Scam alerts!

[Elessar]

Jim:

I am posting this in the Lounge because this spot gets traffic.

I propose making it a fixture for members to share verified Scammers, whether they be
telephone or computer driven! Perhaps it will be a good outlet to ensure folks do not
get taken unawares.

I have just recently had two that I traced and found to be completely false.

I'll post them individually below.

[Elessar]

I got a call on my Cell Phone from 413-662-8519 passing themselves off as being my 'Credit Card Security'. I traced them to Massachusetts.

Problem is, my cards are already under scrutiny by the providers.
These clowns could not tell me what the last four numbers of the cards were
nor could they identify the institution of the provider.

They wanted all my data....<grins>


Someone not alert could fall for this!

[Elessar]

Got a call from 209-631-2059 that showed 'Unavailable'. I traced it to the
Modesto area of Central CA.

The caller had a heavy Middle-East Accent and said he was from Microsoft
and was advising me of a 'Computer License Security I.D.' that was out of date!

He rattled off a whole string of numbers that made no sense at all. But he wanted
access to the computer to "FIX" the problem.

For one...Microsoft does not have any offices in CenCal. for Two - they NEVER
telephone anyone! The client has to call!

[jimnyc]

Cool, we'll sticky this one for awhile, as it's always cool to share the scams to warn others.

[aboutime]

Best rule of thumb for everyone to avoid SCAMMERS. If YOU didn't call them, write to them, or do not know them. THEY ARE SCAMMERS.

Until everyone learns 'Because it's on the Internet....does not mean it's real, or true." Scammers, and Hackers will enjoy finding Easily-fooled people to just hand over their important information.

[indago]

Tax Scams

From CNN 31 October 2013:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Taxpayers, beware: Fraudsters impersonating IRS agents are calling people across the country demanding they pay taxes that they don't even owe.
--------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/31/pf/taxes/irs-phone-scam/)

It was noted that the scammers:

• Declare that taxes are owed to IRS

• Threaten the recipient

• Demand payment

So, don't be confusing these scammers with actual IRS agents, who:

• Declare that taxes are owed to IRS

• Threaten the recipient

• Demand payment

[NightTrain]

Report any and all scams like this to the FBI. You're not the only one that was called, and they can find the scammers.

http://www.fbi.gov/report-threats-and-crime

It's a sure thing, Elessar, that the phone number that you saw pop up was spoofed. It's very easy to do. However, the records are still there and it can be traced. Most of the spoofed numbers are actually over the internet and using proxies, but that can be overcome. The government can track almost all internet traffic because it's monitored at key locations that route the traffic. It's the proxies utilized in unfriendly countries that makes it difficult, but it's a safe bet that usually there's stealth monitoring programs reporting back to Momma from there, too.

That's why it only takes a matter of hours to ID someone that did something who they REALLY want to find. That's when they dig into the recorded traffic.

The cops have to get a Judge to give them warrant so they can "dig" for the info (which they already have but it's not admissible without the warrant), but when they already know who the bad guy is it's easy to come up with reasons to convince the Judge to okay grabbing his past online traffic.

Take a look at this worldwide internet map, and you can see where the logical places to monitor traffic would be :

http://www.debatepolicy.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6979&stc=1

All traffic in and out of North America are handled by only a few hubs : Seattle, LA, Miami and New York, with a few others like Portland. Most of the traffic is carried between England and New York - and that's not by chance. Sure, there's some satellite traffic too, but I think we know who has access to all that data.

Anyway, I think it's interesting.

I've probably made a few watchlists with my recent hobby of insulting radical muslims on Al Jazeera lately, but they probably get a kick out of my activity.

[aboutime]

All of us must ALSO beware of those on the Internet who FAKE their concern for SCAMS, SCAMMERS, and HACKERS. It's a reverse business that preys on the FEARS of the uninformed...Much like the "Y2K" scares back in 2000, that created Millions in profits for a few, at the hands of the FREAKED-OUT, WORRIED, EASILY-LED, that paid sometimes HUGE bucks for something that NEVER TOOK PLACE.

BEWARE OF THE INTERNET. It's not the safe place everyone would like you to believe it is.
NOT A JOKE.

