Tech – for Everyone

Tech Tips and Tricks & Advice – written in plain English.

From: CYBER CRIMES COMMISSION

Once Again It’s Time To Play Let’s Count The Typos!

Sort of an interesting twist on an old scam…

ATTENTION!!!

FIRST LET INTRODUCE THIS COMMISSION:THE ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (EFCC) WE FIGHT CYBER CRIME,FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING AROUND THE WORLD. OUR COMMISSION HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 2008.

My Dear Good Day,
OUR DUTIES IS TO STOP INTERNET FRAUD,SCAM. AS AT TODAY, WE HAVE PUT A LOT OF FRAUDSTERS BEHIND BARS. A LOT OF THEM ARE IN JAIL AND WE MOVE ALL OVER THE WORLD TRACKING AND PICKING UP THESE THIEVES.WE HAVE OVER 687 OF THEM IN OUR

JAILS ROUND THE WORLD AND WE ARE STILL LOOKING FORE.THE ONLY REASON WE ARE WRITING YOU THIS LETTER IS BECAUSE YOUR NAME WAS GIVEN TO US BY ONE OF THE FRAUDSTERS IN OUR CUSTODY, THAT YOU WERE ONE OF HIS VICTIMS.
OUR ACTION NOW IS TO REFUND BACK MONEY TO FOREIGNERS WHO LOST THEIR MONEY TO THESE THIEVES. WE ARE PAYING BACK FROM THE MONEY WE RECOVERED.

WE CAN ONLY REFUND TO YOU IF YOUR NAME IS MENTIONED AND YOU WILL HAVE TO SHOW US PROOF OF
HOW MUCH YOU LOST. IF THIS LETTER GETS TO YOU THEN YOU WERE MENTIONED AS A VICTIM. BUT
IF IT GETS TO YOU BY MISTAKE AND YOU HAVE NOT LOST ANY MONEY THEN PLEASE
DISREGARD THIS LETTER.

IF YOU KNOW ANY PERSON/ FAMILY OR FRIEND THAT HAS LOST MONEY TO FRAUDSTERS PLEASE TELL HIM/HER TO WRITE TO THIS COMMISSION WITH PROOF AND WE WILL HANDLE HIS/HER CASE THEN PAY BACK AFTER VERIFICATION.

WE ARE AWARE THAT THIS FRAUDSTERS HAVE BROKEN A LOT OF HOMES, MADE A LOT OF PEOPLE
LOSE THEIR JOBS, SELL THEIR PROPERTIES, CLOSE THEIR BUSINESS AND A LOT OF VICTIMS HAVE EVEN COMMITTED SUICIDE.

PLEASE YOU ARE TO REACH US IN OUR EMAIL ADDRESS BELOW FOR FURTHER CLARIFICATIONS ON HOW YOU ARE TO RECEIVE YOUR LOST FUNDS. YOU ARE TO FORWARD YOUR FULL PARTICULARS AND RECENT TELEPHONE NUMBER TO OUR EMAIL ADDRESS ABOVE IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY A VICTIM.

YOU ARE EMAIL BACK VIA OUR MAILBOX AT: roger.allen6060@yahoo.com.hk

WE EXPECT YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE.
REGARDS,
Mr. Roger Allen

FROM THE CYBER CRIME COMMISSION

Yes.. I believe you..

(Folks, wouldn’t this be a neat idea? If there really were such a commission, or task force? Returning our money? Sadly, nobody is even considering the idea, and governments, to date, have done nothing but toss out toothless “Law” such as the CAN-SPAM act…)

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All Rights Reserved. jaanix post to jaanix.

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March 22, 2010 - Posted by | cyber crime, e-mail, Internet scam, Phishing, phraud | , , , , , ,

6 Comments »

  1. TechPaul,

    You are doing a real service, for us all, by posting these examples of criminal acts. Apparently people fall to these scams or they would not be so prevalent.

    Thank you,

    Rick

    Like

    Comment by Ramblinrick | March 22, 2010 | Reply

    • Rick,
      There are some folks who will recognize these as old friends, and others who will be seeing them for the first time.. even though these “forms” have been in circulation since the first days of the Internet.

      I think they’re funny (my name is “Paul”, not “mark”). But you are absolutely correct in your word choice: these are criminal acts.

      I appreciate your words of support.

      Like

      Comment by techpaul | March 22, 2010 | Reply

  2. I hate reading these kind of emails. I wonder how many get swallowed up by these especially senior citizens. I have told my mom if she gets anything that is fishy or sounds to good to be true to delete it or let me look at it first. There are so many innocent people out there that get caught up in this stuff. Thanks for the article, it was good read.

    Like

    Comment by Cappydawg | March 23, 2010 | Reply

    • Cappydawg,
      I know of no statistics, or study, that could begin to guestimate the number of victims.

      But we know several things:
      * If it didn’t occasionally work, it wouldn’t be tried.
      * The weakest link in the security chain is — the End User.
      * Some End Users are not properly paranoid on the Internet, nor very computer savvy. Some are downright *naive*.
      * Large segments of the world’s population see nothing wrong at all in separating *naive* Americans from their money.

      Also.. the offer of large sums has always had a certain lure.. and I believe this lure to be more.. tempting, to more people, during difficult times.. such as an economic downturn.
      Human nature is what I chalk it up to.

      Good advice you gave your Ma. Have you installed WOT on her machine? It’s not perfect, but those red circles are simple enough, and it’s far better than nothing.

      Like

      Comment by techpaul | March 23, 2010 | Reply


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