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A New SPAM

05/01/2008 12:36 AM

I know this is WAY OFF THE MARK regarding 'engineering', but I have been PLAGUED lately with SPAM regarding some 'person' or 'banking institution' or 'government' who has zillions of dollars they MUST give to me, if only I send them my name, address, etc.

Obviously a scam, but I can't figure it out? Anybody getting the same emails? Anybody know what this is and how it is supposed to work?

Thanks for your comments on this TRIVIA

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#1

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 3:06 AM

ALL over the place.....i get plenty...and hit delete button with speed of a cheetah..

If you google "Fraud nigerian email" you will find the whole list.

Just ignore them...and stay away from trouble....

Remember...there is no free lunch..

Cheers

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#2
In reply to #1

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 3:30 AM

Yea, there's no doubt it's a scam ... I may not be as fast a a cheetah, but the delete button gets hit as quickly as possible.

What I can't figure out in this case is, "why?" I've never had any virus or trogan problems with any of these emails, and I just can't see what, in this case, the scammer can gain from this 'attack'.

I SUPPOSE that since they are phishing for names and addresses, the next phase would be the bombardment of 'official looking' snail-mail, and sooner or later they poor sucker is asked to 'send money' to get things started,then they disappear.

As P.T. Barnum correctly said, "there's a sucker born every minute."

Thanks, and take care.

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Guru

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#4
In reply to #2

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 7:42 AM

Exactly the way it works. They find naive people to send them retainer fees or their personal banking information, and then the clean them out...

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#20
In reply to #2

Re: A New SPAM

05/04/2008 11:33 PM

It's called the Nigerian scam. Essentially, it preys on greedy people who believe they can get money for nothing. It's a "Send me $1,000, and I'll give you $1,000,000 once my bank clears the transaction" kind of thing. Now just sit back and wait for the suckers to send you the $1,000 dollars, thinking they'll get it back, together with $999,000 from you.

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#3

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 6:39 AM

Can you say ID theft?

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#5

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 9:10 AM

Its not really id theft, it works more on the greed of the person...

A friend of mine years ago fell for it and as expected the transaction to transfer the millions of $ to his account needed some lubrication of government official's palms etc.... so the scam works by asking for the victim to send a few thousand $ to help get the millions into his account...

Of course they only want the couple of thousand and then they're gone!!!

John.

PS I've just noticed you said in the title its NEW.... I've been getting these messages as faxes and as typed letters for over 22 years!!! Not really new!

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#6
In reply to #5

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 10:25 AM

These scams have been around for at least 10 years based out of Nigeria. So common that television programs (60 Minutes USA) have run pieces where they actually set up sting operations and film the con men.

Perhaps now the are marketing Asia since virtually everyone in the USA knows about them now.

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#7
In reply to #6

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 11:03 PM

as long as get rich fast (unreal) dreams exist the spammers will play every trick to empty your packets/your bank accounts under right under your noses.just hit delete button on these spam mails and get on with your work

crm

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#8

Re: A New SPAM

05/01/2008 11:59 PM

"I know this is WAY OFF THE MARK regarding 'engineering', but I have been PLAGUED lately with SPAM regarding some 'person' or 'banking institution' or 'government' who has zillions of dollars they MUST give to me, if only I send them my name, address, etc."

These scam artists ask for your personal banking information so they can make a BIG deposit to your account and then you can send them a cashiers check for 75 to 80% with you keeping 20 t0 25% for handling the deal.

As soon as they have your bankin information they bleed your account dry. No need to send that cashiers check they have the whole bundle.

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#9
In reply to #8

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 2:06 AM

I had one that was so bold as to ask for a photocopy of my passport.


The thing that really gets me laughing is the number of times the person tries to come accross as a deeply religious person yet at the same time they want me to help them circumvent some form of banking or financial administration laws. It just seems to be a little bit hypocritical to me.

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#10

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 4:40 AM

A lot of good posts, consider that you all deserved a GA, but I am too lazy to do it!!!

Sorry!

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#11

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 5:52 AM

Google Nigerian 419 scam. If you want to get your own back there are plenty of sites dedicated to "scamming the scammers". Basically you pretend to be drawn in, and, see how long you can keep the guy writing to you without actually giving him any useful information. OK it wastes nearly as much of your time as it does theirs, but, they get really wound up.

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#12
In reply to #11

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 6:20 AM

as long as some body is willing to fall into the trap hoping he will get a pot of gold by falling into the trap these games will continue as simple as that suggest read About gods own banker

crm

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#13

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 7:53 AM

Google the name that sent you the letter. There you might find someone wanted by police in numerous places.

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#14

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 10:03 AM

I do have a nice $32,000.00 chech on my wall! I did not keep 10% and did not send them 90%. When dropped 3 feet it bounces 12 feet.

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#16
In reply to #14

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 10:17 AM

So THATS why your avatar has such an evil grin, you took the Nigerians for a ride!!!!!

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#19
In reply to #14

Re: A New SPAM

05/03/2008 10:59 AM

Given the rebound, you should develop a new elastomer based on the technology, and really get rich.

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#15

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 10:11 AM

I use Earthlink for my email and have it sit to eliminate all know spam - I have not had any of those get rich emails for the last couple years.

You can sit most email servers to filter out certain content.

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#17

Re: A New SPAM

05/02/2008 10:53 AM

I probobly receive that letter, or similar one twice a year. One time I sent back a long letter tying the person in the plane crash to to a host of demented people I created about my family. Something about the "alternative lifestyle" illegal offspring members may have caused a no response. My sister and I laughed about that letter for months.

Be careful though My wife received a VERY legal looking check in the mail for $3,200.00. Only the fact that the name of the bank and the bank tracking numbers on the bottom of the check did not match kept us suspicious. The scam goes like this. You deposit their check Wait for it to clear. Then you send back a check from your account for a small percentage of the deposited check. What happens is that well after your check has been sent, the original check comes back to your bank because the coded bank on the bottom of the check it got routed to discovers the check is not from any account they have. Now your account gets the amount of the recieved check removed from your account. Plus the scam artists mow have another bank and tracking number set to do it again.

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#18

Re: A New SPAM

05/03/2008 10:56 AM

They are in my junk mailbox every day without fail.

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#21

Re: A New SPAM

05/08/2008 12:57 AM

One of these crooks is really the president of the Nigerian Senate. Others operate out of Burkina Faso. Many others use the names and appear to be legitimate banks, that I have never dealt with. I have tried to report them to the banks or governments only to find that there is no way to do it. I mark all of them as SPAM, but they keep changing addresses. There seems no way to stop them.

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#22
In reply to #21

Re: A New SPAM

05/08/2008 5:45 AM

There are ways, however, you can attract these fraud attempts into your system.

One way is to enter a full (system owner) name when initializing your operating system.

Another is to visit a genealogy site and make a (personal family) name query.

The best defense in all cases is to not believe the unbelievable, for example:

  • that anyone entrusts money to a stranger no matter how desperate they are...
  • that you have an unknown famous relative in England (or U.S) whom you never heard tell of, and who died along with all other heirs, except yourself, in a single fire or mishap.
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