[Elessar]

Report any and all scams like this to the FBI. You're not the only one that was called, and they can find the scammers.

http://www.fbi.gov/report-threats-and-crime



I know for a fact how deep the FBI and FCC can delve.

I was into an FCC search a few years back for a false
Mayday Radio Hoaxer.


The FCC can trace an individual marine band radio right down to it's
mounted location.

They can also search an ISP right to the computer and keyboard the
messages comes from.

Scary? No....Protective? Yes. "You" (generic) got nothing to hide, then you
have nothing to worry about.

I'll trust the allied agencies I work with.

[NightTrain]

I know for a fact how deep the FBI and FCC can delve.

I was into an FCC search a few years back for a false
Mayday Radio Hoaxer.


The FCC can trace an individual marine band radio right down to it's
mounted location.

They can also search an ISP right to the computer and keyboard the
messages comes from.

Scary? No....Protective? Yes. "You" (generic) got nothing to hide, then you
have nothing to worry about.

I'll trust the allied agencies I work with.

Yep.

Triangulation works very well for radio broadcasts, and cell traffic too.

Another thing that most people doing stupid things on the internet aren't aware of is that every computer (or phone, tablet, ipad, etc) has a MAC address embedded in it that is unique to every other device - just like the VIN on your car. So they'll go to a public hotspot and do their illegal activity, thinking they're anonymous. Nope, they're not and shortly afterwards there's a few guys in black suits knocking at the front door. It seems that particular MAC address is mostly used at your home.

I agree with you, it doesn't bother me either because I'm not a pervert looking for kiddie porn or emailing Achmed in Lebanon about buying RPGs.

[Elessar]

This came from 1-202-000-1111:

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-202-000-1111/12

[aboutime]

Just REJECT, and DO NOT ANSWER any calls you may get from Unfamiliar, Unknown numbers.

If you have an answering machine. Just ask them to leave their phone number. THEY WON'T.

[Elessar]

Just REJECT, and DO NOT ANSWER any calls you may get from Unfamiliar, Unknown numbers.

If you have an answering machine. Just ask them to leave their phone number. THEY WON'T.

Aye...."I" do that...

I post these as a warning to all.

:cool:

[indago]

Jennifer Soules wrote for The Republic 15 March 2015:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Internal Revenue Service warns that unscrupulous tax preparers have told consumers to pay them directly instead of the federal government to settle potential fines assessed to those who don't have health insurance.

Under the Affordable Care Act, uninsured residents who don't qualify for a coverage exemption are required to make a payment with their 2014 federal income tax return. The IRS has since received several reports of tax preparers instructing clients to make that payment, known as an individual shared responsibility payment, directly to the preparer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2015/03/15/irs-warns-taxpayers-of-new-health-care-fines-scam-abrk/24822103/)

[indago]

From The New York Times 27 February 2016:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone from the I.R.S. had just phoned, she said, to say a warrant for her arrest had been issued for failure to pay back taxes. ...“I told her, ‘Listen, this is a scam. Don’t do anything they are telling you to do,’” Mr. Smalley said...

...Since October 2013, about 900,000 people have reported getting a call from an I.R.S. phone swindler, and not all of these people hung up unscathed, the Treasury Department reported in January. Officials estimated that 5,000 victims had parted with a total of more than $26 million.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

article (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/your-money/irs-calling-to-demand-cash-dont-pay-up-hang-up.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0)

[revelarts]

Some group called my wife and left a message about her credit. she ask me to call back since it didn't make sense. It was a scam. and since it was a local number i called the local police. they transferred me around and a cop finally told me that there were SO many like this that they didn't even want to take the number from me but they were "happy" we hadn't fell for it. he sounded like he just wanted to get me off the phone to get back to his coffee.

Based on what's being said here i should have called the FBI as well?
the local cops didn't make that suggestion. they made NO suggestions other than "be careful".
We are careful, i was thinking the cops would help others by shutting down these guys.

I chalked it up to the concept of having to protect yourself because no one really gives a crap.

[NightTrain]

Some group called my wife and left a message about her credit. she ask me to call back since it didn't make sense. It was a scam. and since it was a local number i called the local police. they transferred me around and a cop finally told me that there were SO many like this that they didn't even want to take the number from me but they were "happy" we hadn't fell for it. he sounded like he just wanted to get me off the phone to get back to his coffee.

