[On-going Scams - Post them here]

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veggivet
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by veggivet »

That is correct. As of today, the college has not contacted her. Wells Fargo, the bank involved in the fraudulent transfer, must have nabbed the scammers.
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Tubes
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Tubes »

I got a new one.

Email from friend: "I slipped while walking and fell. Next thing I knew, I had broken my right femur, It required surgery."

This friend is elderly and the situation is very possible. I don't email with this friend often, so I don't know his style. Still, something seemed off. I examined the headers and saw the "reply-to" was a different address that was very, very close to my friend's address.

Searching for the phrase above, you'll see it is rare, but it is out there. The con-game is when you reply, they reply back asking for gift cards to help with their surgery.

These scammers never stop inventing new ideas.
RetiredAL
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by RetiredAL »

After a very quite 10 days or so, the scammy emails to my elderly Dad's email are back, with a vengeance. The last two days, near 40 emails.

My Dad has not personally accessed his emails for over 2 years now and his email system pigeonholes 95% of them. It's obvious he's on some list that gets recycled. Yuk!
likegarden
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by likegarden »

I looked into my Email folder, and there were 3 Emails from sites who do not know how to spell correctly. That is wonderfully easy to identify scammers, that must be scammers, got deleted. Also an Email from a place trying to sell me insurance I don't need got deleted.
Colorado Guy
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Colorado Guy »

Received an email today from "Info@****buyer.com", for an order confirmation for a renewal of a 3 year computer protection program. The email ended up in my junk email, which was fortunate. Didn't look at the email as I would have to move it out of my junk folder, and didn't want to do that.

Did not click on anything, but did do an internet search for "****buyer.com", which had its domain registered one year ago. Also did a quick check of my credit card billing as well, no activity.

What was interesting to me, though, was that the email links all started with https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com. Is "safelinks" normal for links in a scam email?
trallium
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by trallium »

Colorado Guy wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:45 pm What was interesting to me, though, was that the email links all started with https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com. Is "safelinks" normal for links in a scam email?
I think that is your email client re-writing the links. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/micros ... safe-links
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LadyGeek
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by LadyGeek »

The email links are inserted by someone using Office 365 with advanced security turned on. Google "outlook safelinks scam" for a ton of info, which includes the link mentioned in your post.

However, I still don't trust it. If your internet search for the "****buyer.com" is not one you recognize, then delete the email. Wait a day or so to be sure the charge doesn't show up on your credit card. It might be billed through a 3rd party.

You can figure out the target URL from the https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com link, but it's best to leave things alone if you're not comfortable how to safely handle scam links.
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scrabbler1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by scrabbler1 »

Colorado Guy wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 3:45 pm Received an email today from "Info@****buyer.com", for an order confirmation for a renewal of a 3 year computer protection program. The email ended up in my junk email, which was fortunate. Didn't look at the email as I would have to move it out of my junk folder, and didn't want to do that.

Did not click on anything, but did do an internet search for "****buyer.com", which had its domain registered one year ago. Also did a quick check of my credit card billing as well, no activity.

What was interesting to me, though, was that the email links all started with https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com. Is "safelinks" normal for links in a scam email?
I get this garbage all the time. Several times a week I am told my Norton or McAfee anti-malware programs (which I have neither of) have expired and need to be renewed. The emails are all in my junk mail folder and get deleted immediately. I try to block the domain names but they so rarely get reused, and I can't use wild cards in the domain names of my email provider's blocking program to block groups of similarly named domain names.
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by BarbBrooklyn »

Heard about this today in Brooklyn.

Website advertises "local locksmith" with address in the neighborhood.

Homeowner with lock problem calls, "tech" comes out, says only thing is to drill out the lock. Cost is $250.

Once the lock is drilled, starts adding charges. The one reported got up to $900 for what should have been at most a $200 lock replacement.

Website for several "neighborhood" locksmiths is the same. No shop at address advertised.
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ddbtoth
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ddbtoth »

likegarden wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:10 pm I looked into my Email folder, and there were 3 Emails from sites who do not know how to spell correctly. That is wonderfully easy to identify scammers, that must be scammers, got deleted. Also an Email from a place trying to sell me insurance I don't need got deleted.
The emails are actually set up this way- if you are savvy enough to spot the errors, they don't want you. It's how they focus and find non-tech savvy people.
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telemark
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by telemark »

I got an email today that almost had me going for a while. It called me by my correct full name, purported to be from Best Buy, said "Renew Activation of GEEK SQUAD Membership for the next 5 year has been ordered successfully", and gave a phone number to call. It was timely since I bought something from Best Buy about a year ago and recently got an email from them saying that my points would expire soon.

