Nice Try, Nigeria

[Andara Bledin]

Message was basically they were abroad and had their passport money and ticket stolen and enter sob story here....

Yeah, this has become a pretty common setup. Most people don't think to, you know, actually contact the people outside of the means they were contacted and these scammers are getting a lot of money as a result.

[Ginger Tea]

Even if it was true, some woman whom I spent an evening course with 5 or so years ago, yeah, and how exactly would I get my money back as we only met in class.

I think someone got a similar mail and phoned the friend in a panic and friend was oblivious to her paniced babbling.

"I'll be round in a few minutes." she says heading out
"How can you be round in a few when you are stranded in Laos?"

I did wonder if I too was sending similar emails or at least having my address spoofed into the header.

I had recently been made redundant, but she was not in the know about this (as we never communicated outside of class) but my initial thought till I remembered this lack of communication was "Oh does that mean other people are going to come out of the wood work for money?"

[Rageaholic]

On thanksgiving of 2012, I remember getting a text message telling me I won a 5000 dollar gift card from target. I was excited because I actually did enter a sweepstakes a while back (one of those receipt ones with a link to a customer satisfaction survey). I did some digging and to my dissapointment, it was most likely a scam.

Because of that, I no longer bother with those kind of sweepstakes.

[Racket_Man]

On thanksgiving of 2012, I remember getting a text message telling me I won a 5000 dollar gift card from target. I was excited because I actually did enter a sweepstakes a while back (one of those receipt ones with a link to a customer satisfaction survey). I did some digging and to my dissapointment, it was most likely a scam.

Because of that, I no longer bother with those kind of sweepstakes.

I get ones supposedly from Best Buy (strangely through FaceBook)all the time. The BIG tip off is the URL for the site begins with www dot fb dot com. Even though I am NOT on FaceBook I know their ULR is www dot facebook dot com.

[Rapscallion]

Er, fb.com actually is owned by Facebook and redirects there...

Rapscallion

[ebonyknight]

Yeah, this has become a pretty common setup. Most people don't think to, you know, actually contact the people outside of the means they were contacted and these scammers are getting a lot of money as a result.

I actually almost fell for one, back in early/mid 2K. I got a letter from the Canadian Lotto something or other, saying I had won a random prize for foreign something or other. It was on nice official looking letterhead with parchment paper and had a check (made out to me for 27000 dollars. As I was a "foreign" winner, I need to pay taxes on it. They told me to go ahead and cash the check and send them 2000 US to cover the taxes.

I was like wow. Seems legit and it's from Canada. Called the number attached if I had any questions, and spoke to a person that answered all my questions, but reiterated that I needed to pay the taxes within 10 days, or the check would not be paid.

Okay, I still felt it was too good to be true and did some web investigation. Found their website, a picture of the president and the facility, etc. Not the best website, but not exactly a "fly by night" job either.

Still was getting a bad feeling so I did another check for scams. And found a nice little loop hole in the banking system that these scammers take advantage of. What most people don't realize is that when you cash a check (at least back then 10+ years ago), in order to keep money flowing the bank will actually credit your check within (I think 2-5 days was standard, 10 for a foreign check). But due to how large the system is, it actually takes 2 full weeks for the money to actually change hands. I never knew this. You cash the check. It passes the initial scrutiny by the bank and you get the funds. You pay the 2k when the bank "clears" the check and a week or two later, the bank comes back to you for the money as the check isn't "really" valid.

Tossed the check and the letter.

The "company" you got the check from is in another country, so there isn't anything they can do and you are stuck (at best, if you haven't spent your "winnings" yet) having to repay the 2k.

My lesson learned. Goes to show you, the scams are ever evolving (I know this is now an old trick) and get more sophisticated. Now the scams don't even involve you cooperation. Just you using your credit card at the wrong place. Sigh.....

Just makes you want to "get off the grid" and go live in a cabin somewhere.....

[Andara Bledin]

As I was a "foreign" winner, I need to pay taxes on it. They told me to go ahead and cash the check and send them 2000 US to cover the taxes.

Both of these are massive red flags.

First, tax liability is paid by a person to the government, not some random sweepstakes company. The only time this isn't the case is regarding sales tax, which the government makes companies collect from buyer's on their behalf because it would be next to impossible to get buyers to do it on their own (as seen with how few people pay sales tax on out-of-state purchases, which is the law, but since it's still difficult to enforce, it's mostly ignored) and the new rules regarding W-9s.

