New money extorting scams, beware!

[tloonya]

I think we've talked about computer scam when you open it and FBI legit looking page is coming up that says your computer was caught on child porn site etc. so you need to get $150 put on some card and give them code...

Yesterday my vendor came and said that he got call from some people who told him that his business energy bill is past due and he has 30min before they will shut down his energy.
To make a long story short this was same scenario when he was told to put money on that card and call back giving them code.

Business owner called Peco and they told him that these guys from India. Its a new scam that is spreading like a swine flu.

So beware, do not trust them.

Also yesterday my customer said her PC was hijacked by European hackers using Skype and Skype people determined where it was from but she needed to change all of her banking info just in case.

What ta heck is going on? Old way keeping your $$$ in the mattress suddenly seems like a great idea!

[NancysSummerSip]

I've received two emails in the last week from people telling me they have a lot of money for me: one in India and one in China, and they want to transfer it to my Mastercard if I am willing to provide them with the necessary information.

I've never had a Mastercard. And the spelling/grammar on the emails is beyond atrocious.

We also had that energy company scam going on down here, except they were calling old people and scaring them into giving out their credit card numbers.

[Spellbound454]

I think its case of trust no-one.
Got a phone call a while back from Microsoft telling me I had viruses on my computer....I told him I didn't have a computer (lie)and he told me to eff off
There are scammers all over the place.

[tloonya]

Jan 31, 2014 11:21:46 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I've received two emails in the last week from people telling me they have a lot of money for me: one in India and one in China, and they want to transfer it to my Mastercard if I am willing to provide them with the necessary information.

I've never had a Mastercard. And the spelling/grammar on the emails is beyond atrocious.

We also had that energy company scam going on down here, except they were calling old people and scaring them into giving out their credit card numbers.

Forward it to me I will correct it

[dannylion]

Prince Holliness (sic) B. Bundu wants to share 10 million dollars with me.  All I have to do is send my bank account information to him in Nigeria (or possibly DRC, it wasn't entirely clear) so he can transfer the money.  I was immediately suspicious given that 1) to the best of my recollection, we have never met and 2) he is apparently unable to spell his own name (unless it really is Holliness, but I think he was aiming for Holiness).  Not to mention the back story lost a lot of its credibility what with the bad spelling and grammar and peculiar vocabulary choices.  

[sesfw]

A month ago we had a phone call from someone that found out from Microsoft we had a virus in DH's computer.  DH went along with them until they gave him a website to go to.  His computer was then locked and the only way he could have it unlocked was to give them a credit card.  We immediately called the police and the idiots were still on the phone when the police got here.

One officer was very knowledgeable about computers and told the scammers to give the code to unlock DH's computer or he was going to file a report on their calling phone number and the company they were calling from.  They were calling from India.

DH took his computer to our local shop and got it checked out.  No problems.  They called again about a week later with the same story. .......... <sigh>

[tloonya]

Jan 31, 2014 12:38:22 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Prince Holliness (sic) B. Bundu wants to share 10 million dollars with me.  All I have to do is send my bank account information to him in Nigeria (or possibly DRC, it wasn't entirely clear) so he can transfer the money.  I was immediately suspicious given that 1) to the best of my recollection, we have never met and 2) he is apparently unable to spell his own name (unless it really is Holliness, but I think he was aiming for Holiness).  Not to mention the back story lost a lot of its credibility what with the bad spelling and grammar and peculiar vocabulary choices.  

This is old scam scenario, danny.
As dumb as it is it worked but now people are aware.
I once replied and we had conversation with 'prince' of Donako for days including what airline I should use to come over and my living in arrangements...with his sister moharincess of Donako.
I said I rather come with US tour group and he faded into an internet air...
I think they wanted to sell me for organs or something. They had no idea how much I've been drinking and that my organs already marinated for museum inside of me. So I would love to see that look on his face!

What I am saying is this scam is NEW but we can recognize it by them mentioning putting money on that card you can buy anywhere.
Instead of wasting time and energy ask right away 'how do you want to get paid' and kaboom! You know its them and you can curse them out and call them whatever you want and blow a horn into the receiver etc.

[NancysSummerSip]

I once replied and we had conversation with 'prince' of Donako for days including what airline I should use to come over and my living in arrangements...with his sister moharincess of Donako.

I read that as "mohairyness of Donako." Now I wonder what kind of beast that sister must be.

[dannylion]

Jan 31, 2014 13:23:44 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Jan 31, 2014 12:38:22 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Prince Holliness (sic) B. Bundu wants to share 10 million dollars with me.  All I have to do is send my bank account information to him in Nigeria (or possibly DRC, it wasn't entirely clear) so he can transfer the money.  I was immediately suspicious given that 1) to the best of my recollection, we have never met and 2) he is apparently unable to spell his own name (unless it really is Holliness, but I think he was aiming for Holiness).  Not to mention the back story lost a lot of its credibility what with the bad spelling and grammar and peculiar vocabulary choices.  

This is old scam scenario, danny.
As dumb as it is it worked but now people are aware.
I once replied and we had conversation with 'prince' of Donako for days including what airline I should use to come over and my living in arrangements...with his sister moharincess of Donako.
I said I rather come with US tour group and he faded into an internet air...
I think they wanted to sell me for organs or something. They had no idea how much I've been drinking and that my organs already marinated for museum inside of me. So I would love to see that look on his face!

What I am saying is this scam is NEW but we can recognize it by them mentioning putting money on that card you can buy anywhere.
Instead of wasting time and energy ask right away 'how do you want to get paid' and kaboom! You know its them and you can curse them out and call them whatever you want and blow a horn into the receiver etc.

