has come to our attention that you are trying to sell your personal World of Warcraft account(s).
As you may not be aware of, this conflicts with the EULA and Terms of Agreement.
If this proves to be true, your account can and will be disabled.
It will be ongoing for further investigation by Blizzard Entertainment's employees.
If you wish to not get your account suspended you should immediately verify your account ownership.

You can confirm that you are the original owner of the account to this secure website with:

https://us.battle.net/account/parental-controls/manage.html?key=14565A2B27E79706CAC7A92976785E5E952A8FFAA808517C

Login to your account, In accordance following template to verify your account.

* First and Surname
* Secret Question and Answer
Show * Please enter the correct information

If you ignore this mail your account can and will be closed permanently.

Once we verify your account, we will reply to your e-mail informing you that we have dropped the investigation.

Regards,

Account Administration Team
Blizzard Entertainment
http://www.blizzard.com/support/
World of Warcraft , Blizzard Entertainment 2010
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By now, i'm sure you guys can tell how I know these are fakes. Feel free to leave your guesses in the comments box and let's see how much you've learned. The links in these emails have been reported as web forgery and most of them have been removed from the internet already, remember, if you get a mail like this, go to the companies ACTUAL website and find a way to forward scams to them so they can take immediate action to get them removed. You would be doing a very good deed to ensure that nobody falls for these scams. Thanks for reading!

YOUR LONG AWAITED ATM CARD OF 1.5MILLION USD.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Comments in red are just my goofy take on this email. Enjoy!
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Good day:

I am MR.AUTHUR SMITH FROM Dhl EXpress delivery Service

I have since been in custody of a parcel that contains an ATM CARD wort 1.5million united states dollars,that belongs to you. (How did you know what was in it, did you open my mail?? "Opening another persons mail is a Federal Offense. Even if person who delivers your mail keeps it or ceases to deliver that mail and keeps it can lose their job, receive a fine or be put in prison." You are in so much trouble when I get my package!)


The parcel was delivered to the DHL BRANCH OFFICE were i work as the manager,this parcel was on its way to your destination and it was been sent from ABUJA NIGERIA,the reason why the delivery of the parcel was not been completed to your destination was that ,the parcel has been ordered from the head office DHL NIGERIA AND ALSO LONDON to be stoped due to the reason that the tax CLEARANCE fees has not yet been settled by the SENDER AND all our effort to locate him or her has been in vain,so we reasoned that it will be better to contact you the receiver,since your sender left with us your information and also your email address to be in contact with you on delivery of the parcel to you,So the parcel was stoped because according to the dhl office in nigeria that any funds leaving there country that is above 200,000.00usd must have the tax clearance fees settled otherwise it will be taged as illegal funds. (So not only are you in trouble for holding my mail, you are in posession of illegal funds! Tisk tisk..)


But i have been instructed not to proceed with the delivery as at yet because you will need to settle the TAX CLEARANCE FEES ,that will be submited to the TAX CLEARANCE HEAD OFFICE IN ABUJA NIGERIA before the parcel can be released from my office to you. (Ever notice how so many people have "misplaced money" in Nigeria. I swear I have gotten hundreds of emails in my time letting me know I have unclaimed funds in Nigeria)


So before your parcel will proceed from canada to your destination ,you have been asked to send to them the total of 200usd ,in other for them to help acquire the form for the tax clearance and also have it submited and afterwords you will have your parcel forwarded to you again. (If the package was on its way from Nigeria to me in the USA, how did it end up in Canada?? Ok so how do I get this "form" i need for the tax clearance..hmm?)


You are required to send the total of 200usd to them in nigeria,as soon as you see this email to the information below via western union. (Wait, what happend to the form? Now I am just sending $200 dollars to Nigeria on good faith without a tax form? Can I write this off on my taxes??)



RECEIVERS NAME: Paul Adams
COUNTRY:NIGERIA
STATE:ABUJA
TEST QUESTION: RED
TEST ANSWER:BLUE
AMOUNT TO SEND:200USD



As soon as you have the Tax clearance fees SENT you are adviced to fill out the bellow western union details and email them the details to me on my personal email address (dhl-delivery32-service32@hotmail.com) or call them dirrectly on +2348039284683 to provide the bellow information to them. (DHL works with hotmail addresses now, how professional. Come to think of it, why am I emailing THEM the details of the money order to YOUR hotmail address, shouldnt I just contact them?)



