Sad and Pathetic e-mail.

I guess they will use any idea to scam someone.

The African Scam

The Internet has changed the way we buy and sell our vehicles and military kit.
It has certainly made life easier and opened up the hobby to a worldwide audience. Unfortunately it has also attracted some unsavoury people…… who aren’t all they at first may seem.
Here is a common scam that is going on at the moment.
So, you have placed your advert for a GMC on MILWEB.
You await the ping telling you that “you’ve got mail” and amongst the E Mails is what at first looks like a red hot enquiry.
It reads like this… (this a genuine example)
Good Day,
I saw your ( 1943 GMC) advert which am highly intrested in buying it. let me know if its stil available for sell and its present condition ? I am really okay and comfortable with the detail you illustrated on the web site but i will still want you to pls tell me more about it (what you did forget to add on the advert and updated Document of it and other information you feel someone need to know about,also the least price you intend to sell,and pics if available) .also will need the following details below:

Name that will be on the cheque...
Full Address.....
State.............
County............
Post Code.........
Country............
Phone #......
Thanks soo much and i will look up to your urgent response today via e-mail,hope to have fix date with you soon...
Regards and have a nice day.
Andrew Phillip
......................................................

Ok, so there are more than a few typos but it seems like someone is prepared to buy it unseen and arrange the shipping. It’s all a bit too good to be true……… despite the fact that your advert header has been cut ‘n‘ pasted in – in between brackets.
So you think “OK - better reply” and you send him pictures and every miniscule detail about the vehicle to impress the buyer.
Normally within a day comes back a gleeful E Mail, agreeing to your price and saying a cheque will be sent for the full cost plus the shipping – often for a considerable extra amount. All you need to do is to provide your address and the cheque will arrive by DHL or courier probably next day.
STOP! Don’t even think about accepting!
Advance Fee Fraud

This is called and “Advance Fee Fraud” and it’s a popular source of income for many African crooks, predominantly Nigerians. This is what happens next if you fall for it….
The cheque or bankers draft arrives, often drawn on some obscure merchant or private bank. You can bank it and then after 4 or 5 days you will get a phone call from the “buyer” asking you if you have banked his cheque and to send a cheque for the shipping fee to his “shipper”. So, you ring the bank who confidently tell you the cheque “hasn’t bounced” – you decide to be cautious and leave it a few more days, by which time the cheque is showing as cleared funds on your account. By this time you think the buyer is genuine and you send off your cheque to the “shipper” and await the collection of the vehicle, happy that you got the full asking price for it.
A few days later, you wonder why you can’t get any money out of the bank.
The answer is simple – you have been stung.
The cheque you thought to be genuine (as did the bank teller!) turns out to be a forgery on a stolen blank cheque (often these are surreptitiously removed from peoples cheque books.) The crooks know that it actually takes much longer for a fake cheque to be returned through the system than one on a valid account takes to “bounce”.
But of course the one cheque that HAS cleared, is the one you wrote to the “shipper” who expressed it and has now disappeared with YOUR cash.
This can mean that your own bank account is now in the red and consequently you can have some real problems ahead… but luckily the vehicle is still sitting in your drive.
Useful Tips to Avoid Being Defrauded


So you don’t get caught out…… here are some tips to spot the scammers:

• The potential buyer appears to be sending you an E Mail with the type of vehicle pasted in (as in our genuine example above).
• The potential buyer includes phrases like “god bless you” and “my friend” and other gushing phrases along the lines of “I am really okay and comfortable with the detail you illustrated on the web site”
• The potential buyer is using one of the more anonymous E Mail addresses like Hotmail and Redifmail.
• The potential buyer appears to know nothing about the vehicle he is trying to buy.
• It all seems a bit too good to be true - IT IS!

