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Recently, a new phishing e-mail has been circulating. The e-mail is the IRS asking for donations to help the victims of the California wildfires. The e-mail is a scam. The IRS is not and never will ask for donations, let alone send out an e-mail asking for financial and personal information.
The e-mail seems real enough. It provides links to an IRS website. The website asks for personal and financial information in order to obtain the donation. It seems like a good thing to do. However, do not enter any personal or financial information, the website is not the real IRS website. The information that is asked for is what the scammers use to steal identities, open new lines of credit and ruin peoples’ credit and lives. If that weren't enough, the links and the e-mail are also thought to contain “malware and other malicious software.”
To protect yourself and help stop the phishing scam the IRS
“urged those who received the scam e-mail to help the IRS shut down the operation by forwarding it to phishing@irs.gov, using instructions found in "how to protect yourself from suspicious e-mails or phishing schemes" on the genuine IRS Web site, http://www.irs.gov.”
On a happier note, the IRS is doing their part to help the wildfire victims. They are extending payment and tax return filing deadlines for victims.
“As California taxpayers start the recovery process, the last thing they should worry about is meeting a tax deadline,” said IRS Acting Commissioner Linda Stiff. “The IRS offers many resources for disaster victims online at IRS.gov, over the phone and in person.”
If you would like to donate to the victims there are several ways in which you can. The LA Times wrote an article with several suggestions of how to help the wildfire victims.
Read the AP's article for all the details of the e-mail scam.
Who would have thought that a big company like SuperValu would be susceptible to an e-mail scam and almost lose $10 million?! Well, it happened just a few months ago. In February they received e-mails supposedly from American Greetings Corp. and Frito-Lay indicating new bank accounts had been set up and payments should be wired to these new accounts.
Has anyone at SuperValu ever read about "phishing' or other email scams? I guess not...
Without making any inquiries with the two companies about the change in accounts, SuperValu just started sending payments to the accounts indicated in the e-mail. After a week, nine payments and $6.5 million later, it was discovered that the new account with American Greetings was fraudulent. Meanwhile, another $3.6 million was being sent to the fraudulent Frito-Lay account. Luckily, for SuperValu, the FBI was able to get right on it and recover the money before it disappeared.
“SuperValu was the target of attempted financial fraud,” company spokeswoman Haley Meyer wrote in a prepared statement. “We were able to quickly discover and report this to the FBI. As a result of the quick work of the Boise FBI Office and the U.S. Attorney, any funds lost are minimal.”
Fortunate as it may seem, it’s not quite time to break out the bubbly. American Greetings and Frito-Lay are demanding that they get paid – and rightly so. But the matter has been turned over to a judge to decide how the money is going to be allocated. It’s a shame that such fairy-tale endings don’t happen for most individuals who fall victim to e-mail scams. Here's the link the the whole tale from the Idaho Statesman.
Have you seen ads like this on the internet and wondered if they're for real?
Well, they're for real, but I don't advise signing up for this kind of deal. Here's why...
When you see any "free" offer, you should be very careful. Very few things are really free. You should ask yourself these kinds of questions:
Question:
An ipod costs $69 to $399 dollars. How are they paying for it if they're giving it to me for free?
Answer: You have to give them something of value.
Question:
What do I have that's valuable to them?
Answer: A lot.
- Your personal information - you have to give them your name, email, home address, gender, date of birth, and phone number. They use this information to send offers to your email account, to your home via direct mail, and to your phone with telemarketers.
- Your credit card - you also are required to sign up for one of the offers they present to you. All of these offers will involve giving them your credit card number. The offers are things like a Blockbuster online rental membership, DVD and music clubs, credit card offers, ringtones & horoscopes. They are paid a bounty from these companies when you sign up. Companies will pay anywhere from $10 - $70 per sign up.
- Your friends and family - in order to qualify for the free item you have to get 5 friends or family members to sign up AND request one of their offers.
See how the money is now adding up? The company will receive possibly $40 per sign up which equals $240 (6 users x $40).
Were you worried they weren't going to make any money on this deal? Don't worry, they will still make more.