MTCN..............
SENDERS NAME...............
SENDER COUNTRY...............



As soon as your payment has been comfirmed you will receive your tracking number so you can mornitor (with this 200 dollars will you go to your local college and take a spelling class for crying out loud!) your parcel until it arrives your destination but take note that it will only take 24hrs for us to deliver your ATM CARD to you,do not forget to send along your full mailing address.

If we do not receive your TAX CLEARANCE FEES IN 48HRS after this mail has been sent then the parcel will be forwarded to the FBI as unclaimed. (Well crap, I got this mail 3 days ago, now I guess the FBI can get new cars)

NOTE:IF YOU CAN NOT MAKE THE REQURIED PAYMENT DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL IN OTHERWORDS YOU ARE ADVICED TO DISREGARD THIS MAIL (What? I cant negotiate to make this in payments?)

Mr.AUTHUR SMITH

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*SIGH* What more can I say about this email other than the guy needs to learn to spell. I typo on occasion and forget or misplace a punctuation mark here and there but WOW. Stay in school kids.. PLEASE!

Craigslist buyer scam

This email was forwarded to me from one of my blog readers. She had a vehicle listed on craigslist and received an email inquiring about the vehicle and when she responded that it was still available she got this in return. Thank you for sharing your story Katie!

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Hello,
Thanks for your prompt responds, However, i will need your name and
address for payment,As am only able to make payment by Cashier check,
at this time b/c i am away on assignment. It will be nice if you can
send me more pictures.It will take some days for the payment to get to
you.As per pick-up,And the rest funds on the check will be send over
to the movers inorder for them to come over for the pick up.So i will
send the payment which will include the pick up charges, in which you
will make payable to the mover via money gramm/Western union
immediately after you have receive the payment and you will be
compensated with $50 extra for your running around to the
money gram/Western union outlet to avoid the delay..Please take the
posting off Craigslist today and consider it sold to me, Include your
phone number.
Expecting to hear from you soon.
Regards.......

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This is a classic Craigslist scam directed at sellers who have high priced items listed. She was very smart to notice the scam before contacting this person further. He has told her that he will send a money order for the truck and must take a portion of that money and send it via money order to the movers that will pick up the vehicle for her. If she was to continue with this transaction she would have been sent a very legitimate looking money order that she would have taken to the bank and possibly purchased another money order to give to the "movers". The movers in this case do not exist but she would have unknowingly sent a money order back to the person that sent her this mail giving him a few hundred dollars of her own money. In the meantime the bank would have contacted her to let her know the money order was a fake and she would have been out a few hundred dollars.

Spotting the fake: Even if you cant tell if the buyer is legit or not. Take a few things into consideration. 1. He never once specifies about what he is buying, this is a copy/pasted email he probably sends to numerous sellers with high price items on Craigslist. 2. Never ever deal with anyone on craigslist that wants an item shipped or wants to deal in money orders. Cash transactions face to face in a safe location are always the way to go. 3. He specified there was a rush to "avoid delay" basically hoping she would get the money order to him before the bank noticed the one he sent to her was a fake.

Here is a section from craigslist FAQ section regarding scams:

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:

* DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist.
* NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.
* FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
* CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"
* NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
* AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION.


As always, thanks for reading, comments are always welcome! I will now be allowing comments to be posted by anonymous users so you will not have to have a google account to voice your opinion.

Farmville Scams 101

I did NOT make this video but I figured I'd save you all a bunch of reading on this lazy Friday. It's a silly video but it gets the point across lol. Enjoy!




This one is more on the serious side of it with a lot of useful information, check it out. Be careful what you click on. Happy Farming!

Interview with a scam victim.

"In 2009, the IC3 received more than 335,000 complaints of Internet fraud, averaging over 28,000 complaints per month.  The total amount of money lost by those who reported fraud to the IC3 in 2009 was a record-setting $559.7 million.  The mean loss reported in 2009 was more $5,500, while the median loss was $575; the vast difference between the two numbers is explained by a small number of frauds that cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The largest number of losses in 2009 - 36.7% - fell within the $100 to $999 range, followed closely by losses in the $1,000 to $4,999 range, coming in at 28.3%."