If you advertise a vehicle or indeed anything on the internet (and now it’s spreading to magazines) you may well be targeted by a scammer.
Please don’t let this put you off advertising on the Internet – MILWEB now carries about 20,000 adverts a year - everyone placing an advert gets an automatic warning message and we are only aware of one person who actually got caught by the scammers. Unfortunately the police aren’t really geared up to pursuing these scammers, so its of little point in reporting them.
But you can forward the E Mails to their ISP – for example if it came from andphilipautosource@yahoo.co.uk you can forward it to abuse@yahoo.co.uk, making the subject line FRAUD ATTEMPT - their ISP will then close their account – doesn’t stop them in their tracks but just makes life a little harder.
In amongst our adverts, MILWEB has a couple of “sleepers” so we can keep an eye on the scammers and also we can see if anyone is contacting our advertisers for any other purposes. Ok, we have had some fun wasting the scammers time asking for the cheque to be made out to Hugh Janus and sent to 1, Scotland Yard, London W1A 1AA but its actually got boring now.
My advice is just to delete the mails, don’t even bother replying.
Just keep an eye out for genuine enquiries – they are out there and they are the ones to spend your time on. If it’s an overseas buyer and his English isn’t good, try to find out what he knows about the vehicle he is buying – remember most buyers are genuine! Unless you know the person do not accept a cheque for more than the asking price, if he can’t pay the shipper directly do not proceed.
As the busiest site military on the Internet by far, Military Vehicles Jeeps Tanks Militaria, all ex Military equipment also attracts a number of adverts we just don’t place. We always err on the side of caution and in the last 8 years there have been a couple of instances where dubious gentlemen from the former Soviet Union have wanted to sell German armour “just found after 60 years”– when we have asked for both photographic proof and our modest trade advertiser fee, they have disappeared into cyber space. Our worldwide contacts give us a pretty good heads up when anything a bit suspicious turns up.
But of course the Panther Tank that was advertised for restoration on MILWEB with pictures for around £300,000 was genuine, it sold and is now under restoration.
It’s just a case of sorting the wheat from the chaff – and knowing when to hit the delete key!

African Fraud, 419

 

Is it International spam day today? I only ask as I rec'd 52 spam emails today.

Coming from America, South America, China, South Africa, Soviet Union and here in the UK. Mixed bag of your bank details are needed to you have won and my friend please can you..........

Well you know what they are.

 

Amazing how most come from other countries rather then the originating one LOL. I dont know how many times I have "won" foreign Lotteries.

 

*Pics*‏
From: Heidi (Heidi@hollandlopflags.com) You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafeSent:20 October 2008 19:30:48To: pasterli@hotmail.com
Hey whats up?, my name is Heidi i was just looking over your facebook profile and i would really like to chat with you more i live about 15misn away from you and we seem to have alot in common Email me back and we can chat..i have attached 3 pics of myself but i am new to this email stuff so let me know if you dont get them Talk Soon


Whats wrong here ? Its not addressed to my email but still made it to the junk folder.I dont have a facebook profile or account nor myspace or anything similar.My email account is about 15 yrs old now and started in the UK.I live in the US now so how Heidi reckons shes my neighbor i cant figure.Of course shes so inept as to not be able to read a help file and attach a picture..presumably someone elses.I get these all the time.

 

Not sure what kind of scam that would be. Other then perhaps a try ay Identity theft. A Phishing attempt.

 

Identity theft ... i came across those words recently.As i mentioned on joining the forum i served with the USN 77-82 and was given a SSN.
I didnt think about it much and being Military i travelled on military orders and my active ID card.
After my service i went on a huge road trip from Va to Ca with some buddys to let loose a little and see this country we had been willing to defend.
Was a great trip culminating in San Diego and from there we headed back to Tucson and some of the guys went different ways.
I flew back to Scotland...25 years passed.

Last year , a year this week i flew back with a mind to retire and farm,Id owned and operated a computer company in Glasgow so the peace and quiet is ideal.
Id long since lost my Florida license to drive i got during military training down there , hadnt seen my SSN card for decades , i believe it just rotted away in a wallet...just paper.
So i thought getting it replaced would be a good idea.

I couldnt have been more surprised at what i found.
My Birth certificate was of no use to identify me i was told , anybody can get those just by sending $10 to where they were born.
My Navy reservist (the pink id card you get when enlistment is over) was no good they said even though it had my SSN right there on it.

The guy said...doesnt look like you...OMG ..what did he expect?