Based on what's being said here i should have called the FBI as well?
the local cops didn't make that suggestion. they made NO suggestions other than "be careful".
We are careful, i was thinking the cops would help others by shutting down these guys.

I chalked it up to the concept of having to protect yourself because no one really gives a crap.

Yeah, local cops have better things to do than try to investigate national / international scams like that. I wouldn't think most police departments have a budget that allows investigations into areas beyond their jurisdiction.

I don't know if the FBI follows up on every reported scam, but that is one of their assigned tasks.

It just takes a few minutes, Rev! I reported using that link I gave earlier in this thread and I never heard back from them about it... but at least it may have helped them bust the scumbags.

[revelarts]

Yeah, local cops have better things to do than try to investigate national / international scams like that. I wouldn't think most police departments have a budget that allows investigations into areas beyond their jurisdiction.

I don't know if the FBI follows up on every reported scam, but that is one of their assigned tasks.

It just takes a few minutes, Rev! I reported using that link I gave earlier in this thread and I never heard back from them about it... but at least it may have helped them bust the scumbags.

If i had known or thought about it more at the time i would have made the call or e-mail.

But as i said it was a local scammer (by the area code at least) so i called the local police. Seems to me at the least they could have done a number location (like they do with local 911 calls) and send a car over to ask questions. Even if was only to let the scammers know that the cops were aware of what they were doing. At least CALL the number and tell them they are now aware and have them on the radar. Make a note at least.

[NightTrain]

If i had known or thought about it more at the time i would have made the call or e-mail.

But as i said it was a local scammer (by the area code at least) so i called the local police. Seems to me at the least they could have done a number location (like they do with local 911 calls) and send a car over to ask questions. Even if was only to let the scammers know that the cops were aware of what they were doing. At least CALL the number and tell them they are now aware and have them on the radar. Make a note at least.

The problem is that you can easily spoof the phone number. The stupid ones that don't hide their real number are hauled off to the clink in short order... kind of a stupid scammer Darwinism.

I'd bet 100 to 1 that the phone call wasn't local... it was made to look local so that you'd be more easily swayed with their pitch. A phone call from Bermuda is going to make you awfully damned suspicious right out of the gate!

[jimnyc]

The problem is that you can easily spoof the phone number. The stupid ones are hauled off to the clink in short order... kind of a stupid scammer Darwinism.

I'd bet 100 to 1 that the phone call wasn't local... it was made to look local so that you'd be more easily swayed with their pitch. A phone call from Bermuda is going to make you awfully damned suspicious right out of the gate!

Yup. I've had weird numbers call, and I would almost instantly call back and get a message telling me that this number is out of service. They just spoofed that number to try and appear legit. Always dirtbags trying to sell crappy insurance or similar.

[tailfins]

Yup. I've had weird numbers call, and I would almost instantly call back and get a message telling me that this number is out of service. They just spoofed that number to try and appear legit. Always dirtbags trying to sell crappy insurance or similar.

Particularly extended auto warranties: Some have legit information to substantiate their scam. Some knew that exact date my vehicle's manufacturer's warranty expires. I like to ask stupid questions such as: Does this mean the extended warranty I bought from the manufacturer has been cancelled? They say "yes", I then ask "have you ever considered becoming a sex worker because you're incompetent as a phone scammer"?

[revelarts]

The problem is that you can easily spoof the phone number. The stupid ones that don't hide their real number are hauled off to the clink in short order... kind of a stupid scammer Darwinism.

I'd bet 100 to 1 that the phone call wasn't local... it was made to look local so that you'd be more easily swayed with their pitch. A phone call from Bermuda is going to make you awfully damned suspicious right out of the gate!

That's a very reasonable assumption... makes a lot of sense. But it doesn't mean the local cops can't take a minute to check the number. Are all in Bermuda or off shore? I Did call the number back and got a person right away. The local cops at the least should be trained to advise me about FBI as you have,since they get "so many" calls along that line.
they dropped the ball.

