Email Scams

[Brownian Motion]

This purports to be from USA Today

Our ability to search resumes online has allowed us to grow at a pace second to none in our industry. Because of this, we are touching base with individuals who have posted their resumes that meet our requirements for the positions we have available.

Based on the career profile you provided us, you might be interested in the following job(s). Please review the job description(s) and if you would like to continue the process, send blank e-mail with the word "USASPECIAL" in the subject line to usa4today@earthlink.net

3002 -- Sr. Financial Representative

As a front line financial agent, you will be responsible for connecting different countries' financial markets by acting on behalf of our

customers. All you need is an active bank account, good communication, internet access and desire to work as a big team. Get from 5 to 10% from each transaction!

This message contains information which is privileged and confidential and is solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this message is strictly

prohibited. If this confirmation notice was sent to you in error or to unsubscribe at any time, please click:

http://reg.e.usatoday.com/edit.aspx?3640824530

Thank you for using USATODAY.com.

Regards,

The USATODAY.com Team

For the latest news, please visit http://www.usatoday.com/

Edited April 10, 2005 by Brownian Motion

[Dan Gould]

I like that 'active bank account'. But I got a fleeting suspicion that after you've worked a week or two, your bank account won't be so active anymore cuz it will be empty.

[Jazzmoose]

So how many Nigerian princes work at USA Today?

[Nate Dorward]

This is the only spam mail I've actually kept rather than deleted instantly. --N

--------

From: sales@onlinenic.com

To: ndorward@sprint.ca

Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 3:48 AM

Subject: How one can become a terrorist?

hello our potential customer

We would like to introduce our new-born site, where you can shop around most wanted and needed items in your life.

Our weapon section has wide range of hard-to-find machine guns, silencers, armour-piercing ammos and others.

First of all, let\'s check our 3 top-selling items:

1. Russian surface-to-air missle SA-14 \"Gremlin\" (upgraded analog of SS-16 \"Strela\") from our supplies in

Kazakhstan.

Due to high demand, it takes about 4 weeks to backorder that item.

Weight is 10,2 kg., lenght - 1427 mm. You can make a huge party and you can have tons of fun launching your

\"Gremlin\"

with your buddies.

2. Israeli bestselling submashine-gun \"Tavor\" 5.56\" (upgraded analog of 7.65\" \"Uzi\"), comes with 2 full clips

of

standart ammo + bonus one clip of armour-piercing ammo.

3. Russian booby trap made in 5 versions:

- a bottle of Jim Beam (200 grammes of C4 inside),

- a can of Budlight beer (150 grammes of C4 inside),

- a Barbie-doll (100 grammes of C4 inside),

- a cell phone (50 grammes of C4 inside),

- a lighter Zippo (25 grammes of C4 insid

You can take one with you to the school or college and have alot of fun with your buddies. Buy more than 10 pieces of

booby traps, and we upgrade C4 to C4+ for free.

(C4+ can not be detected in airports or any other areas).

Also we have our Dutch-based shop where you can buy some drugs to make your life more wonderful and funny. We have

wide

selection of Ganzha, Crack, both synthetic and natural Heroin.

And our prices are affordables for everyone.

If you want to buy anything from us, just visit our site, contact administrator and get full price-list. We accept

all

major credit cards, wire transfers and money orders.

Please ask for details if you want to use Western Union or Moneygram money transfers.

P.S. Due to our government laws all items from our shop can be sold only to 18+ aged people. We can ask you for age

verification before shipping.

We thank to our hosting company AT&T www.att.com, www.att.net cause it in any circumstances continues to host our

site

and covers all our dirty business for the small per cent from the deals.

You can also make an order by the phone:

1-888-642-9675 fax: 571-434-4623

Do not hesitate to contact us via ICQ # 176928755

[Jim Alfredson]

Something tells me that if you contact those people, someone with a van labeled "Flowers By Irene" will park conspicously in front of your house.

[Nate Dorward]

I suspect that the only thing that will happen if you contact them is that you'll find large sums charged to your credit card; I doubt any actual rocket-launchers will be delivered to your house.

[Jazzmoose]

Damn. Guess I'll have to find my ghanza elsewhere. Although my life is probably funny enough, at least from a distance...

[BERIGAN]

this was just in an email's subject box...

:New Vacancy (#24914498714591664332270664753956180253917826788736112697400534104665192299448064363754431416523465978879

[ghost of miles]

I was getting frequent "verification" e-mails purportedly from PayPal, using the PayPal logo and graphics. Very well done, but indeed a scam.

[Jim Dye]

????

