Friday, December 21, 2012

If you feel someone is impersonating you online

After my latest episode of getting scammed, I contacted Microsoft abuse(at)hotmail.com about the email used to impersonate me.

This was their reply.


Hello,
 
If you feel that someone is impersonating you, we suggest that you make a formal report of the incident. In order to violate the TOS the impersonator must be using one or more of the following:

- Your legal name
- Your telephone number
- Your address
- Any other personal identification of yours, such as a photograph
 
Take note that duplication of your nickname is not considered a violation of the COC.   
If you would like us to further investigate the case, please contact our Abuse Department with the following information and evidence documents:

• Your contact information, including an address, telephone number, and preferably, your e-mail address.
• Electronic copies of the user’s Photo ID, Driver’s License, passport, work ID badge that would validate your identity.   
• Electronic copies of the e-mail messages sent from the account         
• Notes about when this happened and the actions of the perpetrator
• A police report, if available.         
         
 You can be able to contact us by replying to this mail. Also, please send the documents needed via email attachment.
 
 
 Online Safety


I followed up with the information that they requested and they said:

Hello,

We have taken appropriate action on the account that you reported in compliance with the Hotmail Code of Conduct (COC). To view our Terms of Use, visit the following Web site:


Not sure what action they took but it made me feel better.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

I got scammed - I hope it never happens to you.


A cautionary tale and hopefully a learning example for us all.  Unfortunately, I was an unsuspecting part in a scam.  I reviewed the events and wanted to give you guys a warning.

I had a customer, John, whom I met face to face with a couple years ago.  We corresponded only occasionally by email.  So this is what I think happened:

- John's email account got hacked.
- the perpetrator read our correspondence.
- set up a dummy email account for me using a free service like yahoo, gmail, live, in this case they picked  something close to my real email address.
- they used this dummy account & emailed John.  Using emails I truly wrote to John; they cut & pasted together.  This made John think that he was talking to me. They chose something close to the real email address so I wouldn't notice the switch.
- the perpetrator also set up a dummy account for John.  They used this account to trick me into thinking I was talking to John.  John's original email was hotmail.co.hk not uk.
- Eventually when John placed an order & we shipped it.  All the arrangements went through with the bad guy emailing for both of us & filtering everything.
- when it came time to pay the bad guys tricked John into sending money to them via Western Union.
- meanwhile I never got paid.

So there you have the tale of the scam.  I looked more closely because I wondered how they got me to switch correspondence to the dummy account.  This is what the did:


John XXXX <XXXXX@hotmail.co.uk>
Mar 26
to me
Hi 
     How was your weekend? Please get back to me about the previous mail.
Thank you

They followed up with more short emails like "please reply to my email".  I thought John was being impatient but what they were doing was getting me to used his dummy account instead of the real email & increasing the chance of my address book picking up the email as a contact.

So what to watch for guys:

a) unexplained switches in email account - if you have a repeat customer watch for a unexplained change.

b) be cautious when someone uncharacteristically pesters you to respond immediately.

c) look through the body of the emails.  When they cut & paste they left my "dummy" account visible in the header of forwarded emails; had I been looking I woud have noticed.  If you see an email address that is similar to yours but not you then watch out!

d) Collect payment before you ship.   (I didn't & now I got burned).

e) Email is cheap however a secondary method of contact should be used occasionally. It goes to show a telephone call or visit can be worth it.  Skype or SMS are good alternatives.  Confirm that you have both been in communication.

So hopefully you guys will learn from my mistake.  I hope none of you ever get scammed not only at work but personally too.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

CAF 2013 Africa Cup is giving ME Three Million pounds

Three Million Pounds! Yipee! :p


Dear User,


Your email has won £3000.000.00 Three Million Pounds from Orange CAF 2013 Africa Cup of Nations kick off on 19th January 2013. Your email address was Selected During the Award Draw Program held in Johannesburg South Africa This program is to Create Awareness. The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations will be the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF)

Your winning details Below
Reference Number CAF/002958/2013
Amount Won: £3000.000.00


To file for your claim, Please Contact our Paying Agent (Payment Processing Center) for your Payment immediately.

Contact Mrs Helen Eastwood for your claim with the below info to enable us process your Payment.


Contact Person:Mrs.Helen Eastwood
Phone: +27-78-759-1062
E-mail:heleneastwood@accountant.com



Full Names:
City:
Country:
Cell no:
Age:
Occupation:
Email:
Ref:

Regards,
CHAIRMAN AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Organizing Committee
Supported by FIFA

Friday, November 9, 2012

account-security-noreply@microsoft.com

Have you been instructed to verify your email address by Microsoft?  I am usually a bit skeptical because the links built in could lead you to phishing sites.

I usually choose to ignore them.  My logic is that if I do not verify the account the person trying to get an email won't succeed anyways.


Microsoft account
Verify your email address
To finish setting up this Microsoft account, we just need to make sure this email address is yours.
Verify itnxw@xxxx.com
If you didn't make this request, click here to cancel.
Thanks,
The Microsoft account team

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Fax from Michael J. Simpson South Africa

I received a fax today from Michael J. Simpson, private consultant for eminent persons in Asian and South African region.   But I am just a poor boy and not a well established businessman abroad so I can't help him.  Haha.

Watch out for michealsim147@gmail.com & micheal147@trustkonsult.com +27783840827
Interesting how Michael spells his name with the 'a' & 'e' reversed in his email.  Most people like their names spelled correctly.