I got suspicious when I noticed the email address was a gmail account, then did a search on the phone number and came up with nothing. Then I signed into my Best Buy account. There was no such activity shown (I have no Geek Squad membership), the real Best Buy phone number is different, and I have no payment methods on file so it would be difficult for them to charge me for anything automatically. Be careful out there...
scrabbler1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by scrabbler1 »

telemark wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 7:29 pm I got an email today that almost had me going for a while. It called me by my correct full name, purported to be from Best Buy, said "Renew Activation of GEEK SQUAD Membership for the next 5 year has been ordered successfully", and gave a phone number to call. It was timely since I bought something from Best Buy about a year ago and recently got an email from them saying that my points would expire soon.

I got suspicious when I noticed the email address was a gmail account, then did a search on the phone number and came up with nothing. Then I signed into my Best Buy account. There was no such activity shown (I have no Geek Squad membership), the real Best Buy phone number is different, and I have no payment methods on file so it would be difficult for them to charge me for anything automatically. Be careful out there...
I had a Geek Squad membership several years ago and got several of these supposed renewals in emails like the one you described, especially around the time it was set to expire. Simply checking my credit card activity showed me they were scams, as I had already suspected. But we both saw how people can be fooled into believing the scam and call that phone number and be swindled out of something valuable.
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K72
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by K72 »

I got an email a while back from service@paypal.com stating a recent purchase of $600 in WalMart gift cards on my account might be fraudulent, and there was a button to click to review/pay. Everything looked real, especially the sender, but there were a couple of subtle grammatical errors in the text and the greeting was "Dear PayPal User" rather than my name. I forwarded it to the PayPal phishing email and got an automated thank you, but haven't heard anything back. Of course, when I logged into my PayPal account there were no recent purchases. I've since closed the account because I never use it. The scariest part was the sender looked totally legit. Usually I can tell immediately if it's a scam because of the sender. Not this time. Yikes!
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vested1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by vested1 »

My wife got a call from a "police organization" asking for donations, and when she agreed to a $20 donation, the caller insisted that she pay with a credit card. She almost did but handed me her phone instead. I told the caller that we don't give our credit card over the phone to people who call out of the blue, and asked them to send a donation request in the mail. The caller sounded confused then asked for my name and address, so it was obviously a cold call. We retained our cell numbers on the west coast when we moved to the east coast three years ago, so even if the call was legitimate the donation wouldn't have gone to our local police department.

She sounded legit until I refused to give her CC info, after which she became indignant. I hung up.
OpenMinded1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by OpenMinded1 »

I don't remember all the details, but recently received two separate emails offering $90+ in rewards for completing a survey about CVS and another company. (I deleted them.) Have since read about these survey scams that use the name of a major company to trick people into thinking they are legit. The emails didn't actually come from either of the companies cited. Have to admit that the offer of $90+ combined with a well-know company name caused me to let my guard down momentarily. However, I came to my senses before clicking on any links or providing them with any info on myself.
scrabbler1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by scrabbler1 »

vested1 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:33 am My wife got a call from a "police organization" asking for donations, and when she agreed to a $20 donation, the caller insisted that she pay with a credit card. She almost did but handed me her phone instead. I told the caller that we don't give our credit card over the phone to people who call out of the blue, and asked them to send a donation request in the mail. The caller sounded confused then asked for my name and address, so it was obviously a cold call. We retained our cell numbers on the west coast when we moved to the east coast three years ago, so even if the call was legitimate the donation wouldn't have gone to our local police department.

