Literal money-laundering.
What do you suppose this bot is up to? It’s just a plain email, no attachments or links to click. Is it just looking for valid addresses to harvest? Passed the gmail spam filter.
Gary Young codytyoung@sbcglobal.net
to
Hello,
Hope you’re doing well? Am sorry for brothering you, Just wanted to know if you order with Amazon.
Thanks
Typical inheritance scam except for the name of my alleged relative.
Dr. Latrivia Polite Mosse.
I just got a text about a suspicious charge on my card for $349.99 for a Canon PIXMA wireless printer. I called the number and it was answered by “Amazon Support.” He asked for the reference number in the text and I gave it to him. I explained that I had ordered the printer this morning and they had promised I would get it by the day after tomorrow. I asked him if they are sending the model MG3620 that I requested. I told him it was very important that I get it by the day after tomorrow. When I asked him if there was a problem with my order he hung up on me.
I got a similar call attempting to verify a 900 dollar purchase “I” had made at “Amazon”. I hung up.
I got a recent call asking for Thomas (or maybe Mr. Rodgers); somehow my cell phone is associated with Thomas and/or Lesley Rodgers, judging from the the various spam texts I get. I will give this to Verizon: their spam text filtering (recently implemented) is working pretty well.
Anyway, this time I politely informed the caller that Mr. Rodgers was deceased. Rather sorry I didn’t try “You’re looking for him? So AM I!!!. SONOFABITCH HASN’T PAID CHILD SUPPORT IN THREE YEARS!!!”. Somewhere, there is a genuine Thomas Rodgers, whose reputation gets thoroughly trashed every time I a) get such a call, and b) think fast enough on my feet to screw with the callers.
The child support line might not have worked well this time - my COVID-enhanced vocal capabilities make me sound not just like a man (which is pretty common for me), but someone who would sing (or croak) in the deepest ranges of the bass register.
I received one of those calls a few months ago. I just told them that yes, I made that purchase and to go ahead and ship the item.
Maybe you call it hope and naivete, I call it greed and magical thinking. And I don’t call that a “good person” profile.
This is not to excuse the scammers just because their victims share some of the responsibility for the outcome. Scammers are scum. But they are not 100% of the problem.
Depends on the scam. A romance scam certainly doesn’t prey on greed.
Or believing that Kamala Harris, President of The United State, is personally overseeing your compensation fund of $10,500,000 Million US Dollar USD just preys on the extremely gullible.
Others not based on greed:
The Amazon scam noted upthread.
SSA accuses you of drug running and murder.
Your bank account has been hacked and is being used to buy child porn.
The bank returned the money that was stolen with our tenant’s washed check.
That’s a relief, I’m sure.
Yes, I did not mean to say all scams are based on greed and magical thinking, but from my general survey (not a scientific study) it appears the majority of them do. Many of the remainder prey on fear, and that’s a completely different story.
I got an email with a subject line saying something about child porn from my IP number. I didn’t open it, but I’m guessing it was scammy. I can’t imagine the angle - maybe they clear my IP for a fee??
Or they claim to be the police and you have to pay to clear the warrant.
Not necessarily spam but I’m starting to get robo calls for my ex husband’s dead wife claiming “they are going to go to my place of business and serve a warrant” I’ve been divorced for over 20 years and took back my maiden name the day of the divorce.
Why don’t you answer and give them her current address?
Always amusing when the name has nothing to do with the email address. Found this in my spam folder, ostensibly from McAfee:
Marlen Murphy (jenifer79004@[redacted])
Steam users targeted in spear-phishing attack:
Big thank you on that one @Skywatcher. Something new to my experience, and a solid point (since there has been talk about who falls for scams) that it isn’t just old or non-tech savvy folks who fall for them.
One of my wife’s fellow grad students got caught with a browser hijack last month and we spent 2-3 hours trying to kill it, but due to the age of the laptop (5400 speed drive running windows 8!!!) it became a tedious process of clean, reboot, check, clean reboot, check.
They finally wrote it off after we saved the key docs to a thumb drive and we did a factory reset. Just because everyone wants a more customizable interface and personalized toolbars (which isn’t exactly foolish or greedy or fear based).
For anyone who needs information on browser hijacks and how-tos on how to fix them.
I had a similar call and they kept calling right back after I hung up without making a choice, Finally, I just pressed 1 for yes and hung up. The calls stopped and wonder of wonders, I never did get charged, nor did I get a new i-phone.
//i\\