[namvet]

I haven't run into any of these crooks. yet. last time for me was the windows tech scam. boy did i have fun with those dumb fucks :laugh:

[NightTrain]

That's a very reasonable assumption... makes a lot of sense. But it doesn't mean the local cops can't take a minute to check the number. Are all in Bermuda or off shore? I Did call the number back and got a person right away. The local cops at the least should be trained to advise me about FBI as you have,since they get "so many" calls along that line.
they dropped the ball.

That wasn't very professional of your local cops.. they should have pointed you to the correct LEO instead of trying to get you to hang up and forget about it.

I just used Bermuda as an example because the last scammer that I had dealings with was allegedly based there. He sounded Jamaican to me, but I'm no expert on Caribbean accents. I know the Nigerians are nipples-deep in phone scams, along with the Russkies. It's just safer to scam people from another country because of jurisdictions and getting foreign LEOs to cooperate... we're relatively loaded compared to other countries, so we're naturally the choice target.

The Nigerian cops have a whole lot more important matters to investigate than some American cop wanting him to help track down a couple of internet thugs at a cyber cafe scamming stupid Americans with too much money.

[NightTrain]

I haven't run into any of these crooks. yet. last time for me was the windows tech scam. boy did i have fun with those dumb fucks :laugh:

:laugh:

Yeah, I was just thinking about that! I had 3 or 4 of them so frustrated with this stupid American that couldn't navigate to their trojan page that they were ready to kill.

"Okay, where are you now?"

"Ummm... in my Friend Requests for Facebook. I think?"

"No! Okay. Type this in your address bar!"

"Type what in?"

They'd slowly spell out the address, and I'd make them do it a couple of times.

"Now what do you see?"

"Page not found. Okay, now I'm back at Facebook."

"NO! Okay, type this in. Okay? TYPE IT IN!"

"Page not found. Huh, now I'm at Facebook again. Should I go to my friend's list?"

"Grrraakkk!"

And I'd get passed to the scammer in the next cubicle while the last one beat his head against the desk. I figured the more time they wasted on me, the less time they'd have to scam a gullible American. Plus, trolling these shitheads gave me great satisfaction.

Their tears of frustration were delicious!

[namvet]

:laugh:

Yeah, I was just thinking about that! I had 3 or 4 of them so frustrated with this stupid American that couldn't navigate to their trojan page that they were ready to kill.

"Okay, where are you now?"

"Ummm... in my Friend Requests for Facebook. I think?"

"No! Okay. Type this in your address bar!"

"Type what in?"

They'd slowly spell out the address, and I'd make them do it a couple of times.

"Now what do you see?"

"Page not found. Okay, now I'm back at Facebook."

"NO! Okay, type this in. Okay? TYPE IT IN!"

"Page not found. Huh, now I'm at Facebook again. Should I go to my friend's list?"

"Grrraakkk!"

And I'd get passed to the scammer in the next cubicle while the last one beat his head against the desk. I figured the more time they wasted on me, the less time they'd have to scam a gullible American. Plus, trolling these shitheads gave me great satisfaction.

Their tears of frustration were delicious!

they always told me click the start tab. for some reason we never got that far

[aboutime]

Whether anyone here cares to believe me or not. Whenever you receive a call from an Unknown number, from anyone you do not know, or do not recognize the number. IF YOU ANSWER IT, you are giving the caller the PHISHING bait they need to use your number. Even if it is UNPUBLISHED.

RULE OF THUMB. If you didn't call someone, or haven't seen the number before. HANG UP. PERIOD!

[Elessar]

I keep getting a Barclay CashForward World MasterCard Application form in the mail.

It has a block in which "You can choose to stop receiving "pre-screened" offers of credit from this and
other companies by calling 1-888-567-8688...."

Call the number and the first thing they ask for is your Social Security Number!
They do not ask for the Personal ID Code that is on the notice.

I would say BEWARE!

[aboutime]

I keep getting a Barclay CashForward World MasterCard Application form in the mail.

It has a block in which "You can choose to stop receiving "pre-screened" offers of credit from this and
other companies by calling 1-888-567-8688...."

Call the number and the first thing they ask for is your Social Security Number!
They do not ask for the Personal ID Code that is on the notice.

I would say BEWARE!