She sounded legit until I refused to give her CC info, after which she became indignant. I hung up.
I won't give my CC number to a cold caller over the phone even if it is a charity I donate to regularly, such as my college's alumni association. The student caller began to be annoyingly insistent, so I told him I donate my way or I don't donate. They sent me a form in the mail. Afterward, I locked the number so I won't have to put up with the annoying sales pitch every year, forcing them to mail me the form if they want a donation.
scrabbler1
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by scrabbler1 »

OpenMinded1 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:58 am I don't remember all the details, but recently received two separate emails offering $90+ in rewards for completing a survey about CVS and another company. (I deleted them.) Have since read about these survey scams that use the name of a major company to trick people into thinking they are legit. The emails didn't actually come from either of the companies cited. Have to admit that the offer of $90+ combined with a well-know company name caused me to let my guard down momentarily. However, I came to my senses before clicking on any links or providing them with any info on myself.
I get these types of scam emails all the time, including from CVS. In some instances, I found a warning in the company's website stating they don't do stuff like that. If I can, I'll forward the scam email to them in case they can do anything about it, even giving a description of it in their existing warning.
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heartwood
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by heartwood »

telemark wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 7:29 pm I got an email today that almost had me going for a while. It called me by my correct full name, purported to be from Best Buy, said "Renew Activation of GEEK SQUAD Membership for the next 5 year has been ordered successfully", and gave a phone number to call. It was timely since I bought something from Best Buy about a year ago and recently got an email from them saying that my points would expire soon.

I got suspicious when I noticed the email address was a gmail account, then did a search on the phone number and came up with nothing. Then I signed into my Best Buy account. There was no such activity shown (I have no Geek Squad membership), the real Best Buy phone number is different, and I have no payment methods on file so it would be difficult for them to charge me for anything automatically. Be careful out there...
I started getting these about 6 months ago, 3 or 4 or more a month, all with different amounts, all from different non-bestbuy email accounts. We also get several a month regarding successful renewal of McAfee or Norton software again from random email addresses. We have none of those softwares. We ignore them all.

The Best Buy ones are interesting in that early this year we did buy, at Best Buy, Total Tech protection for new TVs at $299.99 for a year for anything you buy. Cheaper than the bogus emails want and BB delivers, sets up, hauls away on anything you buy in the 12 month period and warranties it for a year and supports it over the phone. (Un)fortunately we had a bad tech year and had to replace 4 tvs, a dishwasher, plus added 2 sound bars. All handled for the $299.99, in 2 states. We figure we saved over $1500 for the white glove type service.
student
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Is this a scam?

Post by student »

[Thread merged into here --admin LadyGeek]

Got a phone call from a 615 area code. Since I do not recognize the number, I did not pick up. Did a google search and it gave the name of the owner (at least it claimed). I figured that is just a misdial. But I have a phone message, a recording about this is a call from Comcast Xfinity and that my account is eligible for a 50% off, call 1-855-336-2479, 8-5 pacific time. 3 red flags.

1) Referring to itself as Comcast Xfinity. My experience is either Comcast or Xfinity. But I am probably reading too much into it.
2) 50% off? Does not seem likely.
3) 1-855-336-2479. Did a google search and come up with nothing.

Is this a scam?
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nisiprius
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by nisiprius »

1) Probably.

2) If you actually care, use a customer service from Comcast that you get yourself from your bill, and tell them you want the deal, and see if they know anything about it.
Last edited by nisiprius on Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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arcticpineapplecorp.
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by arcticpineapplecorp. »

don't ever call the number the scammer gives you. call xfinity (the number for them you have on your statements or you find on the internet) and ask them about the call you received. Perhaps they can put a warning at their site to warn people? probably a scam, but only comcast will tell you for sure. the actual, real comcast, not the people who called you.
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Scam..

I 619 these clowns. I take the call and play along. I get confused and ask them to repeat things and repeat back completely wrong. My goal.....since time costs them money, I want to cost them lots of money. I can tell when they've figured it out because they start swearing at me in either English or Hindi. I respond in whatever language they use.
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student
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by student »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:04 pm Scam..

I 619 these clowns. I take the call and play along. I get confused and ask them to repeat things and repeat back completely wrong. My goal.....since time costs them money, I want to cost them lots of money. I can tell when they've figured it out because they start swearing at me in either English or Hindi. I respond in whatever language they use.
lol.
student
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by student »

Thanks for the conformation. I thought about calling comcast but I decided not to waste my time being on hold for 15-30 mins.
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nisiprius
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by nisiprius »

A Google search didn't find this exact scam but did find a number of scams claiming to be "from Comcast" and offering unbelievably good discount. The catch was that a) to qualify for it they had to pay in advance but..
Nelson was told he shouldn’t visit Comcast to make a payment, read his credit card number over the phone, or send a check in the mail. Instead, he was asked to acquire a Green Dot MoneyPak “Scratchable Prepaid Card” at his local CVS, Walgreens, or Kmart and load it with the expected pre-payment. Instead of mailing that card to the “Loyalty Department,” he was supposed to call back and read the numbers off the back of the Green Dot card.
Needless to say, what happened was that people who complied lost their money and didn't get anything.
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dollar_elbow
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by dollar_elbow »

My rule of thumb is that legitimate businesses may put offers on their website or in an advert, but they will never proactively call people to pitch them.
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by bob60014 »

My guide, if anyone needs to ask if it's a scam, it is!
student
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Re: Is this a scam?