In fact, Eliot Spitzer, the fireball New York Attorney General has recently filed suit against Gratis Internet, the parent company of sites Freeipods.com, FreeCDs.com, FreeDVDs.com, and FreeVideoGames.com (just an aside - "gratis" means "free" in Spanish).
The suit alleges that Gratis:
"... sold personal information obtained from millions of consumers under a strict promise of confidentiality.
From 2000 through 2004 Gratis made numerous explicit promises to the users of its web sites about protecting personal information. Among the promises the company made were:
'We will never give out, sell or lend your name or information to anyone';
'We will never lend, sell or give out for any reason your email address or personal information';
'We at [Gratis web site] respect your privacy and do not sell, rent or loan any personally identifiable information regarding our customers to any third party'; and
'Please note that we do not provide your E-mail address to our business partners.'
Even on its sign-up pages, Gratis promised consumers that it 'does not . . . sell/rent emails.'
However, the Attorney General’s investigation confirmed that Gratis’s owners, Peter Martin and Robert Jewell, repeatedly violated these promises during 2004 and 2005 by selling access to lists of millions of Gratis’s customers to three independent email marketers. The marketers then sent hundreds of millions of email solicitations to those users, on behalf of their own customers. In each of these deals, Gratis wrongfully shared between one and seven million confidential user records.
This is believed to be the largest deliberate breach of a privacy policy ever discovered by U.S. law enforcement.
Need another reason to avoid offers like these?
Here's a good one - if you jump through all their hoops and qualify for your free ipod, you'll have to send them an IRS W-9 form, since the iPod's value will have to be counted as revenue.
What information is provided on a W9? Oh, only your name, address, and Social Security Number. Is that the kind of information you want in the hands of these people? I don't think so.
Save your pennies and buy your own stinking iPod. That's what I recommend.
Think only the uneducated can be caught in a criminal's web? Hardly...
This is the sad story of "The Doctor" and "The General." The doctor, in this case, is an internationally recognized psychiatrist, 89 year-old Dr. Louis A. Gottschalk. The general is a anonymous figure Dr. Gottschalk met in Nigeria known only as "The General."
According to papers filed by his son, Dr. Gottschalk has been a ten year victim of a Nigerian Advanced Fee Scam, losing up to $3,000,000. Like the last victim we talked about, Dr. Gottschalk is also accused of destroying bank records in order to hide the crime. Understandably, his son is trying to wrest control of the family partnership before more money is lost to the criminals.
Gottschalk was first contacted in 1995 by Nigerian fraudsters. He traveled to Nigeria and Amsterdam to "show them that he was sincere so he would get the money." Early on, he admitted to his family that he had given "The General" $300,000. After being convinced he was being conned, he promised not to give any more money.
Dr. Louis Gottschalk, Nigerian Scam Victim
Unfortunately, time passed and Dr. Gottschalk continued to send money to his "partners" in Nigeria.
Why would someone do that - especially someone as educated as Dr. Gottschalk? Here's one assessment from Anthony Pratkanis, a fraud expert from UC Santa Cruz:
"There's a line that gets crossed when they send in the money and then they're caught in a rationalization trap," Pratkanis said. "One way to convince yourself the scam is for real is to send more money, ironically enough."
Makes sense to me. Evidently it made sense to Dr. Gottschalk as well. When asked by his son as late as October 2005 about the money, he replied:
"Don't worry, everything will be all right on Thursday because I will be getting $20 million."
Dreams die hard, don't they? Here's a link to the whole story from KTLA.
It's our favorite time of year here in the U.S. - TAX TIME!
Along with tax season comes the predictable onslaught of IRS scam emails. No, these don't come from the IRS. They are from the same old bad guys trying to separate you from your money.
Here's an email that just arrived today:
They're only offering a refund of $63.80??? Those crooks!
I would have thought a higher amount, like $630.80 would better peak our interest in recovering the money. Oh well, I'm sure they do extensive testing to determine the cash amount that draws the most clicks...
Once you click the link you'll see a beautiful reproduction of the IRS site along with a form asking for your:
- SSN
- Credit card number
- Credit card expiration date
- Credit card CVV security code from the back of the card
- Credit card ATM PIN
This looks like a clear credit card fraud attempt. With this information they can purchase items over the internet or withdraw cash from your account.