That's how they succeed in fooling people. MONEY, and the THOUGHT of getting SOME. Never fails, and today's society is so easily convinced to believe everything. The Scammers make BIG BUCKS on the ignorance of selfishness.

[Drummond]

Possibly some scammers are more sophisticated than I'd give them credit for (... depends on who they are ?). But, I suggest a VERY easy, simple, litmus test that can be applied to any suspected scammer trying to contact you.

Simply ... ask THEM to give information about YOU ... assess for yourself, if you can, what information about you they SHOULD already have, if they are really who they claim to be. The last scamming attempt I was subject to was stopped in its tracks by my asking the caller the simple question: 'If you are who you say you are, you'll have a database containing basic information. Tell me .. WHO AM I ?'

The caller abruptly rang off, and didn't call back.

Maybe in the US, scammers do more to attempt research on their hoped-for victims. But in many instances, they'll have scant info to start out with ... remember, their approach is to get information from YOU, not the other way around. Counter it by probing to see what, of a basic nature, they can tell you they already have (and should have !) on file about you. My guess ... almost always, they'll fail that test.

[Gunny]

I just don't answer the phone if I don't know the number. If I'm bored I might look it up later. If I have a problem then I guess it was a legit call. Haven't had one of those yet. :)

[Abbey Marie]

I just don't answer the phone if I don't know the number. If I'm bored I might look it up later. If I have a problem then I guess it was a legit call. Haven't had one of those yet. :)

Yup. In my experience, anyone legit will leave a message if you don't answer. As will some scammers, but very rarely. They just want to get you to pick up, and if you don't, they disconnect and quickly move on to the next victim.

If they do happen to leave a message, I will listen to it and not call back, lol.

[mundame]

Got a call from 209-631-2059 that showed 'Unavailable'. I traced it to the
Modesto area of Central CA.

The caller had a heavy Middle-East Accent and said he was from Microsoft
and was advising me of a 'Computer License Security I.D.' that was out of date!

He rattled off a whole string of numbers that made no sense at all. But he wanted
access to the computer to "FIX" the problem.

For one...Microsoft does not have any offices in CenCal. for Two - they NEVER
telephone anyone! The client has to call!


Yeah, a friend of mine gets these, every once in a while. They've targeted her for some reason. Maybe because she picks the calls up! She loves this stuff, teasing them and wasting their time. I think it's dangerous: we have NoMoRoBo against robocalling and so daily get one to three single ring calls: then NoMoRoBo shuts it down. So we wait to see if a caller rings twice before moving out of the chair. And of course we have that federal program, but that has worn out and the scam callers are back in force.

Now, you can still get scam callers IF they have hired humans to dial phones by hand and play the message when someone picks up. These always have a fake number on the Caller ID: often my own number! Which works surprisingly well --- I used to get curious. No more. Also they use numbers computer-generated (I assume) from areas supposedly that I am in or near. I have finally figured out that no call from the local black area is ever, ever legit --- I don't know anyone there, so I should just never pick those calls up when I see the area name on Caller ID. If it's a real person they can leave a message. But it never is.

We get a lot more scam calls than actual people calls. I suppose that's been true for most people for 45-50 years. I don't use cell phones and have considered unplugging the landline except for once a day checking for messages. If it gets bad enough, we could try that. I don't like to, though, as sometimes calls are time-crucial. I could invent a twice-a-day call-checking routine if it gets bad enough.

[mundame]

Whether anyone here cares to believe me or not. Whenever you receive a call from an Unknown number, from anyone you do not know, or do not recognize the number. IF YOU ANSWER IT, you are giving the caller the PHISHING bait they need to use your number. Even if it is UNPUBLISHED.

RULE OF THUMB. If you didn't call someone, or haven't seen the number before. HANG UP. PERIOD!


You mean, just let it ring until it's gone, right? Because if you can hang up, you've picked up the phone, which does probably signal their computer that this is a live line. They can at least sell that info. My husband keeps saying, "Let it go, let it go! If it's a real person, they'll leave a message." That's hard for me, but I do think he's right. It's usually a scam recording.

Law and order enforcement is very bad in this country. Phone scammers have been operating with impunity for many decades and that's why this crime does nothing but increase and spread to countries all over the world.