I didnt exist for a while which didnt bother me but i did want that Pa driving license and to get that i needed the SSN card , not just the number , it had to be the card itself.
On one occasion at the SS office i was taken aside and more or less accused of Identity theft.

I had a valid UK passport , Birth certificate , Military ID , none of which was acceptable.
I told them not to be so silly , who would want to be me , it was ridiculous.
It was left at that.
A few days later...SSN card arrived in the mail.

 

Strange paranoid world isn't it?

 

Really was strange JC , it seemed as long as i was willing to jump through hoops at thier bidding i wasnt going to get anywhere.
Told them where they can put it and its in the mail days later.
Weeks into Months letting them ride roughshod over me , appointments here and hearings there and still they said it wasnt enough.

 

Yes it is. But then again thats the Government for ya.. With the scammers that send out so many of these E-mails it makes me wonder how many they have to send out before they can fool someone into falling for the scam?

 

Im pretty sure there was a web site keeping stats on reported scams and those having been duped.Those who would admit to it

 

Some of them get a little same samey ..i thought this one was entertaining , her fixation on food makes fitting the scam in almost secondary.

PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP.‏From:Mrs. Barati Parinaz (admin@zimbra-demo.voxel.net)Sent:01 November 2008 18:04:26Reply-to:Mrs. Barati Parinaz (mrsbaratiparinaz@hotmail.com)To:
Dearest Friend.

My Full name is Mrs. Barati Parinaz, I a complete Canada Citizen but was Born in Iran by An iranian Mother. My best kind of foods are khoresh, chicken spagetti,Ash our local soup, chicken hamburger,Chinese eggplant, chicken, ground beef, lamb, onions, rice, zucchini, potatoes, grape leaves, feta cheese and some seafood. my kind of sport attivities are, football, hand ball and rugby.

I am a widow to the Assistant Director of Iran Mines and Metals, Oil, who died on 20th April 2006. My husband fell sick and he was flown to Spain for treatment but later died of ulcer and he has been buried. I inherited a total sum of US$ 25 Million dollars(tweenty five Million Dollars) from my late husband. This money which is concealed in a metallic trunk box is deposited with a finance company.

This deposit was coded under a secret arrangement as a family treasure. My main purpose of sending you this mail is because of the way I found you and perhaps trustworthy to give you this priority of shipping the box of money to any address that you think is very secure and save in your country with your percentage of which we shall chat on soon.

In fact, since the death of my husband, his brothers has been seriously chasing me around with constant treats, trying to suppress me so that they might have the documents of his landed properties and confiscate them because they knew that i don't have anyone who will oppose been i lost my parent 17yrs ago. They have successfully collected all his properties , yet they never stopped there, they told me to surrender all bank account of my late husband, which I did, but I never disclose to them this deposit with the security company in Ghana--Accra, because this is where my future and destiny lies upon.

The family of my late husband never aware of the secret existence of this deposit which he made with the security company and they can never be aware of it. Out of fear of my late husbands family, I decide to look for a trustworthy person who could assist me retrieve this box of money from the security company for onward lodgement into his account for the purpose of future investment. Consider my situation as a widow and come to my rescue.

I will appreciate you immensely for your co-operation as I look forward to hearing from you soon for quick prcessing and conclusion of this business transaction.Please contact me urgently upon your acceptance so that we can discuss how to go about this transaction speedily and accomplished it. Thanking you in anticipation of your very kind and humane gesture and looking forward to hearing considerably from you.

please I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of the presence of my husband's greedy and wicked relatives presently flock in our home. I don't want them to know about this development to aviod them not knowing that such fund are still in my possesion.

Please if you can assist me, I will be very grateful and repay you many
time over.expecting to hear from you, please contact me on my
Confidential email address: mrsbaratiparinaz@hotmail.com.

Best regards,
Mrs. Barati Parinaz.

 

Heres a simple one. Perhaps they think the least said might be more effective LOL. Funny how there IS no phone # LOL.


Dear Sir / Madam,

Please indicate your interest on the attached letter by calling my private telephone or by email: alfredubna@jmail.co.za


Thank you,

Mr. Alfred Dube

 

A new one.........