What should you do if you receive an email like this?
The IRS, unfortunately, doesn't currently have an easy way to report these emails. The best you can do right now is call 800-366-4484 to report it, but the number was busy each time I tried to call. Not good.
The IRS has placed this kind of phishing scam in their "Dirty Dozen" tax scams for 2006. Here's what they had to say:
Phishing. Phishing is a technique used by identity thieves to acquire personal financial data in order to gain access to the financial accounts of unsuspecting consumers, run up charges on their credit cards or apply for new loans in their names. These Internet-based criminals pose as representatives of a financial institution and send out fictitious e-mail correspondence in an attempt to trick consumers into disclosing private information.
Sometimes scammers pose as the IRS itself. In recent months, some taxpayers have received e-mails that appear to come from the IRS. A typical e-mail notifies a taxpayer of an outstanding refund and urges the taxpayer to click on a hyperlink and visit an official-looking Web site. The Web site then solicits a social security and credit card number.
In a variation of this scheme, criminals have used e-mail to announce to unsuspecting taxpayers they are “under audit” and could make things right by divulging selected private financial information. Taxpayers should take note:
The IRS does not use e-mail to initiate contact with taxpayers about issues related to their accounts. If a taxpayer has any doubt whether a contact from the IRS is authentic, the taxpayer should call 1-800-829-1040 to confirm it."
Since the IRS is so lame in trying to shut down sites, I thought I'd do something.
It appears the servers are based in Korea and I've emailed the ISPs that manage the IP involved, but I'm not holding my breath.
The last word... enjoy tax season, just don't try to claim an early refund from scammers.
Here's a scam story with a happy ending... kind of.
Harrison Odiawa (aka Abu Belgore), pictured below, was convicted in a Lagos, Nigeria court to 376 years for advance fee fraud, obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy and forgery.
So why isn't this a happy story?
It turns out the victim, a U.S. citizen named Robert Blick, has been serving a 30 month jail sentence himself for defrauding his own business partners in order to give over $2,000,000 to the scammers.
The story begins on March 21, 2003, when Blick received an e-mail from a person in Nigeria by the name of Taye Owo, looking for a foreign contractor to transfer $20.5 million out of Nigeria.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, Blick hadn't heard of the scam and became excited about getting 20 million dollars for nothing. Don't we all?
After many emails, phone calls, and faxes back and forth, the scammers provided a certificate of incorporation for Blick's American company in Nigeria as well as a job completion certificate. With those, Blick believed he was ready to pick up the 20 million and decided London was the place to make it happen. Once in London, however, the deal played out just like it always does...
The scammers "... told him that he would need £10,000 for his agent to open a bank account, and another $18,750.00 as a trust processing fee when the money transaction took place.
Blick, who came to London with only £10,000, had to stop around London with his credit cards to raise another £20,000 to meet these demands. From this moment on, Blick was in the net of the fraudsters and they milked and milked him until he started selling his personal property and dipping his hand into the account of the company he co-owned with his partners in America.
First, they showed him an aluminium strong box, which he thought contained the money. They also opened it and showed him two bundles, which he confirmed were genuine. They could not, however, pay him because one document - International Clearance and Policy Certificate (ICP) number was not available. It had to come from Nigeria, so the payment was cancelled. Next, he was informed on April 7, 2003 that a sum of $ 410, 000 was required before the ICP could be issued. He paid $195,000 as his own share. Belgore was to pay the rest."
Like all "Advanced Fee" schemes, the big payoff gets closer and closer, but never quite materializes.
The milking continued until Blick's American corporate partners became suspicious and called the FBI. Luckily the FBI was able to knock some sense into Blick, but not until he had given $2,092,894 million of his and his company's money to the scammers.
In January, 2004 Blick was charged with wire fraud along with conspiracy to draud the Nigerian government. After all, the scam Blick went along with supposedly involved stealing the 20 million dollars from the Nigerian government. Blick was convicted in September, 2004 and sentenced to 30 months in jail.