[mundame]

Possibly some scammers are more sophisticated than I'd give them credit for (... depends on who they are ?). But, I suggest a VERY easy, simple, litmus test that can be applied to any suspected scammer trying to contact you.

Simply ... ask THEM to give information about YOU ... assess for yourself, if you can, what information about you they SHOULD already have, if they are really who they claim to be. The last scamming attempt I was subject to was stopped in its tracks by my asking the caller the simple question: 'If you are who you say you are, you'll have a database containing basic information. Tell me .. WHO AM I ?'

The caller abruptly rang off, and didn't call back.

Maybe in the US, scammers do more to attempt research on their hoped-for victims. But in many instances, they'll have scant info to start out with ... remember, their approach is to get information from YOU, not the other way around. Counter it by probing to see what, of a basic nature, they can tell you they already have (and should have !) on file about you. My guess ... almost always, they'll fail that test.

Excellent, thanx for the suggestion.

Ask callers who they suppose they are calling. I got some bad calls from our medical service carriers that seemed to me very close to scams and I ended up protesting to the company vehemently. (I think they had lost all our records, is actually what happened, because they sent us cards in the end with out-of-date info, and they had been badly hacked: MedStar, it was in the news. I think they had one of those encryption hacks.) These callers did know who I was, but they were still very shifty. If they don't know who I am, they are certainly scammers, but they could be anyway if hackers got the info. We've all been hacked six ways to Sunday by now: I know we have, by several companies that had our data that was hacked by Eastern Europeans or whatever with total data abstraction. I don't think they can do as much with all that as people feared, because it takes humans to sort it and use it. Mostly it's still email scams, and that I'm pretty good against. Though they are getting better and better and getting through the spam filters more and more lately.

[aboutime]

You mean, just let it ring until it's gone, right? Because if you can hang up, you've picked up the phone, which does probably signal their computer that this is a live line. They can at least sell that info. My husband keeps saying, "Let it go, let it go! If it's a real person, they'll leave a message." That's hard for me, but I do think he's right. It's usually a scam recording.

Law and order enforcement is very bad in this country. Phone scammers have been operating with impunity for many decades and that's why this crime does nothing but increase and spread to countries all over the world.
.................................................. .....................
mundame. Don't need to do anything when you see an unfamiliar number, than silencing the ring tone. Let them call again, and label their number as SPAM.

Or, you can make up you RECORDING for calls to say.
"You have reached........
" If I didn't call you, or I don't know you!. Don't call again! unless it an actual EMERGENCY!"

[Elessar]

Dumb Scam attempt. FBI does NOT use g-mail. FBI contacts people face to face, not over media or even telephone.
Do NOT click the link:

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
http://www.fbi.gov

This is the International Financial Watch Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI Washington D C) United States of America and we are mandated to monitor financial transactions around the globe in order to combat financial and internet fraud world wide. Our monitoring device picked up several signal transactions on your server and since then we have been monitoring all your financial/internet transactions and we have discovered that you have been into series of transactions.

From our investigations, you have been involved in a series of transaction worth of millions of dollars. Importantly, we discovered that you have an outstanding transaction worth US$2,700,000.00 which is either inheritance, lottery or contract payment which has been approved for payment but is yet to be paid to you.

We are working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Benin Nigerian and Ghana Government and the United Nations (UN) to ensure that you receive your payment. We thus, officially inform you that we have verified your contract/Lottery/ inheritance payment file after close monitoring and found out why you have not received the payment, both on your part and on the part of your debtors.

Our discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations (UN) and Benin Nigerian and Ghana Government agreed that the US$2.7M should be paid to you through the use of an Electronic ATM Card System. The ATM card will be processed by the UBA Bank.

NOTE THAT FOR YOU TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND TRUE ATM card IT WILL COST YOU $80 FOR THE DELIVERY OF YOUR ATM card AND YOU WILL RECEIVE IT OTHER TWO DAYS AND MAKE USE OF IT

Note that if you still wish to receive your FUND do get back to us Immediately so that we will remove your FUND transfer from the list of Those FUND to be seized by the United States Government. Also be Informed that we need only a DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SEAL OF TRANSFER (DIST) to complete the delivery of your ATM card. The fee to delivery your ATM card is $80 and no other fee is involved. You are required to send The fee of $80 by WESTERN UNION or MONEY GRAM to the issuing office at The bank where your FUND originated as stated below

Receivers Name:..Ben ikechi
Country ...Benin
AMOUNT $80 USD
Sender's name...
MTCN Number.....

