I got a robo-call the other day, claiming to be from PCH telling me I’d won FIVE MILLION DOLLARS and directing me to call back. I know it was scammy since I gave up on entering the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes eons ago, but just to be sure, I looked up and found out that if you do, in fact, win their sweepstakes, you get a letter, not a phone call.
And I got another one of those child-porn-at-your-IP emails today. I expect they’d want payment in Amazon gift cards??
Jeez, how many translations did this message go through? I don’t think even stupid people could manage to fall for this one. I almost want to call, though, just to tell them that the deadline is for two days ago so now my personality is ruined.
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Good grief. It’s like it was translated from Japanese into Slovenian with the result being run through Google translate for English.
That’s almost comprehensible compared to the one I posted in #211.
I’m amazed that someone can untangle a mess like that and still think it’s legitimate.
I’m becoming convinced that carrier claims to be trying to do jack squat about spam text messages are themselves a scam, given the number of ridiculously obvious red flags (presence of links, presence of obvious scam-appeal terms like “cash award”, “you won”, etc) in texts that get through the supposed “filters”.
Once we realize and accept the fact that service providers really don’t give a rat’s ass about us and are only interested in money, it is the only logical conclusion that one can reach.
Still better than the pre-Internet scam where the victim consorts with a young hooker, then the woman’s “father” shows up with a “vice cop” in tow, claiming the woman is a minor and extorting $$$ from the victim in exchange for not filing charges.
No, I don’t know this from experience.
Actually, that one is still going on, just through email or text.
In gift cards!
Recently my ~10 year old TV broke, and because I’m a cheapskate I’ve been trying to fix it rather than immediately buy a new one. Unfortunately, since this TV is old and built by Magnavox rather than a bigger name in TV manufacturing parts are difficult to come by, especially the part I’ve traced the problem to. It’s out of stock at most sites but I found the listed on a TV repair website so I placed an order.
That’s when I encountered the first big red flag: Instead of taking payment in paypal, or any other reputable online payment processor, they encouraged me to pay for my order via GPay in a system designed for transferring money between friends and one that offers fewer options for disputing the payment. So I do a little digging and lo and behold there’s dozens of reviews for this website, all saying they take your money and never send your parts.
These kind of scammy websites seem to be all the rage lately, I’ve looked for other somewhat obscure items in the last few months and come across obviously fake sites claiming to offer exactly what I need. Some of them list tons of random items all for the exact same price, clearly hoping for folks to immediately hit “buy” before doing any due diligence.
My friend does a lot of online shopping, always looking for better deals on some random item she saw on Amazon or Walmart’s site. She sends me the sites before she buys, and asks me if I think it’s a scam.
The first thing I do is go to the “about” page and copy a chunk of text, then run it through Google. Most of the time, the same text shows up verbatim on a dozen other sites, all similarly scammy-looking. Then I tell my friend to move along.
I always want to give small businesses a chance but it’s reeeeeally hard to choose to go outside of Amazon or a big box store’s website, when you know and trust those brands. Even though Amazon and Walmart have scammy sellers on their platforms nowadays, you at least are covered by their customer service (maybe Amazon more than Wal Mart, I’m not sure how WM handles their third party sales).
I just bought something from beachballs.com. I took a chance on a small business website. Hope it doesn’t come back to bite me!
The high Trustpilot rating on their page is legit.
Yep that’s what swayed me. That and their earnest FAQ.
ICANN shows the original website was registered in 1999. Last renewed in 2017.
Also, on the Contact page, the phone number is legit and links to various social media sites all work.
I just found in my spam folder a 419 scam with three emails supposedly associated with the scammer.
From line: Pierre Paul Michel (gloriatyre@[redacted])
In the body: Pierre Paul Michel Maurice Sengier (henrykofi@[redacted])
Reply to: almensah00@[redacted]
Hamilton, Act II. Well, almost.
Every scam email I get does that. Sometimes several different addresses in a string.
Well, I got a letter in the mail today that seems like a fabulous opportunity, but seeing as there are a lot of scams out there (some referenced in this very thread) I would like to run it past your wise counsel.
When I unfolded the letter the first thing I noticed was that it was on the letterhead of Dodie Arbiglian* J.D., a lawyer in Canada. I immediately got a queasy feeling as it is hardly ever good to get mail from a law firm whether or not you are in my line of work.
“Firstly (a reassuringly legal term). I must solicit your confidence in this transaction; this is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential.”
Oh good, this person knows how to keep a secret.
It turns out that one of their clients died in an accident eight years ago and no one has come forward to claim his “Payable-on-death (“P.O.D.”) savings monetary deposit in the sum Ten Million Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars (US$10,950,000.00) with a Reputable Bank” (excellent: none of that Canadian money). The lack of a claim means that the government is about to swoop in and take the deposit. To thwart this, Mr. Arbiglian will add my name to the policy (I am a bit confused about what “policy” is being referenced, but IANAL, especially not a Canadian lawyer) owing to the fact that I share the last name, nationality and background (?) with the deceased. In return, me and Mr. Arbiglian, J.D. will share 90% of the proceeds with 10% going to charity, which is a nice touch.
To those of you sneering and saying “Hah! this is an obvious scam”, be aware that Mr. Arbiglian’s law firm (which I will not mention the name of, because confidentiality) has an actual website that looks quite professional and specifies that it is a leading law firm in Toronto**, which I understand is one of Canada’s major cities, and besides, the address given is an actual skyscraper in downtown Toronto not far from the CN Center, which I am told is a major building in its own right.
So this sounds entirely legit, no? I am a little concerned what Mr. Arbiglian means about “sharing” 90% of the cash. Would it be wrong to ask him up front if he has a 50-50 split in mind? And do you think I could convince him to lower the cut going to charity to, say, 3% with us splitting the additional 7%, which comes to a lot of money?
Answers needed fast, otherwise Justin Trudeau will seize the $19,950,000 and use it on fripperies.
*name changed to…uh, not sure who I’d be protecting here but TPTB would probably prefer I not use the real name.
**according to the website, the law firm not only covers a wide range of civil law practice, but also makes yoga and meditation services available to all its clients, another nice touch.
The letter did not come from who it claims to be. The email version is identical and is a SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM.
It’ s one of many forms of an advance fee scam(Nigerian Prince in earlier years)
I have six emails in my scambaiting box that are just like this.
Who was the letter addressed to? Did it have your name on the letter or the envelope?
The wheeze about sharing the last name of a dead dude is classic scam.
The insane amount of money is another dead giveaway. Also the fact that you’d be committing fraud to claim to be a relative.
Throw it away, it ain’t happening.
You might want to give the actual law firm a heads-up first. I’ve done that with emails ostensibly from law firms I’ve had contact with as part of my job.