Enough talk about the "victim." Now back to our scammers...
Once Blick was convicted, the FBI alerted the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) regarding Odiawa, alias Abu Belgore, the man behind the fraud. With evidence provided by Blick and others, Odiawa was convicted and sentenced to the 376 years.
Does this story have a happy ending? Sort of...
- A scammer has been brought to justice.
- A victim has been taught a painful and valuable lesson about greed.
- The public gets another case study on how to avoid scams and scammers.
The victim and the scammer both received their comeuppance. Hopefully the family of the victim and his business partners get back their $2,000,000.
For all the gory details of the case, see the EFCC web site.
Derrell and Terrell Brittenum of Memphis, TN have been charged with forgery, theft by deception and financial identity fraud for purchasing a 2005 Dodge Magnum last June 2005 in Atlanta using someone else's identity.
The twins recently appeared on the most-watched show in America - American Idol. Evidently they were excellent performers and had moved on to the next round in Hollywood, CA. Unfortunately for them they've now been dropped from the show based on their actions.
Here's a before photo:
And an after photo:
E!Online reports that:
"Both brothers were released from jail on bond Sunday morning and were preparing to travel to Los Angeles for the next round of eliminations when they received word that their presence was no longer welcome.
Though the twins may have blown their shot at Idol worship, they reportedly have other opportunities to consider. Bennett claims to have been contacted by "several" record labels interested in signing the brothers."
Great! Evidently some record labels are still interested in these gentlemen. Maybe their arrests will give them additional "street cred."
Whatever sells records, I guess...
Can five million Britians be duped? Yes, according to a study done by the British consumer protection organization Which?. Which? contacted more than 1000 Brits to see how widespread the scam problem is in the U.K. The results?
- More than 28 million of 60 million citizens had been exposed to one or more scams.
- Five million of those 28 fell victim to a scam.
- The most popular scam related to "an automated phone call that invites people to claim a prize. A third of adults have received such a call and two million have responded, usually by calling a premium-rate number, which can cost up to GBP 1.50 ($2.70 U.S.) a minute."
The funny thing is that I've even seen people outside the U.K. fall victim to these international lottery scams. Here's a typical email that arrived in our honeypot inbox this week:
As I was saying, I've received email from U.S. residents wondering if they'd really won after receiving an email like this. They never questioned how they'd won even though they weren't residents of the country where the lottery was held and had never even entered the lottery.
Greed makes us stupid, doesn't it? That's what the scammers count on.
UPDATE!
Many of you have also received snail mail versions of this scam. In this scam you receive a letter saying you've won as well as a check for $3,000 - $4,000 dollars to cover the taxes and processing fees - supposedly.
Anyway, listen up people.
This is a scam. The check is fake.
It may initially be accepted at your bank but will eventually be worth absolutely nothing. So when you deposit it and then send them a check from your account, you will lose money.
Ask yourself... Why would they send you a check and then have you send them a check right back for the same amount? Does that make sense? It does if you're trying to scam someone.
No, this won't be a post about some political scandal in Iraq.
Instead, I wanted to post an scam email — one where a supposed American soldier wants to share some of Saddam Hussein's booty (booty here meaning "Plunder taken from an enemy in time of war.")
Here's the email:
I haven't seen an email like this since "Bradon Curtis" a "special forces commando" working in Afghanistan wanted to send us some Taliban money a few years ago.
As always, these emails should produce more laughs than greed as they land in your in-box. The scam is one of the oldest in the book and will involve you giving up more and more money as you try to get your grubby, greedy mitts on 7.2 million of Saddam's money.
Think your check is safe after you fill it out? Think again...
Your writing can be removed using a procedure called "check washing." A solvent is used - usually rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover - to fade out or completely remove what you've put on your check.
Here's a before and after picture:
The check is now ready for a new amount (I'm guessing larger than $10) and a new recipient.
An even better trick for the forger is to cover your signature so it remains in place while everything else is removed.
So how can you avoid becoming a victim of this trick?
Use the right pen.
Based on the excellent testing of Sean Kane, he found that gel pens worked best at resisting these check washing procedures.
See the whole experiment and complete results on Sean's site.
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