Post by student »

nisiprius wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 5:09 pm A Google search didn't find this exact scam but did find a number of scams claiming to be "from Comcast" and offering unbelievably good discount. The catch was that a) to qualify for it they had to pay in advance but..
Nelson was told he shouldn’t visit Comcast to make a payment, read his credit card number over the phone, or send a check in the mail. Instead, he was asked to acquire a Green Dot MoneyPak “Scratchable Prepaid Card” at his local CVS, Walgreens, or Kmart and load it with the expected pre-payment. Instead of mailing that card to the “Loyalty Department,” he was supposed to call back and read the numbers off the back of the Green Dot card.
Needless to say, what happened was that people who complied lost their money and didn't get anything.
Thanks for the info.
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LadyGeek
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by LadyGeek »

I merged student's thread into the ongoing discussion.

(Thanks to the member who reported the post and explained what's wrong.)
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bberris
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by bberris »

mushripu wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:43 am I am getting messages on whatsapp from different numbers but the same picture of a beautiful girl with different texts like 'Hi are you xyz?' ' hi I am xyzs mom and did you give me tennis lessons last month' basically trying to start coversation!

Then message from a +234 nigeria code but same girl picture with a little more 'exposed' picture.

Then another message from a +880 bangladesh area code which says ' hi there !there is a beatiful girl here with excellent financials who wants to marry and please contact if you are between 27 to 54 years of age'? 😆😁
Just for fun, do an image search of your beautiful Whatsapp friend.
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by bberris »

ddbtoth wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:21 pm
likegarden wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:10 pm I looked into my Email folder, and there were 3 Emails from sites who do not know how to spell correctly. That is wonderfully easy to identify scammers, that must be scammers, got deleted. Also an Email from a place trying to sell me insurance I don't need got deleted.
The emails are actually set up this way- if you are savvy enough to spot the errors, they don't want you. It's how they focus and find non-tech savvy people.
I see this explanation a lot, but it doesn't make sense. If they spell correctly or not, and you still know it's a scam, you are not contacting them either way. So you are not wasting their time.

If a mark gets the email, they may or may not fall for it, but they are more likely to play if the spelling is correct.

I think this is simply a case of English as a second language, and they get enough responses so that they don't need to bother with correction.
And maybe the misspellings allow the mail to get through spam filters. This is done by ebay scammers a lot.
random_walker_77
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by random_walker_77 »

bberris wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:29 am
ddbtoth wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:21 pm
likegarden wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 2:10 pm I looked into my Email folder, and there were 3 Emails from sites who do not know how to spell correctly. That is wonderfully easy to identify scammers, that must be scammers, got deleted. Also an Email from a place trying to sell me insurance I don't need got deleted.
The emails are actually set up this way- if you are savvy enough to spot the errors, they don't want you. It's how they focus and find non-tech savvy people.
I see this explanation a lot, but it doesn't make sense. If they spell correctly or not, and you still know it's a scam, you are not contacting them either way. So you are not wasting their time.

If a mark gets the email, they may or may not fall for it, but they are more likely to play if the spelling is correct.

I think this is simply a case of English as a second language, and they get enough responses so that they don't need to bother with correction.
And maybe the misspellings allow the mail to get through spam filters. This is done by ebay scammers a lot.
Remember, most of the scammers are playing a game of numbers. It's fundamentally a business venture. Send out 1M emails each day, for basically free. Get 10K people to respond, and then hire enough staff to work those 10,000 leads. As a scammer, you want to convert those leads into revenue, right? If those 10K lean towards the gullible and you can get 10% of them to pay up, then that's better than if they're more astute, and you can convert only 1% of those leads into revenue.

If your marketing email (i.e. scam) generates 100K leads, and your conversion percentage is 1%, then it's worse than 10K leads that convert at 10%. You get the same end number of revenue conversions, but you had to have 10x the staff to work those leads. If the more gullible also had larger bank accounts, then even better (and this might be true, think "elder abuse").