 

INTERCONTINEMTAL TRUST BANK OF UK
FROM THE DESK OF:
MRS JANE SMITH
REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY


REMINDER
THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR OVER DUE INHERITANCEFUNDS HAS BEEN GAZETTED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL TO BE RELEASED, VIA ONLINE BANKING KEY WIRE TRANSFER TO YOU APPROVED BY THE SENATECOMMITTEE FOR FOREIGN OVER DUE FUND TRANSFER IN THIS BANK .


MEANWHILE, YOU ARE REQUESTED TO FILL FORM THROUGH FOUR ONLINE SET UP
BELLOW IS THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR VERIFICATIONS PURPOSES SO THAT YOUR FUND
WILL BE REMITTED INTO YOUR NOMINATEDBANK ACCOUNT ANY WHERE VIA ONLINE . THIS FUND IS AS A RESULT OF INHERITANCE ON YOUR BEHALF. INFORMATION NEEDED FROM YOU FOR VERIFICATION IS AS FOLLOWS:

1.YOUR NAME:.............................. 2.
YOUR FULLADDRESS:...................................
3. YOUR TELEPHONE .................................. 4.FAX...................................................
5.AGE......................................................6. SEX:....................................
7. YOUROCCUPATION:......................................
8. YOUR BANKINGDETAILS:................................... 9 AMOUNTH :

AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THIS, WE WILL COMMENCE WITH ALL NECESSARY PROCEDURES IN OTHER TO REMIT THIS MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. THE WORLD BANK , IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE (FMF) EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE SENATE COMMITTEE FOR FOREIGN OVER DUE INHERITANCE FUND HAVE APPROVED FBI AND ACCREDITED THIS REPUTABLE BANK WITH THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE/FOREIGN OPERATIONS, TO HANDLE AND TRANSFER ALL OVER DUE FUNDS THIS FINAL QUARTER PAYMENT OF THE YEAR 2008.


HOWEVER, WE SHALL PROCEED TO ISSUE ALL PAYMENTS DETAILS TO YOU , IF WE HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN THE NEXT DAY . WEARE SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THE DELAY INTRANSFERRING OF THIS FUND MUST HAVE CAUSED YOU.

CONGRATULATIONS.

MRS JANE SMITH

 

No thanks I'm not keen on viruses and other nasties.

 

I do have to say that I think that this one takes the cake for the worst spelling,grammar and typing skills so far LOL.

 

Have been spared these, until today:

SHUENN JAAN MACHINERY ENGINEERING CO. LTD
No.49-16, CHI TZU TOU, KUAN SHIN VILLAGE,
SHUI SHANG HSIANG, CHIA YI HSIEN 608,
TAIWAN R.O.C.
Website: http://www.soongiant.tw
Email: smachinery@in.com
Email: soongiantw@asiamail.co.kr
Tel :886-5-236-2685,
Fax:886-2-6602-1090

Dear Sir/Ma,

Since the beginning of our company's establishment, SHUENN JAAN MACHINERY ENGINEERING CO. LTD. has been an industry leader with its wide range of superior quality form-fill-Seal Packaging Machinery. We have put forward a variety of innovative ideas for the advancement of the food industry and have striven to bring our ideas to come true.We have reached big sales volume of Packaging Machinery products in Asia. Quiet soon we shall open Representative offices or Authorized sales centres in the United State of America, United Kingdom and Canada and therefore we are currently looking for people who will assist us in Establishing a new distribution network there, from any of the above Vicinity there live.
The fact is that despite the United State of America, United Kingdom and Canada market is new for us we already have regular clients also speaks for itself.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FOR US:

The international money transfer tax for legal entities (companies) in Taiwan is 25%, whereas for the individual it is only 7%.There is no sense for us to work this way, while tax for international money transfer made by a private individual is 7%. That's why we need you! We need an agent to receive payment for our Packaging Machinery products inform of bank wire transfers and to resend the money to us via our bank account in Taiwan while the tax shall be 7% instead of 25% which will absolutely favours our company.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

1. Receive payment from Clients
2. Cash Payments at your Bank
3. Deduct 10% which will be your work contract commission on each payment processed.
4. Forward remnant balance after deduction of 10% commission to offices which shall be provided by us as soon as the fund becomes available.