Second: They want you to cash a check and send them money back. Never, ever, ever do this. It used to be a huge problem back when eBay allowed non-PayPal payments, and it's still a major problem with less regulated sales venues such as Craigslist. This is true even if it's a cashiers check or money order, because both of those can be counterfeited, and (something most people don't know) they can also be canceled. The only reasonable solution is to send the payment back and request a new one for the correct amount.

[Ginger Tea]

I vaguely remember something on CS about someone sending a cheque for an amount greater than the bill and saying something along the lines of "oh just send us a cheque for the difference back." which was refused and they were told when the cheque was returned to write the correct amount (and date etc) and to post it again, so they posted another over cheque and again refused.

As I had not used cheques in a long time (except for building society cheques for my rent but they do not bounce etc) and they are relatively the way of the dinosaur, I thought it odd at first but didn't understand the logic behind it, now I know.

I am sure the post in question was mail order, but I wonder if anyone ever tried doing the same in a shop, as cheques take for ever to clear (least from my limited understanding of them) and we have been in the age of debit cards for so long as I don't remember not having one, I would flag a cheque sale on groceries let alone big ticket items.
It's bad enough someone trying to cancel a cheque after buying stuff, but if you write the wrong amount on a cheque after being told the amount I would not be willing to give you change, write a new damn cheque.

[Racket_Man]

Er, fb.com actually is owned by Facebook and redirects there...

Rapscallion

I did not know that.

[Aethian]

I've seen too many fake postal money orders lately. The best one looked soooo close but the gold dust they used as shiney came off onto your fingers when you touched it.

The best scam I ever had was from myself. Apparently while I was curled up at the foot of my Moms bed I was also trapped and in a panic over seas.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I once got an email supposedly from HSBC telling me my account was overdrawn and I needed to send them my PIN and account number so they could sort it out. Two problems with that; I know damn well I don't have an account with that bank, and secondly, even if I did, they wouldn't ask for my PIN as they could access my account whenever they wanted. I forwarded the email to HSBC's actual website and got a thank you email back for doing so.

[catcul]

It looks like they're at it again.

ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONETARY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS J.EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
Ref: FBI/DC/25/113/13/2013
https://www.fbi.gov

Urgent attention needed

We have been informed through our global intelligence monitoring network that the sum of $10.500, 000.00, has been released from a bank in Africa bearing your name as the beneficiary without dist certificate to clear your name and fund from every terrorist or drug or money laundering activities

The bank knowing fully well that they do not have enough facilities to make this payment from any part of the world to your account directly, used what we know as a secret diplomatic transit payment (s.t.d.p) method to make the payment. direct transfers are difficult and secret diplomatic transit payment (s.t.d.p) are not usually made unless the funds are related to terrorist activities and we ask why must your payment be made in a secret transfer if your transaction is legitimate.

We do not want you to get into trouble as soon as these funds reflect in your personal account, so it is our duty as an international agency to correct these little problems before this fund reflects into your personal account.

we advice you to contact us immediately, as your funds have been stopped and are being held in our custody, until you are able to provide us with the dist certificate within 3 days from the country that authorized the transfer to certify that the funds that you are about to receive are terrorist/drug free or we shall have cause to impound the payment and subsequently prosecute you for cross border terrorist financial activites.
based on our findings, our investigative department wish to warn you against some miscreants, hoodlums and touts who go about scamming innocent people by claiming to be who they are not and thereby tarnishing the image of this wonderful country. By sending out fraudulent emails without our official logo and emblem we shall release your funds immediately we receive this legal document and we will ensure that you receive your payment without any further delay.

Note

We decided to contact you directly by email to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightful person to receive this fund, because of the huge amount involved. Be informed that the funds are now with a top bank in the united state in your name and under the monitoring/custody of the FBI. At the moment, we have asked the bank not to release the fund to anybody that comes to them, unless we instruct them to do so, and only if we receive the dist certificate this is to enable us carry out a comprehensive investigation first before releasing the fund to you.

hence, you are to forward your dist certificate to us immediately if you have it in your possession, if you do not have it, then let us know so that we will direct you to the appropriate authority to obtain the certificate then you are to send it to our office. And thereafter, we will instruct the bank holding the funds, to go ahead and credit your account immediately. If you fail to provide the documents to this office, we will prosecute you and take appropriate action against you for not proving the legality of the funds.

Finally if you truly want to receive this funds without F.B.I troubles then reconfirm the following below

Name
Address
Sex
Contact number
Country of origin of funds

Yours Faithfully

SPECIAL AGENT TIMOTHY GALLAGHER
FOR FBI DIRECTOR
MR,JAMES B. COMEY

[lordlundar]

It looks like they're at it again.

God while reading that I wanted to break out a red pen and correct it.

And I'm not even a teacher!