If I had walked slowly on the way into that accursed park my heels were Of great talent, repeated Mrs. Micawber. My family are of the little sums she had borrowed in my name of the tradespeople along with them. What wild game is this that I have been playing? your house for a direction. An error it seems to have been, but I

his mouth funnily pursed, and his chin out, he seemed the mere picture shining welcome on me; of renewing the peacefulness of the sweet

instance - any unlikely thing will do for a supposition - that you vegetate among them; so that a physical curse may be said to have

very imperfectly written, and, as we are not a people of legend or ingenuity in that handicraft, until he had become a skilled

My dear friend Copperfield, said Mr. Micawber, accidents will imperiously, and soared out at once into the night, followed by John

How the emigrants never wrote home, otherwise than cheerfully and This was true, Peter had forgotten to show them how to stop.

fields. Alan looked sharply to all sides, and seeing we were in a I - in short, said Mr. Micawber, with the same genteel air, and in

a wedding. And theyll all hate me for taking her away. was your age I took medicine without a murmur. I said Thank you, kind

particularly adapted to Mr. Micawber. Look at Barclay and Perkins. Darling found things she could not understand, and of these quite

plagued and persecuted all my days for other folks affairs, and have names got all the letters in it, higgledy-piggledy.

there then appeared a procession of new horrors, called arbitrary Oh, you foolish Alice. she answered herself. How can you

doubt, in exactly the same manner when the chief waiter was a boy Leith there was no more than the tops of chimneys visible, and on the

certain it must be really offended. We wont talk about her any regarded herself as the innocent cause of his errors, and as owing

shall set outside the door as I used to do. If any should come Its a Cheshire cat, said the Duchess, and thats why.

silence succeeded. I did not know what to do. Much as I desired At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her

Nelson, the opportunity being given, vitalizes into acts. I thought this better and better still, and as I began to pull on my

Mr. Thomas Traddless respectful friend and suppliant, I think I should understand that better, Alice said very

him, I dare say, for many inconveniences; but, as there were really Wendy. Then he lay down on the bed outside the coverlet, to vex her

One green light squinting over Kidds Creek, which is near the mouth the evidence, pro and con, respecting a clergyman who has

people talked about it, and other people came in and out all day, had been running to some desired pleasure. By shortly after one the

[Jazzmoose]

I was getting frequent "verification" e-mails purportedly from PayPal, using the PayPal logo and graphics. Very well done, but indeed a scam.

I think I've received emails from every bank in the known world. Except the bank we use...

[BERIGAN]

I was getting frequent "verification" e-mails purportedly from PayPal, using the PayPal logo and graphics.  Very well done, but indeed a scam.

I think I've received emails from every bank in the known world. Except the bank we use...

Say, which bank is that again????

[BERIGAN]

Hello, hello, who's your lady friend?

Save mnoey - get our sotfware fow lwoest pirce in the net.

http://cfrzj.18nym0jdeb18gkj.fhvoicejjg.com

Accdeints, try to canhge them -- it's imospisble. The accdietnal rveeals man.

Acotrs die so loud.

[BERIGAN]

Apearentlee, gott partt 2wo twodae....

Take that!

All kind of sofwtare for you.

http://elt.8fu5bpq2l0qx598.leaoudadmgh.com

Even a sotpped colck is rgiht tiwce a day.

Asbtinaer. A weak man who yelids to the tepmttaion of dnyeing hmiself a plaeusre.

[ghost of miles]

Here's a great one, purportedly from E-Bay's "Trust and Safety Department." Came replete with logos & everything:

Update Your Account Information !

Valued eBay Member,

According to our site policy you will have to confirm that you are the real owner of the eBay account by completing the following form or else your account will be suspended within 24 hours for investigations.

Never share your eBay password to anyone!

Establish your proof of identity with ID Verify (free of charge) - an easy way to help others trust you as their trading partner. The process takes about 5 minutes to complete and involves updating your eBay information. When you're successfully verified, you will receive an ID Verify icon  in your feedback profile. Currently, the service is only available to residents of the United States and U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Guam.)

To update your eBay records >> Click here <<

We appreciate your support and understanding, as we work together to keep eBay a safe place to trade.

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Trust and Safety Department

eBay Inc.

Please do not reply to this e-mail as this is only a notification. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Note : Ignoring this message will cause the Suspension of your account . To reactivate it you will have to pay a fee of 350 $ .

Copyright 1995-2004 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. eBay and the eBay logo are trademarks of eBay Inc. eBay is located at 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125.

[Brownian Motion]

Note : Ignoring this message will cause the Suspension of your account . To reactivate it you will have to pay a fee of 350 $ .

The whopping 350.00 "re-activation fee" is a neat wrinkle--haven't seen it before!

[Brownian Motion]

This is one of the best-written Paypal scam letters I've received. Must be college graduates. Same tired formula, however: "unusual account activity, access will be limited, blah blah blah".

And of course Paypal knows my name.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear valued PayPal® member:

PayPal® is committed to maintaining a safe environment for its community of

buyers and sellers. To protect the security of your account, PayPal employs

some of the most advanced security systems in the world and our anti-fraud

teams regularly screen the PayPal system for unusual activity.

Recently, our Account Review Team identified some unusual activity in your

account. In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement and to ensure that your

account has not been compromised, access to your account was limited. Your

account access will remain limited until this issue has been resolved. This

is a fraud prevention measure meant to ensure that your account is not

compromised.

In order to secure your account and quickly restore full access, we may

require some specific information from you for the following reason:

We would like to ensure that your account was not accessed by an

unauthorized third party. Because protecting the security of your account

is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account

features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please

understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

Case ID Number: PP-040-187-541

We encourage you to log in and restore full access as soon as possible

Should access to your account remain limited for an extended period of

time, it may result in further limitations on the use of your account.