Reconfirm you full details below to be forwarded to the Bank or FBI

(1)Your Full Name:
(2)Address:
(3)City:
(4)State:
(5)Zip code:
(6)Direct Cell phone Number:
(7)Age:
(8)Sex
(9)Occupation:
(10)Confidential E-mail address:

We have mandated the United Bank of African . Plc to process your payment within 48 hours of receiving your details which means that you must notify us once you contact the bank to enable us follow up with them to ensure that your payment is promptly processed. You are to get back to us if you need further clarification and do feel free to inform us of your past effort to claim the funds and if there has been any monetary involvement from you. To who and how much did you spend without results as this will enable us to prosecute those involved.

Faithfully Yours,
chuks Eze
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
(FBI Washington)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[High_Plains_Drifter]

Dumb Scam attempt. FBI does NOT use g-mail. FBI contacts people face to face, not over media or even telephone.
Do NOT click the link:

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
http://www.fbi.gov

This is the International Financial Watch Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI Washington D C) United States of America and we are mandated to monitor financial transactions around the globe in order to combat financial and internet fraud world wide. Our monitoring device picked up several signal transactions on your server and since then we have been monitoring all your financial/internet transactions and we have discovered that you have been into series of transactions.

From our investigations, you have been involved in a series of transaction worth of millions of dollars. Importantly, we discovered that you have an outstanding transaction worth US$2,700,000.00 which is either inheritance, lottery or contract payment which has been approved for payment but is yet to be paid to you.

We are working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Benin Nigerian and Ghana Government and the United Nations (UN) to ensure that you receive your payment. We thus, officially inform you that we have verified your contract/Lottery/ inheritance payment file after close monitoring and found out why you have not received the payment, both on your part and on the part of your debtors.

Our discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations (UN) and Benin Nigerian and Ghana Government agreed that the US$2.7M should be paid to you through the use of an Electronic ATM Card System. The ATM card will be processed by the UBA Bank.

NOTE THAT FOR YOU TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND TRUE ATM card IT WILL COST YOU $80 FOR THE DELIVERY OF YOUR ATM card AND YOU WILL RECEIVE IT OTHER TWO DAYS AND MAKE USE OF IT

Note that if you still wish to receive your FUND do get back to us Immediately so that we will remove your FUND transfer from the list of Those FUND to be seized by the United States Government. Also be Informed that we need only a DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY SEAL OF TRANSFER (DIST) to complete the delivery of your ATM card. The fee to delivery your ATM card is $80 and no other fee is involved. You are required to send The fee of $80 by WESTERN UNION or MONEY GRAM to the issuing office at The bank where your FUND originated as stated below

Receivers Name:..Ben ikechi
Country ...Benin
AMOUNT $80 USD
Sender's name...
MTCN Number.....

Reconfirm you full details below to be forwarded to the Bank or FBI

(1)Your Full Name:
(2)Address:
(3)City:
(4)State:
(5)Zip code:
(6)Direct Cell phone Number:
(7)Age:
(8)Sex
(9)Occupation:
(10)Confidential E-mail address:

We have mandated the United Bank of African . Plc to process your payment within 48 hours of receiving your details which means that you must notify us once you contact the bank to enable us follow up with them to ensure that your payment is promptly processed. You are to get back to us if you need further clarification and do feel free to inform us of your past effort to claim the funds and if there has been any monetary involvement from you. To who and how much did you spend without results as this will enable us to prosecute those involved.

Faithfully Yours,
chuks Eze
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
(FBI Washington)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
I love to play with these idiots. I feed them all kinds of lies and act as though I'm all excited and compliant. At some point they usually figure out they're being played and leave me alone.

Even the hack emails supposedly from foreign women looking for love, I tell them I want to meet them and I'm rich and want to send them lots of money... :laugh:

[mundame]

.................................................. .....................
mundame. Don't need to do anything when you see an unfamiliar number, than silencing the ring tone. Let them call again, and label their number as SPAM.

