Posts Tagged ‘Email scams’

No more writing blogs for me – I just received $8,300,000!

February 9th, 2010

All I have to do is to collect the money

This very official email sailed into my inbox sometime during the night where it was immediately diverted to the junk mail box. I fished it out from there to see what it is all about and found 8.3 million dollars waiting for me. E-mails like these usually come from Nigeria – this one comes direct from:

THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION

LONDON UNITED KINGDOM

 

It’s definitely mine!

The letter contains my reference numbers, a release code, a Payment Approval No., White House Approved No: WH44CV, Reference No.-35460021, Allocation No: 674632 Password No: 339331, Pin Code No: 55674 and a Certificate of Merit Payment No. 103. It’s definitely mine – I recognize the numbers!

 

It’s official

To show that the payment is genuine, the letter quotes: In reference to the meeting held by the UN Ad-Hoc Executive Committee on Grant Award Payment in collaboration with US Government, which comprises of 10  adjudicators Teams, headed by the UN Executive Secretary, Ban Ki Moon, UN President Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, Federal Reserve Bank Chairman, Ben Bernanke, Representative of Office of Citizen Services and Communications, U.S. General Services Administration Director Scott D. Burford , Central Intelligence Agency CIA, represented by the Office of the Public Affairs Mark Mansfield, The representatives of Federal Bureau Investigation FBI, Amy Gutmann, The United Nation US envoy and the International Monetary Fund IMF New York officials, The Interpol President and Secretary Ronald Noble and the Citi Bank Plc, London, United Kingdom.

 

I have to call

I am advised to call Rev. Kenneth Brown of International Monetary Fund Office in New York today on Phone: 1-718-663-7789 for the immediate release of my fund valued at US$8,300,000.00. I am required to Deal and Communicate only with REV. KENNETH BROWN, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND NEW YORK, the official Monitoring partner.

 

The Signatories to the Decision to award me the money are:

Susan Rice: United States Mission to the United Nations

Hillary Rodham Clinton:  US Secretary of State

Timothy Geithner: US Secretary of the Treasury

Janet Napolitano: Secretary of Homeland Security

Eric Holder: Department of Justice Attorney General

 

What they need

1) My full name:

2) Address, city, state and country.

3) Phone, fax and mobile

4) Company name (if any) position and address

5) Bank details, bank names, account no, routing no, swift code, bank address.

6) Profession, age and marital status

7) Copy of my int’l passport/drivers license.

The scam

Of course the temptation to call one of the numbers listed at the bottom of the letter is almost overwhelming. What if, you think, the letter is only 10 percent honest? Maybe I can yell at someone and squeeze a couple of thousand out of him; after all, they started it! I wonder how many responses they actually get and if they raise any money at all. But if you send out a million and the hit rate is only one percent?

 

 

Tags: Email scams, Fraudulent mail, Junk mail, Nigeria, Spam
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Watch Your Pockets – The Nigerians Are Back

December 23rd, 2009

The 2010 world cup as a crime scene
If you have an email account, you already know all about the 419 Nigerian scam. Now the perpetrators are targeting the 2010 Football World Cup as a fresh hunting ground. The police and the Nelson Mandela Foundation have warned people to be on the alert for the “Fifa 2010 World Cup Lottery draw” – hoping to fleece unwitting South Africans and others of thousands.

Contact
Contact is made by e-mail with the target being notified of winning a $100,000 – about 750,000 rands in South African currency – cash prize in a “Fifa 2010 World Cup Lottery draw”. The e-mail bears a prominent picture of Mandela holding the World Cup, with logos of Fifa and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Details
The con artist initially asks for personal details to be faxed to a UK number and slowly reels in the victim with snippets of information to a point where he wants $850 for lawyers’ fees and stamp duty to be deposited into a bank account. From then on, further personal information is extracted from the victim who is now firmly hooked.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation
Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesman Sello Hatanga and Jerome Hardenberg of the Cape provincial police commercial crimes unit have warned the public to guard against being trapped. “It not only damages the Mandela brand, but also targets vulnerable people in the name of the foundation. Apply extreme caution when receiving such e-mails,” Hatanga said as he condemned the scam which he said was one of several that used the Struggle icon’s name. He said the foundation’s public announcements of its association with promotions or campaigns were a good indicator of when its name was used legitimately.

Certificate
The scammer, who calls himself Semone Chema, has a UK contact number and speaks with a Nigerian accent and “advises” the target to file a claim which gets submitted to “our legal department which will issue your certificate”. After the certificate is issued, Chema congratulates his victim, gives the assurance that the lottery is real and legal and then offers his victim two choices – either submit an affidavit to permit the transfer of the money to a bank account in South Africa, or let “our office nominate an attorney on your behalf to represent your interest and get vital legal documents” that will help facilitate the transfer.

The claim
After the Mercury newspaper faxed an application and inquired about the next step, Chema said: “Don’t worry about a place to stay if you want to come to London. But your details must be sent first. Send it soon and you can have your prize by next Tuesday before New Year’s Day.” During a second telephone conversation two hours later, he began to fend off the writer’s suggestion to fly to London to personally collect the prize. While messages left for Fifa communication officials were not returned, Scotland Yard’s media desk advised that a complaint be lodged online.

Tags: Email scams, Football World Cup, Nelson Mandela, Nigerian scams
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