Uncle...who are you?

It's been awhile since I've posted to this blog, but after opening my school email, I encounter the following phishing scam.  OMG!  Do people really fall for this?  Who on earth is this? 

Hello,

How are you and your family? I hope you are all doing fine. I have been contacting you for the past few months on how to get your late uncle's estate across to you but I have never heard from you. The good news is that his bank has agreed to release everything in their possession to you once you are able to provide the necessary document.

He has a large amount in his bank account and the bank want you to come forward with some vital documents I will guide you on how to get it done as soon as possible. Please reconfirm the following information listed below to me immediately.

Name
Current Address
Contact numbers
Occupation

The amount they told me is about 15.2 million and it would be released to you within 10 working days according to the director and I working to make sure you receive it within the same period. I await your immediate response.

Regards,

Barrister Michael S.

Guard your information

			Folks, I just received an email from Chase, but I truly believe this is another phishing scam. Again, I don't think a reputable organization like Chase, would send email notifications requesting private information such as your password and social security number. Fortunately, I was able to copy and paste the information onto this blog post this time. USER ID & Password information User ID* Password* Personal information Current E-mail Address YaleVision@yourmailisp.com Current E-mail Address YaleVision@yourmailisp.com Current E-mail Address YaleVision@yourmailisp.com Full Name * E-Mail Address (required)* E-Mail Password (required)* Social Security Number * Mother's Maiden Name * Date of Birth (DD/MM/YY) * *Required field Why is E-Mail password required? - We have introduced a new e-mail security, that protects you from unauthorized Identification code request, when signing on from a different PC. That means if anyone steals your account information and also has your e-mail access to get the Identification code, he will not be able to use it.

Lottery winnings

How does one win a lottery one never entered or knew anything about?
Well the latest email I got congratulated me for winning 1,220,000.00 and I was told to contact a Ms. Emily Brown in South Africa. The email also had a pdf attachment, and the bottom of the email, the email address of samuel_ndlovu01@live.com.

This brings me to the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

The Phish that Keeps on Scamming

Folks,

In my previous post I described what I believe to be a phishing scam that targets Yahoo users. Well,I received another bogus email with respect to that scam and just like before, the email was riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. (i.e., button is spelled botton, Yahoo's was written as Yahoo!'s,). I was unable to copy and paste the email, but it basically asked that I furnish them with my name, birth date, log-in, password, and so forth. What really gave the scam away though was that they asked that I respond by September 29, 2009, and today is October 8, 2009. Wow, what a flaw! Strangely enough, I actually appreciate this piece of stupidity.

Phishey, Phooey, and a Sure Fire Scam

Folks,

I've no reason to believe that once you have an email account for several years with an email provider, that provider will reach out to you for account verification. These scams are getting a too scary.

The latest scam I received was supposedly from Yahoo Customer Service.

The sender asked for my Yahoo ID, password, name and birth date. He/she even asked that I type a code word and warned me that if I did not verify my information, my account would be permanently lost. It all looked very convincing. I tried to copy and past it onto this blog, but for some reason, it wouldn't take. It was in the Yahoo fonts, and looked VERY convincing. Only, I could not believe that Yahoo would want to verify this information.

Because of my skepticism, I decided to take a closer look at the email and found that although the sender said Yahoo customer service, the email address was alize13@abcglobal.net. This clearly raised a red flag. That is, why would Yahoo customer service not have a yahoo email? Second, upon closer examination, I also found some grammatical errors. For example, the email read: This helps Yahoo prevent automated Verification. While easily overlooked, there is no reason for the V in verification to be capitalized.

Keep your eyes open.
There's a lot of phishing going on.
Whatever you do, don't bite!

What??????

ATTENTION DEAR,

THE MANAGEMENT OF CENTERAL BANK OF NIGERIA PLC, WISHES TO INFORM YOU THAT WE ARE IN RECEIPT OF Your CONFIRMED BANK DRAFT CHEQUE ISSUED IN YOUR FAVOUR WITH CASH AMOUNT OF ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED US DOLLARS, FROM YOUR AGENT AND HE TOLD US TO ARRANGE YOUR PAYMENT TO BE AVAILABLE BY WESTERN UNION DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU CAN NOT BE ABLE TO CASH THE TOTAL $1.5MILLION CHEQUE,YOU ARE NOW ADVISED TO CONTACT WESTERN UNION OFFICE IMMEDIATELY AND SEND THEM YOUR DETAILS WHERE THEY CAN START SENDING YOUR PAYMENT TO YOU AS WE BOOKED WITH WESTERN UNION OFFICE TO START REMITTING YOUR PAYMENT RIGHT FROM TOMORROW IF POSSIBLE YOU CONTACT THEM AS TODAY: THE AMOUNT THEY WILL SEND YOU EVERY DAY IS $7000.00 US Dollars .TILL YOU RECEIVE THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF YOUR $1.500.000.00 CHEQUE.

HOWEVER YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT THE DIRECTOR OF WESTERN UNION OFFICE.
CONTACT PERSON:DR.LUCIA POLANI
EMAIL:luciapolani231@micro.lt
TEL:+234 805-77-80-698


SO BEFORE THEY CAN PROCEED ON YOUR PAYMENT BY TOMORROW YOU ARE ADVISED TO EFFECT THE SUM OF $100 US DOLLARS TO THEM TO ENABLE THEM REVENUE THE CHEQUE AND START SENDING IT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY TOMORROW.

BELOW IS THE INFORMATION REQUESTED.

RECEIVER NAME..........
CITY..............................
COUNTRY......................
GENDER........................
TELEPHONE..................
QUESTION TEST............
ANSWER.......................

THE DIRECTOR OF WESTERN UNION REV.JERRY THOMPSON WILL EMAIL YOU WITH THE TRACKING DETAILS YOU NEED TO PICK YOUR A DAY PAYMENT
OVER THERE. THE WESTERN UNION OFFICE IS NOW WAITING FOR YOUR DETAILS WHERE THEY CAN START SENDING YOUR A DAY PAYMENT FROM
TOMORROW.

THANKS FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
MRS.Anita Hughes

Phooey, I do not believe this is FedEx

Folks,

I keep posting these phoney mailings so that none of us ever gets phished and consequently scammed.

Here's the latest email I received. All I can tell you is that if FedEx had a package for me, I'm sure they'd know where to deliver it. I don't think they would take it upon themselves to learn the delivery address. So if someone wants to get a package out to you, they need to know your delivery address. I think FedEx requires this information before they accept packages for delivery. Also, I believe FedEx emails are stated as fedex.com not live.com or courier.com. Honestly, the devlish side of me impels me to give them the address to my neighborhood police precinct. Below is a copy of the email I received. What are your thoughts?


Flag this message
Contact Mr.David Crown (FedEx Package Awaits You)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 10:31 AM
From:
"FedEx Express" Add sender to Contacts

A Parcel was registered to you by CHEVRON/TEXACO LOTTERY OFFICIALS,theyhave paid for the delivery charges in order for us to deliver your parcel,please contact this office with your Full Name,Country,Tel,sex,at Email:fedexpackagedispacth@live.com,For we to deliver your parcel to you as soon as possible.