If your "business model" is spear-phishing of high value candidates, then you'd want the slickest and most-legitimate spoofs, with the intent that you might convert only a small number, but the massive haul on each one warrants hiring a workforce with strong language skills and a labor-intensive customized approach to each potential victim candidate. Think of a malicious firm in a non-extradition country that acquired a list of Vanguard Flagship Select customers, and hired the staff to compile personalized dossiers based on facebook, linkedin, black-market SS number databases etc...

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-nig ... ous-2014-5

PS, these scammers really operate as businesses, complete w/ call centers in business parks. There are people who've fought back and hacked into their systems and security cameras. This one's interesting, if a little juvenile: Mark Rober pranking scammer call center
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heartwood
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by heartwood »

Just got a text from a 540 area code purportedly doing a survey for CVS.

I would not answer in any event, but the link (in part) was http ..... surveycorrupt.directory ...

I'm guessing the name makes it easier for them to find the respondents who might now have corrupt directories? reply to possibly win a $100 gift card with a link name like that?
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K72
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by K72 »

Got two more bogus emails today from PayPal regarding $600+ charges. First one was quite obvious (sender was longyanek8236@gmail.com), but the 2nd was the same exact one I got last week from service@paypal.com and looks totally authentic. Each had a link or attachment. Glad I closed my PayPal account last week. Deep six'd them both.

As a side note, after I requested my account be closed, PayPal responded acknowledging account closure but stated that due to Federal and State laws they are compelled to keep my data for years. A bit vague if you ask me. I'd be happier if they'd said 6 years, 7 months, and 14 days.....
All we want are the facts...
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Stinky
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Stinky »

K72 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:35 pm Got two more bogus emails today from PayPal regarding $600+ charges. First one was quite obvious (sender was longyanek8236@gmail.com), but the 2nd was the same exact one I got last week from service@paypal.com and looks totally authentic. Each had a link or attachment. Glad I closed my PayPal account last week. Deep six'd them both.

As a side note, after I requested my account be closed, PayPal responded acknowledging account closure but stated that due to Federal and State laws they are compelled to keep my data for years. A bit vague if you ask me. I'd be happier if they'd said 6 years, 7 months, and 14 days.....
I got an email from “PayPal” today with a different twist - purportedly a request for money from me. Here’s the text:

Christine L Watkins sent you a money request
NOTE FROM Christine L Watkins:

We have detected some suspicious activities with your PayPal account. If you did not make this transaction, please call us at toll free number +1 (857) 415-2935 to cancel and claim a refund. If this is not the case, you will be charged $699. 99 today. Within the automated deduction of the amount, this transaction will reflect on PayPal activity after 24 hours. Our Service Hours: (06:00 a. m. to 06:00 p. m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday)

Payment request details
Transaction ID
U-8F046518PY060003T
Transaction date
September 27, 2022
Amount requested $699.99 USD
Pay Now


The email almost looked genuine, using the same style, font, etc as in a real money request through PayPal.

And, of course, there were multiple places that I could click through on a link.
Retired life insurance company financial executive who sincerely believes that ”It’s a GREAT day to be alive!”
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by RetiredCSProf »

California Recovery Group -- Smoke contamination claim

I received a flyer in the mail from Aaron Youssefi at the California Recovery Group. The flyer says that my property may have been contaminated by smoke from a structure fire in my neighborhood over a year ago. They say that if I contact them, they will provide a free, onsite inspection to look for microscopic smoke contaminates and that they have obtained settlements of $30K or more for homeowners.

I called them and told them that I don't remember anything about this structure fire. They said that they get reports from the Fire Dept. but that there is a backlog of reports. My name is misspelled on the flyer, and I did not give them any information.

After Googling the company, I learned that they file a claim against the homeowner's insurance. If the claim is successful, they take a portion of the claim, anywhere from 30% to 90% or more. Total scam!!!
Mudpuppy
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Mudpuppy »

RetiredCSProf wrote: Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:49 pm California Recovery Group -- Smoke contamination claim
Similar scams have also been running rampant in California after the wildfires. I just immediately toss any such mailers in the recycling bin.
Mudpuppy
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Mudpuppy »

We've been having an issue at my agency with people's accounts getting compromised even with 2FA. While my group doesn't handle email for the agency, we work a lot with the group that does and some from our group have moved over to their group, so we get the low-down on what they're seeing. They theorize that some people are suffering 2FA fatigue and just approve push notifications blindly, or that there's a social engineering attack involved that convinces them to either approve the push notification or relay the 6-digit code.