---

The following is an actual interview i had with a real person that was the victim of a craigslist scam. Names and money amounts have been left out for privacy.
---
Me: So, briefly describe what the ad said.

Victim: It's just your basic story really, they wanted someone to transfer money for them to different companies. In exchange, I was sent extra money I could keep for myself.

Me: What made you want to answer the ad?

Victim: I was between jobs and having no money or a job was stressful and put a lot of strain on my relationship. I thought my fiance was going to leave me.

Me: Did you at any point wonder why they wanted to pay someone to do it instead of saving the money and doing it themselves?

Victim: I was desperate, mostly I was hoping for something easy I could do from home to help us make money fast.

Me: So after you responded to the ad, what happened?

Victim: They sent me a money order, I put it in the ATM, then made some purchases with  the money intended for me. I then realized the money wasn't  posting to my account and told the bank that I thought it might be fraud. I wanted to wait for it to clear but I ended up needing the money. When I tried to contact the guy, I got no response.

Me: What happened when the money order was found to be a fake?

Victim: My bank account went overdrawn and I had to find a way to pay back the money I spent.

Me: How did you feel after you realized you were scammed?

Victim: I felt stupid and really naive, like I should have known better for trying.

Me: What would you say to someone that was considering answering an ad like that?

Victim: No matter how desperate you get please know that it doesn't work, doesn't pay off, and will cost you more. They make money orders look real but they are just fakes. If you do try to deposit one that might be fake take it into the bank and ask them if it is a fake. If it is they will report it for you and you will have helped to get the scam erased.

----

I want to personally thank this victim for wanting to share what they went through in that hopes of helping people understand there is no easy money. Have your own story to share? Mail it to weakscamattempts@gmail.com

Facebook "Car accidents"

I know I have already posted a scam for you guys today but this just caught my attention and I felt it necessary to get it out there asap.

Ok, I JUST came across this on a friends page. I call these "car accidents" because someone sees it and, just like a car accident, stops to look before they think. When you click on things like this it will repost to your page causing... more car accidents. Catch my drift? Remember, If it seems too good to be true... well you all know where this is going by now.

Please learn that while something like this would be very interesting to read with the titles "This girl killed herself after her dad posted this one her wall" and "this made me cry". Chances are good you really will cry once you find yourself giving permissions to an app or giving away your personal information or getting a virus that will harm you in the long run. Ever used a credit card on your computer to do some online Christmas shopping? Viruses that can be found in apps and pages like this WILL get that info from your computer and next thing you know you're making purchases at a Macy's in South Dakota.  Please pass this blog on, there is a facebook share button at the bottom of this post, help you friends learn that clicking on these things can cause serious damage. Thanks for reading! As always, comments welcome!

Edit: I want to add that if you do happen to fall victim to one of these, immediately remove the post from your wall and change your password and run your virus scan for good measure. If a friend of yours posts it and they are not online, comment that it is a scam so nobody else clicks on it. They may not listen, but the best you can do is try.

Western Union Compensation Payment Alert

Email addresses and certain numbers removed.


On behalf of the International Monetary Fund/United Nation/ ECOWAS , I once
again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered. I
hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address on the
Beneficiary.
if you get this one, I write to inform you that this is our last and final
mail to you regarding this payment. we have already sent you $5000.00 USD
dollars through our Western Union as we have been given the mandate to
transfer your full compensation payment of $300,000.00 USD via Western
Union by this government.
So,I decided to email you the MTCN and sender name, so you can pick up this
$5000.00 USD to enable us send another $5000.00 USD by tomorrow as you
know we will be sending you only $5000.00 USD per day. Please do let us
know if you have pick up this payment now.

Sender's First Name: LAWRENCE CHIBUZO
Sender's Second Name: ANIEGBOKO
Address: Abuja, Nigeria
Test Question: Pay
Test Answer: Cash
MTCN: 0000000000
Amount: $5000 USD

Contact our Finance Director of Western Union Money Transfer Corporate
Headquarters Mr. Fredrick Collins via emails contact below.