Yes, I am aware it is an old scam.  It's a thread about scams.  I was just sharing.  I didn't want to be left out.  

I expect most folks picked up the nuances.  (Do we need a "nuances" emoticon?) 

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 31, 2014 15:32:00 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Jan 31, 2014 13:23:44 GMT -5 tloonya said:

This is old scam scenario, danny.
As dumb as it is it worked but now people are aware.
I once replied and we had conversation with 'prince' of Donako for days including what airline I should use to come over and my living in arrangements...with his sister moharincess of Donako.
I said I rather come with US tour group and he faded into an internet air...
I think they wanted to sell me for organs or something. They had no idea how much I've been drinking and that my organs already marinated for museum inside of me. So I would love to see that look on his face!

What I am saying is this scam is NEW but we can recognize it by them mentioning putting money on that card you can buy anywhere.
Instead of wasting time and energy ask right away 'how do you want to get paid' and kaboom! You know its them and you can curse them out and call them whatever you want and blow a horn into the receiver etc.

Yes, I am aware it is an old scam.  It's a thread about scams.  I was just sharing.  I didn't want to be left out.  

I expect most folks picked up the nuances.  (Do we need a "nuances" emoticon?) 

No, but you may need a dictionary to define "nuance" for Loony.

[grits]

One big scam we had here was people calling saying they were from a locally owned bank. There was a problem with my account, and I needed to call them asap. They want your account number, password, pin, and Social Security number. Well, I don't have an account at that bank. The idiots left the message on my machine. It was a widespread scam, and peeps got scammed in it.

As far as some of the other scams, a fool and his money are soon parted.

[doxieluvr]

Jan 31, 2014 13:15:57 GMT -5 sesfw said:

A month ago we had a phone call from someone that found out from Microsoft we had a virus in DH's computer.  DH went along with them until they gave him a website to go to.  His computer was then locked and the only way he could have it unlocked was to give them a credit card.  We immediately called the police and the idiots were still on the phone when the police got here.

One officer was very knowledgeable about computers and told the scammers to give the code to unlock DH's computer or he was going to file a report on their calling phone number and the company they were calling from.  They were calling from India.

DH took his computer to our local shop and got it checked out.  No problems.  They called again about a week later with the same story. .......... <sigh>

Just curious, what made you even go along with them in the first place?

[dannylion]

Jan 31, 2014 15:43:23 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Jan 31, 2014 15:32:00 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Yes, I am aware it is an old scam.  It's a thread about scams.  I was just sharing.  I didn't want to be left out.  

I expect most folks picked up the nuances.  (Do we need a "nuances" emoticon?) 

No, but you may need a dictionary to define "nuance" for Loony.

Actually, probably not.  It's a French cognate that was adopted in its original form by both English and Russian.  I'm sure she'll let us know though.  I think the problem may be that very dry humor is difficult to recognize outside of one's own language.  

[NancysSummerSip]

Jan 31, 2014 15:55:13 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Jan 31, 2014 15:43:23 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

No, but you may need a dictionary to define "nuance" for Loony.

Actually, probably not.  It's a French cognate that was adopted in its original form by both English and Russian.  I'm sure she'll let us know though.  I think the problem may be that very dry humor is difficult to recognize outside of one's own language.  

Bone-dry humor. James Bond martini dry, actually.

[Abby Normal]

Here is one for you.  Some nefarious people got a hold of one of our company checks.  They made up a batch  ( 10's of thousands) of checks and send them out all over the country with a letter stating that the recipient (personally addressed) had won a contest by shopping at (major store) and the check was to cover the taxes.  just cash the check, wire the money to the IRS (but not the real IRS) to collect their prize of 1 million dollars (can't remember the exact amount but in that neighborhood).

We have positive pay on our account so, they were rejected pretty fast.  But we started getting call after call from people trying to verify it. We even posted warnings on our website

Then the nefarious people got smart and changed the company name to initials so it wasn't as easy for people to find us to call, and they sent out another round of checks. 

I was talking to one guy who said " oh my wife is going to be so pissed at me that this isn't real."  I told him to take her out to dinner with all the money he saved by NOT wiring the money.

In all, I think they got a couple hundred grand out of people.

[sesfw]

Just curious, what made you even go along with them in the first place?

I have no idea what was going through DH's mind.  He should definitely know better because he is a retired IT inspector.

I got in on the last part of the conversation and when they mentioned CC# I yelled a resounding NO.  They were talking on the land line and I called their phone # on my cell phone.  I asked their location and they said all over the US and parts of Europe.  I then asked the physical location of the number I called and was told Calcutta India.

That's when I called the police.  The website DH was directed to took down the firewall.  We shut the computer down and it was in the shop the next day.

[Gardening Grandma]

I had a call on my cell phone from Antigua, Barbados. It only rang one time. I did not recognize the number.  I ignored it and since have read that it's a scam. They WANT you to call because there is a charge for the call.

www.komonews.com/news/consumer/One-Ring-241398311.html?mobile=y

[flopsy]

I have never gotten a scam email, or maybe my account just bounces these as spam, and I have never receive a scam phone call, but that could be because I never answer unless I know the number. Why am I so unpopular?

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2014 19:15:57 GMT -5 Gardening Grandma said:

I had a call on my cell phone from Antigua, Barbados. It only rang one time. I did not recognize the number.  I ignored it and since have read that it's a scam. They WANT you to call because there is a charge for the call.

www.komonews.com/news/consumer/One-Ring-241398311.html?mobile=y

DH and I have received calls on our cell phones this last week with an ID tag of Barbados/Antiqua.  We didn't answer but it's irritating, especially at 2 a.m. Central US