Compromised accounts are mainly being used to blast out spam emails in the evenings or on weekends, when helpdesk support is low or non-existent. So far, the most unique bait is asking people to email a Gmail account if they want a free piano. Otherwise, it's your standard scam emails. This does mean we need to spool up another cybersecurity education campaign that might sink in more than the required annual training. Good thing it's cybersecurity awareness month.
fourwheelcycle
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Re: Fell victim to scam of thieves splattering BBQ sauce on me

Post by fourwheelcycle »

othermike27 wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:03 pm I wouldn't do that [putting your hand over the pocket where you keep your wallet]. It tells the pickpocket behind you exactly where to go.

If you're traveling in crowded places nothing beats a money belt a la Rick Steves.
The first time I went to Europe I looked like a Harley Davidson biker, with a leather wallet in my pocket that had a brass grommet chained to my belt. Now I have a strong nylon travel pouch that threads onto my belt. It carries my small pocket camera and has separate zipped inside pockets for my passport, credit cards, driver's license, and cash.

I have a friend who is very careful about pickpockets. Despite his care, he was once caught in a bump and go where two young teens bumped him from both sides as he came off a crowded escalator in a Rome train station. One teen grabbed his wallet and immediately handed it to a third teen who ran off through the crowd.
grok87
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by grok87 »

does this count?
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/ex-edward-j ... -228590569

An edward jones broker scammed his clients.

cheers
grok
RIP Mr. Bogle.
MGBMartin
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by MGBMartin »

Got a text this morning purporting to be from US Postal stating they have a package for me but could not deliver due to an incorrect address.
There was a link to a website for me to enter my address and who knows what else.
I didn’t click on the link so I don’t know what information they were trying to scam from me.
Bad spellers of the world untie | Autocorrect is my worst enema
Carl53
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Carl53 »

mushripu wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 9:43 am I am getting messages on whatsapp from different numbers but the same picture of a beautiful girl with different texts like 'Hi are you xyz?' ' hi I am xyzs mom and did you give me tennis lessons last month' basically trying to start coversation!

Then message from a +234 nigeria code but same girl picture with a little more 'exposed' picture.

Then another message from a +880 bangladesh area code which says ' hi there !there is a beatiful girl here with excellent financials who wants to marry and please contact if you are between 27 to 54 years of age'? 😆😁
A little different take on this. Last two weeks I've been getting texts from various gmail accounts that start out with someone trying to strike up a conversation, alluding to prior relationships and then sometimes sending risque pictures, sometimes mentioning money. All are done with poor grammar/language skills. Since they are from an email account one cannot readily block the text from coming in as you could from a phone number. Usually after I forward the texts to either or both of ATT Spam (7726) or delete it to Apple via Junk they will eventually stop from that particular email, but one might get them from that email for another day or two until it seems blocked. Yesterday I went online with ATT support and they assured me that they would block such text spam from email accounts. Alas, I found another new string this morning.

They do seem persistent despite me not having responded to any of them. After the first one, I turned off where they could see if the message was read, deciding it far better for them to not know if I was receiving them or reporting them. Still hoping that the ATT block will kick in.
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ResearchMed
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by ResearchMed »

MGBMartin wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 12:21 pm Got a text this morning purporting to be from US Postal stating they have a package for me but could not deliver due to an incorrect address.
There was a link to a website for me to enter my address and who knows what else.
I didn’t click on the link so I don’t know what information they were trying to scam from me.

A couple of days ago, I got an email from "US Postal Service" with an actual e-address of
"<a first name> @ geo <symbol> consul.ru"

I was especially impressed by that "ru", of course!

But the message was *such* good news:

I was being "awarded a compensation sum of Five Hundred Thousand USD. Please reply with your details for more information."

Interestingly, there was nothing else in the message. So I don't know what I was being compensated for, or which benefactor died and had no other heirs, or needed someone to "help" distribute a charitable sum because I had been deemed so trustworthy, or whatever the other messages tend to include...

And no suggestions about just which of my "details" were needed. So I guess all they wanted at this stage is any sort of "reply" to indicate that i am alive and can read?

I didn't click on anything. I read the above information from the preview of the message.