NAME: Mr. Fredrick Collins {Finance Director}
address removed@xnmsn.cn
TEL: +234-000-000-0000

Thank you for using Western Union.

Regards,
Mr. David Geoger.

-------

Ya know, I seem to be coming into a lot of cash via email these days. It is so generous of these people to track me down by my untrackable hotmail account to let me know about all this money I have lying around unclaimed. Makes me think for a minute how nice it would be if these were all true LOL. If I walked into a Western Union with this information I would look like a fool. But wait, I don't have to! All I have to do is email the Finance director of Western Union at the address provided and... hmm, what would happen then? Part of me would love to contact these people and just play along to see what kind of info they would try to get from me but I don't want to start a long chain of annoying emails when I don't respond back. They would probably request that I first send them the fees to cover each transaction of $5000.00 or something along those lines. Either way, I doubt 300,000.00 is lying around somewhere just for me. An unsuspecting gullible person would probably think "Well if all they want is a small amount of fees and I am going to get 300.000.00 in return then why not spend money to get money." Only to find out that they will never see that money. It happens every day.

I personally know someone who was the victim of an online money scam. She has agreed to give me an interview of sorts describing how she was scammed, what happened as a result of the scam, and how the whole ordeal made her feel. Check back tomorrow to see her story.

Facebook ending? Tupac murder solved?

As I am sure most of you have seen over the past week. Facebook is going away, but on a positive note, Tupac's murder has been solved!! If you believe that, I have some beach front property in Arizona I'd love to sell you for a cheap price!

Ok lets think about this for a minute before we all go re-posting this madness to our status.

Facebook is worth approx $11 billion (or so says various sources on the internet). Why on earth would CEO Mark Zuckerberg just destroy something that is worth so much. Even if the rumors of "the stress of managing this company has ruined my life" were true, why wouldnt he just sell it to the highest bidder! Look at Myspace, since Facebook came along Myspace is almost non existent BUT since it still makes money, it will still survive. Even if a social networking site bigger and better than Facebook came along, they'd still stick it out for the big bucks, and for the jobs it provides. Facebook will be around for a very long time. Just don't click on things like this. Remember, if it doesnt look legit... it's probably not. It's the car accident of 2011, you have to pull the car over and stare and tell everyone what you just saw. Chances are good clicking on things like this will cause you to get a.. (everyone together now) VIRUS!

As for Tupac. this goes back to that shortened link post that I posted. People that clicked on it were sent to a site requesting permission for a application to access their information including name, user identification, and list of friends. Repeat after me class.. "If it doesn't look legit, it's probably not" Learn it, live it, love it lol.

And the new little gem to be added to facebook was a link sent through Facebook chat stating that your photos had been removed! EEP! Have no fear! All you need to do to retrieve them is to click on this little link giving u access to an app called app.facebook.com/CENSORED. Clicking on it automatically downloaded a strain of malware onto your system. (If any of you did this, now would be a good time to make sure your virus software is up to date)

Basically, before you go click happy on Facebook, stop and think. If someone posts something, like the Tupac thing for example, and you just HAVE to see if its true.. Google it. Chances are good you'll come across a site exposing the scam and then you can do the good thing and link the scam report to your friends on facebook instead of passing on the scam.

All of the infomation I learned about these scams I read on a wonderful site called http://www.securitynewsdaily.com. Take a few minutes to check it out sometime.

My Bank of America account has been compromised!!

I checked my mail this morning and *gasp* no scams. I was almost disappointed until TADA! This popped up in my inbox and i'm so glad it did. I'm so lucky Bank of America is looking out for..... wait.... I DONT HAVE A BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNT! lol Here is the email, text in red is just comments by me.

----

Dear Bank of America Customer, (I'm such a vauable customer you don't know my name??)