HOW MUCH WILL YOU EARN?

10% from each operation! For instance: you receive $5000 via checks or wire transfer on our behalf. You will cash the money and keep $500 (10% from $5000) for yourself! At the beginning your commission will equal 10%, though later it will increase up to 12%!

ADVANTAGES:

You do not have to go out as you will work as an independent contractor right from your home or 0ffice. Your Job is absolutely legal. You can earn up to $3000-$4000 monthly depending on time will spend on this job. You do not need any capital to start. You can do the Work easily without leaving or affecting your present Job or marital life. Employee who makes more efforts and work hard has strong possibility of becoming manager.

MAIN REQUIREMENTS:

Full Names:
Home Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Telephone (Home):
Mobile:
Age:
Current Occupation:


18 years or older legally capable responsible ready to work 3-4 hours per week. With PC knowledge e-mail and internet experience (minimal).

Kindly contact us on the above email,

Best Regards
JOHN MORRIS (MR)

I've highlighted some of the more obvious grammatical errors. Seems our Mr Morris doesn't do too well when it comes to English!

Knew this for a scam and did some research. Seems it's been around a while.

Steve W.

 

Taiwan now? Wow. I wonder if the phone #s are valid LOL.

 

JC

I didn't go to the company site but I did find one which features the company. Even has a photo of the factory!

Steve W.

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

Would you like to work online from home and get paid weekly?

Henv Leader (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd needs a representative in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. You can work online from home and get paid weekly. This Job proposal can be taken as a part time job as it has no negative effect to your present job status.

Henv Leader (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd is founded based on Multi Level Marketing scheme, we need capable hands to act as representative/book keeper in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada on behalf our company.

We are a manufacturer, representative and distributor which specializes in laptop battery, camcorder&digital camera battery, PDA battery, battery chargers, AC DC adapter and other accessories e.t.c. We have our clients we supply weekly all over United Kingdom, United states and canada.

Most of our customers from the States and Canada pay through their Equity Line of Credit accounts,US Bank wire transfer,Credit Cards, Certified cheques, Cashier cheques and money order which are not negotiable here in Hong Kong. This brings our quest to employ a credible and trustworthy fellow as our representative to handle our payments. This would not affect your present job but serve as another stream of income to your good self. Being our representative and assisting us in processing the payments from our clients shall earn you a weekly salary and commission of about 10% of every payment you assist us with.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FOR US:

The international money transfer tax for legal entities (companies) in China is 25%, whereas for the individual it is only 7%. It yields the company lesser profit if we are to work that way, while tax for international money transfer made by a private individual is 7% .Hence your assistance!

We need agents to receive payment for our products in bank wire transfers and to resend the money to us via Western Union Money Transfer in China while the tax shall be 7% instead of 25% which will absolutely favor our company.

ADVANTAGES: You do not have to go out; you will work as an independent contractor right from your home or office. Your job is absolutely legal. You can earn up to $4500-7000 monthly depending on time will spend on this job. You do not need any capital to start. You can do the Work easily without leaving or affecting your present Job. The employees who make

more efforts and work harder has strong possibility of becoming managers. Anyway our employees never leave us due to our excellent work condition.

Note:

The average monthly income is about $10,000, and this job takes only 3-7 hours per week.

This job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are looking only for the Honest and Open–Hearted Individual who satisfies our requirements and glad to offer this job position to you.

If our proposal interest you, Do get back to us with your detailed information as listed below.

Warmest Regards,

Yuan Sheng , (Mr)

HENV LEADER (HONG KONG) CO., LTD
Room 3401, 34th floor ,Block A ,Stars Plaza,
Huaqiangbei, Futian District,
Shenzhen,
China, 518031.
Tel: +86 755 83748551
Fax: +86 755 83017032
Email: workservice@henvleadercoltd.emailcenterpro.com

Steve W.