:annoyed

RM
This signature is a placebo. You are in the control group.
endeavour
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by endeavour »

Today I received an email supposedly from Marcus saying I needed to provide a "valid residential address within 30 days" or restrictions would be placed on my accounts.

The email was sent to the email address I have on file with Marcus (and other financial institutions). The "From" address was "noreply at savings dot marcus dot com," and I've received notices about statements from that email address in the past.

The subject line was: "Action required: please provide a valid address within 30 days."

My name in the email is correct and even spelled correctly. (I have an unusual first name that's often misspelled.)

Aside from the subject line and the request to provide a valid address being suspicious, this email looked quite genuine. I could see some people panicking and clicking on the links.

Anyway, I called Marcus, and the rep said the email was definitely not genuine and to forward it to abuse@gs.com. The rep said that if there were really any problem with my home address, they would call me, not send an email.

Since the rep said this was indeed a phishing email, are there steps I should take beyond resetting my password at Marcus?
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dratkinson
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by dratkinson »

Received* a call from someone saying I'd tied to win $550M from publisher's clearing house. Told them to give the money to charity as I had more than that coming from a Nigerian prince. (* Normally don't answer phone---just let it go to answering machine to check later---but was expecting another call so scammer got through.)
d.r.a., not dr.a. | I'm a novice investor; you are forewarned.
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Stinky
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Stinky »

dratkinson wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:11 pm Received* a call from someone saying I'd tied to win $550M from publisher's clearing house. Told them to give the money to charity as I had more than that coming from a Nigerian prince.
Well played!
Retired life insurance company financial executive who sincerely believes that ”It’s a GREAT day to be alive!”
grok87
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by grok87 »

endeavour wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:20 pm Today I received an email supposedly from Marcus saying I needed to provide a "valid residential address within 30 days" or restrictions would be placed on my accounts.

The email was sent to the email address I have on file with Marcus (and other financial institutions). The "From" address was "noreply at savings dot marcus dot com," and I've received notices about statements from that email address in the past.

The subject line was: "Action required: please provide a valid address within 30 days."

My name in the email is correct and even spelled correctly. (I have an unusual first name that's often misspelled.)

Aside from the subject line and the request to provide a valid address being suspicious, this email looked quite genuine. I could see some people panicking and clicking on the links.

Anyway, I called Marcus, and the rep said the email was definitely not genuine and to forward it to abuse@gs.com. The rep said that if there were really any problem with my home address, they would call me, not send an email.

Since the rep said this was indeed a phishing email, are there steps I should take beyond resetting my password at Marcus?
hmm that's disturbing. i was told that one should hover over the links and see what link it is taking you too- i.e. don't actually click it.

personally i think that is bad advice because what if you accidently click on it while you are hovering over the link

cheers,
grok
RIP Mr. Bogle.
Mudpuppy
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by Mudpuppy »

endeavour wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:20 pm Since the rep said this was indeed a phishing email, are there steps I should take beyond resetting my password at Marcus?
Likely they harvested the information from either the previously announced data breach at Equifax or from another breach (announced or not) at a similar data broker. From a practical perspective, if they had more access to your personal systems, they wouldn't be phishing you. They'd be going straight to keyloggers, man-in-the-middle attacks, and the like.
endeavour
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by endeavour »

Mudpuppy wrote: Wed Oct 12, 2022 1:16 am
endeavour wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:20 pm Since the rep said this was indeed a phishing email, are there steps I should take beyond resetting my password at Marcus?
Likely they harvested the information from either the previously announced data breach at Equifax or from another breach (announced or not) at a similar data broker. From a practical perspective, if they had more access to your personal systems, they wouldn't be phishing you. They'd be going straight to keyloggers, man-in-the-middle attacks, and the like.
Thank you, Mudpuppy. I had forgotten about the Equifax breach. I was indeed affected by that and am currently getting four years of credit monitoring as part of the settlement.
bberris
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Re: [On-going Scams - Post them here]

Post by bberris »

Fake USB keys from Amazon, and lots of other places. This is an old scam, advertising large capacity usb keys (0.5 to 1 TB) at ridiculously low prices. This has been going on for years and Amazon still lets third party sellers do it.
The firmware is hacked to lie about the capacity to the OS, but they only take 32 GB or so, and corrupt everything.
Here's a 1TB for $30, and a few 5 star reviews.

[Link to fraudulent product removed by moderator German Expat]
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