We are contacting you to remind you that today our Account Review Team identified
some unusual activity in your account. (OHH the account i don't have) In accordance with Bank of America User Agreement and to ensure that your account has not been compromised, access to your account was limited. (Oh noes! I better get this fixed so I can access the money I didnt know I had! Must be the $12 million that dying woman sent me)

To securely confirm your Bank of America credit card features, please follow these steps:

1. Contact Us at www.bankofamerica.com/SingOn/Verify-Your-Identity_Profile-Form-do.htm
2. Verify your identity.

(Ok gonna stop the email for something serious, I clicked on the link and this was the page I was sent to, VERY clever huh? Unfortunately for the unsuspecting Bank of America customer, login information will be given, and weather it is correct or not they will most likely be transferred to a page that asks them to verify all sorts of information. Click on the picture to check it out and the FAKE login i used which oddly enough worked enough to get me to the next page lol)

(Now, this is what shows up after I put in any FAKE username and password. See how someone can be easily tricked by these idiots. Click on it to enlarge. Please don't let yourselves be fooled by scams like these. )

After you have submitted your message, check for a response within 48 hours.(Yeah chances are good you'll hear from your REAL bank letting you know large withdraws have been made)

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC.
© 2010 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. reserved. ration. All rights reserved.

-------

In conclusion.. please make sure you double check all links and if you are not sure, just call your bank (but do not use any number listed in the email!!) Scammers put a lot of time into making these sites look very legit. Now, since i have gotten this email what am I going to do? On the REAL Bank of America website you look for an area that says "Report phishing emai" and you will find that you can forward the email to abuse@bankofamerica.com When you do, they will verify that the page is a fake and they will contact who they need to, to have it shut down and stop any unsuspecting internet user from falling for it. All banking websites have an email address to report fraud, help others by using it and forwarding the mails.

Update bank account information

I had some free time so I thought I'd share one more today. This email showed up in my inbox and as you can see it is a VERY clever fake. It's almost as though they took an existing Chase email, and modified it for the information they wanted. The text shows up very small and i apologize but you get the idea. You can click on it to enlarge it.



This one was clever and I had to look it over twice. It has the Chase logo, the disclaimers, company phone numbers and addresses and even had my email address on it in two different places that i have blacked out. The first thing i did was checked the link. It looked legit, but it wasn't. I hovered over the link and at the bottom left of my screen it showed me a completely different link going to a privately own page designed to look like a Chase login page. It is easy enough to create a link on a webpage or email and make it look legit. Ever seen pages that say Click Here and when you click on it you are sent somewhere. Same concept, only where "Click Here" is, it can say www.chase.com and when you click on it, it can take you to a page that looks very similar to the Chase login page, but actually isn't. For example, look at this link but do not click on it: www.yahoo.com. Looks like you'd go to yahoo.com right? Now hover over that link with your mouse and check the bottom left of your screen. See how you can know where you're going before you go? Ok, back to the email lol. The BIG thing here is, banks do not ask you to verify your account information through email. You should not verify any account information, logins, passwords, account numbers for any company through email. On a side note, hovering over links to see where they go will save you hassle on many websites. Take facebook for example. How many times do we see on our friends walls "OMG click here you would not believe what this girl did on webcam!! http://bit.ly/g0FZaL " Now if you hovered over it like you should you'd see that it actually DOES go where I claim it does, BUTTT "bit.ly" is one of those sites that will let you shorten any link and it gives you that teeny tiny link to place instead. You will go to http://bit.ly/g0FZaL but the actual link it is connected to, who knows unless you click on it. (you can click on that link to see what I am talking about, i suggest you don't though unless you know me personally and know that I would not steer you wrong.) Be safe! Don't take chances on these if you see them on facebook or any other social networking site. Now if cnn.com posts a link on the page containing the bit.ly website, its more than likely legit. How do you know the difference? Trust your judgment. Titles like "OMG click here you would not believe what this girl did on webcam" are to try to suck you in so you just have to go see what it is, its like a car accident, everyone has to stop down and see. If you do click on one and it takes you somewhere you shouldn't be, close the page and run your virus scan. Sorry this one was a lot of reading, but examples help show what i'm talking about sometimes lol. Comments welcome!

This poor kind sick woman!

This is one of the gems I got in my email today.
--------
Beloved Your Interest Would Interest Me Most.