Sunday, November 4, 2012

Beware of the user of this email

I would caution any business accepting orders from abednegobotchway@gmail.com.  The reason is it is alleged that the person using the email address abednegobotchway@gmail.com may use stolen cards.



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Mastercard Canada Enpowers Merchants

Hooray for MasterCard Canada!  I will gladly assist in reporting suspected fraudulent use.  In the past I went as far as to Google the names & telephone numbers of people I thought had their cards stolen and call them myself.  Now I can simply mark the card to the credit cards companies can let each other know.

MasterCard Canada recently launched an update to their operating regulations specifically relating to ensuring card issuers are made aware of suspected fraudulent transactions. The new E-commerce Fraud Alerts for Issuers service requires that when merchants identify any previously authorized transactions suspected as fraudulent and will not be fulfilling the order, to reverse or cancel the transaction and advise the card issuer. This new service will allow merchants to support the card issuers to block or monitor suspected accounts to stop future fraudulent transactions.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

RCMP Lead Raid on Credit Card Ring in Montreal

The article says 38 people were arrested. Yeah RCMP!

I had lost faith but this is more like it.

http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/news/million+bank+card+fraud+bust+nets+arrests+Quebec/6591426/story.html?rel=813152

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

apple.com.textwon.com Scam

I received a text message at 4:37 am saying, " Your entry into our contest last month makes you our WINNER! Goto www.apple.com.textwon (dot)com to claim your prize now.  You have 24 hours to claim."

SCAM

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

RCMP on reporting internet fraudsters

I also wrote a message to the RCMP website to see if there is a specific division to report to. The short answer is I need to report it to my local detachment.

FYI, the Reporting Economic Crime Online link directs you to the Anti Fraud Centre. Unfortunately as we learned from my last post the Anti Fraud Centre does not channel complaints to the police force of jurisdiction. They merely try to annoy the criminals a little bit and save a few cardholders grief.

From RCMP Webmaster's email:

Please report scams to your police force of jurisdiction. In addition, you can report this situation in detail to RECOL (Reporting Economic Crime OnLine) at www.recol.ca. This system prioritizes complaints and channels them to the police force of jurisdiction. You are likely dealing with international, well-organized and professional criminals who are experienced in taking advantage of the difficulties all police forces have in conducting international multi-jurisdictional investigations.

Although you are in the business of marketing a product and generating sales, it is in your best interest to practice due diligence when dealing with new and unfamiliar potential clients who request unusual arrangements. Once you fall victim, recouping your loss is likely impossible.

Administration of Criminal Justice in Canada is a Provincial matter, which is always a challenge with international investigations. Police forces in Canada, including the RCMP, are restricted by Provincial jurisdiction(s) under the Criminal Code. Coordination is sometimes possible; however, the complainant must first report the matter to their police force of jurisdiction.

Thank you,

Webmaster
National Communication Services | Services nationaux de communications
Royal Canadian Mounted Police | Gendarmerie royale du Canada
73 Leikin Dr., Ottawa ON K1A 0R2 | Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada

Monday, March 12, 2012

Anti Fraud Centre follow up

I followed up with Mr. Jay Schultz and he explained his purpose is to try to obtain information on as many stolen cards as possible so he can notify the issuing banks.

The anti fraud centre does not deal directly with the police.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Canada AntiFraudcentre FAIL!

Last week we had someone try to order using a stolen card card. We were lucky enough to catch it before any goods were sent to this person.

Out of concern for the true cardholder I called our bank to let them know what had transpired. They were able to get a hold of the bank the issued the credit card and deactivate the card. Yah, good guys.

Since I also information such a the "ship to" address I thought I would try to contact someone who could investigate this further. I looked through the internet and found that Canada has an antifraud centre. So I wrote to them.

In return I got a cut & paste reply from them with no desire to pursue anything. Very disappointing. This is probably why these criminals keep getting away with it - no one is chasing them.

This it the reply I got:

This type of scam is becoming more widely used and the most important part for your business is to make sure the cards are not processed and no money/product is sent. If you would have processed the cards the real card holders would identify the unauthorized charges, disputed them, and the bank would do a charge back on the cards resulting in your business being out whatever was sent.

If possible, try to obtain as many cards and tx details as possible from this individual. The easiest way to do this is by continually stating that the cards are being declined. He will provide you with fresh cc numbers until he suspects that you have caught onto him and he would then stop contacting you.

If you have any questions about the type of scam, let me know.

Thank you.

XXX XXXXXX

Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre (Phonebusters)

P.O. Box 686

North Bay, ON

P1B 8J8

Telephone l Téléphone – (888) 495-8501

Fax - (888) 654-9426

XXXXXXX@antifraudcentre.ca

Fraud...Recognize it...Report it...Stop it

Friday, March 2, 2012

Another person registering my domain

I am surprised that no body has registered my domain.com.cn yet.




Dear CEO,


(If you are not in charge of this, please forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent. Thanks)

We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On March 1, 2012, we received an application from Hengtong company requested "mydomain" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?

Kind regards


Barry Yang
Office Manager
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86-21-6191-8696
Mobile: +86-182-2195-1605
Fax: +86-21-6191-8697

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Hello Sir, We are getting messages from your Windows computer

I received a telephone call today from man with an Indian accent who told me that he has received error messages from my Windows computer. As I do not have a Windows computer it was pretty easy for me to decide that this was scam. I said, "pardon me?" to make sure I heard him correctly the first time. I asked him what company he is from and he mumbled some company name with Windows mushed in. I asked him if there was a telephone number I could reach him at. When he asked why, I told him "so I can let the police know where to reach you."

I don't understand why he hung up. ;)