However, failure to restore your records will result in account suspension.

Please update your records as soon as possible!

Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal session will not be

interrupted and will continue as normal.

To update your Paypal records click on the following link:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run

[BbM7]

A favorite website. While not an e-mail, still on-topic.

http://j-walk.com/other/conf/index.htm

[Brad]

Actually, some of the ebay scam ads I've received are so bad that you wonder why these people even bothered: typos, poor grammar, etc.

[Brownian Motion]

A favorite website. While not an e-mail, still on-topic.

http://j-walk.com/other/conf/index.htm

[catesta]

A favorite website. While not an e-mail, still on-topic.

http://j-walk.com/other/conf/index.htm

[Brownian Motion]

It seems to have occurred to these high IQ swindlers that potential swindlees may grow a bit suspicious after receiving a couple dozen emails about account-trouble at banks they not only don't have accounts at but have never even heard of. Thus the new explanatory sentence, which I've put in bold.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear valued Union Planters member,

Due to concerns, for the safety and integrity of the online banking community we have issued the following warning message.

It has come to our attention that your Union Plantersr account information needs to be updated as part of our continuing commitment to protect your account and to reduce the instance of fraud on our website. If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and renew your records you will not run into any future problems with the online service. However, failure to confirm your records may result in your account suspension.

Once you have confirmed your account records your internet banking service will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.

To confirm your bank account records please click here. <http://unionplanters.upib.org/upib/index.php>

Note:

This e-mail was sent on behalf of the online banking community, if you do not have an online banking account with Union Planters then this message does not apply to you and you may ignore this message.

Thank you for your time,

Union Planters Billing Department.

Edited May 2, 2005 by Brownian Motion

[.:.impossible]

Tell me what you all think of this.

I placed a number of items up for sale on Craig's List a couple of weeks ago. Oddly enough, I have been contacted by three separate people in West Africa regarding window A/C units.

One person actually offered more than we were asking for the items. Email correspondence follows:

...............

"Buyer" wrote:

Hello

I just saw ur advert on the web and i am intrested

in buyin ur ( Maytag 5000 BTU A/C - $20 )

I am based in the uk but presently in west africa

on a business trip i am willin to pay ... $50

and i will be responsible for the shipment and

pick up to my destination.

Get back to me if my offer is acceptable by you.

"Buyer"

...............

I wrote:

"Buyer",

We will be happy to sell you both A/C units.

International shipment can be alittle tricky for items of this size. Do you know

how much it will cost to

ship these units? They are quite heavy.

We will accept paypal if this is convenient for you.

Click here:

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/ema/index-outside

My account is spamspam@cox.net .

Thanks!

Cary Ralston

.................

On 4/26/05 1:54 PM, "buyer" wrote:

Hello,

Thanks for getting back to me,Like i said earlier i am

presently in west africa.There won't be any problem

about the shipment,after payment ,my shipping broker

will be coming for the pickup at your place .I have

several goods with them and i want them all shipped

together.

As regards payment,this is what i am going to do,I

have a client in the US who is owing me $800. I would

instruct him to make out certified check to you in

that amount and as soon as you cash it in your bank.

you can now deduct your money from it and send me my

balance via western union .

Although the value of the check is more than the

asking price but i think i should be able to trust you

with my balance. Pls get back to me as soon as you get

this mail so that we can round things up in a timely

fashion: I will be trusting in this business

transaction. So i

will like you to provide ur full name and address the

check will be payable to and include your telephone

number for proper communications.

Thanks in this regards

"buyer"

....................

I wrote:

"Buyer",

<<My address>>

Please let me know once you have sent the check. This way I will know when

to expect it.

Thank you..

............................

"Buyer" wrote:

hello cary ralston,

the check as been send to you on 27th of april i have confirm it ok pls i will want you to mail me your phone number so that i will be using it to communicate with you .

pls i will be expecting your mail so soon ok.

thanks,

"buyer"

................

"Buyer",

I can be reached at <<work cell phone number>>. Unfortunately, I will be out of town beginning Tuesday, May 3, returning Monday, May 9. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss details.

Thank you "buyer".

Cary

..............................

"Buyer",

I received a check from <name on check> in Eugene OR today. Is this your client? I will be out of town for the next week and will be unable to fulfill your request until my return.

Please accept my apologies; however, I will not do anything with this check until I hear from you.

Thank you "Buyer".

........................

Today I receive a check from someone in Oregon in the amount of $2,500!!! ??? It is what looks like a payroll check from a company called Qchex Check Delivery Service. No call from the buyer yet.

Strange that she would trust me with her money, no?

What the hell? This is my first time using Craig's List...

[Brownian Motion]

My opinion is that you're being set-up. Don't send them any money until you are absolutely certain that their check has cleared.

[Jazzmoose]

scam scam scam scam scam. Don't do it, impossible. You'll get a counterfeit check, and you're out the merchandise, plus the balance that you send on to the "buyer".