I am Mrs. Monica Eunice David., a British woman, suffering from cancerous ailment. I am married to Mr. Vincent David, my husband worked with Chevron Corporation for twenty years before he died at the age of 54 in 5th of January 2008 after a brief illness. Since his death I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home due to our tradition.

My husband and I prepared a blueprint for establishing a Foundation that would be directed towards helping the needy in our society. This plan was still in the incubation stage rearing for activation before the sickness that claimed my husband and now left me in this debilitating state. My late husband deposited the sum of 12 Million (TWELVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) with a Finance House. Presently this money is still there I am writing from my sick bed. I am looking for a credible person to whom I will pass the right of next of kin. Although we have not met before, I got your email address on the Internet, and my confidence reposed on you. I hope you read this message carefully and reply me immediately.

Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the stroke and cancerous problems I am suffering from. I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use this gift which comes from my husband's effort to fund the upkeep of widows and charities worldwide. In other words, you shall utilize 80% of this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows around the world but in our names: MONICA - VINCENT DAVID FOUNDATION.

You will have to assure me that you will act according to my instructions as I have explained here and to keep this matter confidential till when this fund get to your custody. I cannot predict what will be my fate by the time the fund will be transferred into your account, but you should please ensure that the fund is used as I have stated above. Your interest to executing this assignment for the sake of the needy globally would interest me most as I am convinced that I have only few months to stay here on earth.

If this condition is acceptable by you, please contact me immediately with your :(1) Full Names, Residential Address,Phone number,Age and country and also your picture. I shall give you the contact of the finance house.
I do not want my husband hard earned money to be misused. I want you to always pray for me. Note that this transaction is 100% Legal and Real. Thanks and God bless
Yours sincerely In the Lord,
Mrs. Monica Eunice David.
(email address removed)@gmail.com

-----

This poor, poor woman lying on her death bed wants me to help her. How can I say no?? I mean all she is asking of me is to take 80% of her $12 million dollars and help her send it to the charities of her choice in her and her late husbands name. She is graciously going to let me have the other 20% of the money for myself for doing this for her. How can I pass this opportunity up?? She may even be dead shortly after the funds are transferred so I could keep all of it for myself!! Seems like I'd be set for life right?

Ok, lets take a look here and think about the many things wrong with this email. For starters, If this WAS legit, why couldn't she have hired herself a lawyer to make all of this possible for her when I could easily take her 12 million and run? Secondly, they claim to have gotten my hotmail address randomly from the internet. Would you trust $12 million of your money to someone you didnt know, I think not. (If it seems too good to be true, it probably is)

Now what would happen if i replied? I would send her all of the information requested, now she did not ask for banking info or my social security number so it seems harmless enough right? The instant I replied and sent this person any information about this I would more than likely get a second email stating she would like a show of good faith. She will send me a money order in the amount of $1000 dollars, $800 of which i would be instructed to send to a charity and $200 of which i could keep for myself and then trust would be formed between myself and this woman. I would get the money order, I would take it to my bank, they would accept it. I would take my $200 dollars and buy myself something nice. 2 weeks later I would be contacted by my bank letting me know that the money order was a fake. (Yes, sometimes the money will post to your account but the money order will not clear for 2 weeks and show as a fake) So what happens now? I have spent $1000 dollars of a fake money order that I am now responsible for and I WILL have to pay back. Chances are good the charity I sent the $800 to was in this woman's name and she is off clear and free with $800 dollars. The money order cant be traced to her, nor can the gmail email account... I would have just been scammed out of $1000 dollars.

What am I doing here?

Hello readers!

I want to share with you, in my first post, what i plan to do here. I sift through my email on a daily basis and come across at least 3-4 scam attempts every day. While I sit back and laugh at them and think "How stupid do they think we are?" I realized that not everyone may see right through them as i do. With that said, I want to share with you all some of the emails and scam websites I come across in the hopes to help others recognize what is legit and what is not, and have a little fun at the same time. Comments are always welcome, maybe I will miss something in an email that points it out as an obvious fake and one of you may catch on.

Until my next post, i leave you with one of the most useful bits of information I can give you. This applies to emails, websites, links, and life in general. - If it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Remember, nothing in life is free, there is always a catch. Don't let that catch be your bank account, your identity, or your passwords.