Or, you can make up you RECORDING for calls to say.
"You have reached........
" If I didn't call you, or I don't know you!. Don't call again! unless it an actual EMERGENCY!"


Good advice if we used cell phones --- you are so modern. :laugh2:

We really only use the landline, unless there is a car emergency, so it's more difficult. I swear, there are times I have decided to unplug that phone, and I may yet.

[Elessar]

Excellent, thanx for the suggestion.

Ask callers who they suppose they are calling. I got some bad calls from our medical service carriers that seemed to me very close to scams and I ended up protesting to the company vehemently. (I think they had lost all our records, is actually what happened, because they sent us cards in the end with out-of-date info, and they had been badly hacked: MedStar, it was in the news. I think they had one of those encryption hacks.) These callers did know who I was, but they were still very shifty. If they don't know who I am, they are certainly scammers, but they could be anyway if hackers got the info. We've all been hacked six ways to Sunday by now: I know we have, by several companies that had our data that was hacked by Eastern Europeans or whatever with total data abstraction. I don't think they can do as much with all that as people feared, because it takes humans to sort it and use it. Mostly it's still email scams, and that I'm pretty good against. Though they are getting better and better and getting through the spam filters more and more lately.

I got one recently that I picked up and answered. (I was waiting for call backs from my late mothers accounts)

This one got my hackles up saying he represented a Credit Card security company.
He wanted my personal information.

I said..."Buster, if your represent my accounts, tell me which you are referring to".
This clown mentioned cards an accounts I do no hold.....nor could he identify the accounts
I do hold.

Told him to ***off and try a stupid person...and was going to turn him and his phone number
to the FBI and FCC.]

[Elessar]

I love to play with these idiots. I feed them all kinds of lies and act as though I'm all excited and compliant. At some point they usually figure out they're being played and leave me alone.

Even the hack emails supposedly from foreign women looking for love, I tell them I want to meet them and I'm rich and want to send them lots of money... :laugh:

I would love to have one of these 'agents' show up on my porch.

They would be shitting teeth for a week.:laugh:

[aboutime]

We got rid of Land Line phone about 10 years ago. When we got a package deal of Internet, and TV on cable from COX...part of the deal was a Land line. But, we never used it.

All we have are TWO cell phones that allow my wife and I to stay in touch from the Doctors office, or the Grocery store. Our family knows our numbers, and so do our bill collectors. Otherwise, any numbers we do not recognize, or haven't listed as CONTACTS...get MUTED by hand while they ring. Many of them leave voice messages from 1-800 numbers that we just GET RID OF of label as SPAM.
Our rule is. If we don't know you, or we didn't call you. WE FORGET YOU.

[Taco Junkie]

Yup. In my experience, anyone legit will leave a message if you don't answer. As will some scammers, but very rarely. They just want to get you to pick up, and if you don't, they disconnect and quickly move on to the next victim.

If they do happen to leave a message, I will listen to it and not call back, lol.

I always do this except when it's someone I know (the name or number comes up both the phone and the tv screen). But when it's a scammer that calls repeatedly and does or doesn't leave a message my phone allows me to block the #. I know they can switch to another number but works on about half. For those that persist, just do the same drill and block them again.

The wife always feels compelled to answer. Makes me crazy. :uhoh:

[darin]

Found another scam.

Turns out "The Government" takes a large portion of YOUR money, puts it in some unsealed coffer and promises to earn money on your behalf and then repay you the money you paid in - but the kicker is - the Govt SPENDS that money willy-nilly.


Be warned.

[High_Plains_Drifter]

Found another scam.

Turns out "The Government" takes a large portion of YOUR money, puts it in some unsealed coffer and promises to earn money on your behalf and then repay you the money you paid in - but the kicker is - the Govt SPENDS that money willy-nilly.


Be warned.
They don't pay you any interest on it either.

[Hot Dogger]

I just heard today of a scam involving commercial trucking, the trucking company gets a letter from the scammer saying their DOT credentials are out of date and they'll remedy the matter for a price, but the whole thing is a scam.

Another one I personally get over the phone often involves some sort of energy rebate, they mention an electric company that I'm not using, so it's a scam.