Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – June 19, 2020 – BB&T Phishing Email
The phishing email that makes up today’s Scam of the day is very well crafted. It was sent to me by a Scamicide reader and her first name appeared in the phishing email making it appear legitimate. For privacy purposes I have crossed out the Scamicide reader’s name. The email is a scam and if you click on the links contained in the email, you will either be prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft or alternatively, merely by clicking on the link, you will download keystroke logging malware that will steal your personal information from your computer or smartphone and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. I have deleted the links. The logo found on the email is a good copy, but it is important to remember that it is a simple matter to counterfeit a logo. One indication that the email is a scam is that it does not provide an account number. Unlike many phishing emails that may originate in foreign countries where English is not the primary language, this phishing email does not have any glaring spelling or grammatical errors. As with all phishing emails the intention is to scare you into responding to a purported emergency.
Here is a copy of the email.
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For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 18, 2020 – NY Times Article on Financial Help in the Pandemic
Here is a link to a very helpful article from the New York Times by Ron Lieber and Tara Siegel Bernard with information about financial strategies for the pandemic. In the last part of the article it deals with protecting yourself from Scams and cites The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and Steve Weisman’s blog Scamicide.
Scam of the day – June 18, 2020 – Not All Nigerian Emails Come From Nigeria
Today’s Scam of the day is another version of the Nigerian email scam that continues to plague the online community. Although it may seem that the Nigerian email scam began in the era of the Internet, the basis of the scam actually goes back to 1588 when it was known as the Spanish Prisoner Scam. In those days, a letter was sent to the victim purportedly from someone on behalf of a wealthy aristocrat who was imprisoned in Spain under a false name. The identity of the nobleman was not revealed for security reasons, but the victim was asked to provide money to obtain the release of the aristocrat, who, it was promised, would reward the money-contributing scam victim with a vast reward that included, in some circumstances, the Spanish prisoner’s beautiful daughter in marriage.
In the various versions of this scam circulating on the Internet today, you are promised great sums of money if you assist a Nigerian or someone elsewhere in his effort to transfer money out of his country. Variations include the movement of embezzled funds by corrupt officials, a dying gentleman who wants to make charitable gifts, or a minor bank official trying to move the money of deceased foreigners out of his bank without the government taking it. The example below of the email received by a Scamicide reader involves a possible inheritance from an estate in Spain. In all the variations of this scam, although you are told initially that you do not need to contribute anything financially to the endeavor, you soon learn that it is necessary for you to contribute continuing large amounts of money for various reasons, such as fees, bribes, insurance or taxes before you can get anything. Of course, the victim ends up paying money to the scammer, but never receives anything in return. This particular version of the scam email contains numerous indications that it is a scam. It is not addressed to you by name and the email address from which it is sent does not have any relationship to the purported sender. Most likely the email was sent through a botnet of zombie computers infected by the scammer and used to send these emails without using their own traceable email address. Unfortunately, some people allow their greed to overcome their good sense and become victims of this scam.
Here is a copy of the email presently being circulated in which I have blocked out the email addresses included in the original email:
From: Mr. Marlon Mayor <vivian.****@diadema.sp.gov.br>
To: Recipients <vivian.*****@diadema.sp.gov.br>
Sent: Wed, May 27, 2020 10:13 am
Subject: FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION
TIPS
This is a simple scam to avoid. It preys upon people whose greed overcomes their good sense. If you receive such an email, the first thing you should ask yourself is how does this possibly relate to you and why would you be singled out to be so lucky to be asked to participate in this arrangement. Since there is no good answer to either question, you should merely hit delete and be happy that you avoided a scam. As with many such scams, which originate outside of the United States, the punctuation and grammar are often not good. Often the emails are sent from an email address that has no relation to the purported sender which is an indication that the email is being sent through a botnet of hacked computers. In addition, it is important to note that nowhere in this particular version of the scam email is your name mentioned. The scam email is obviously being sent out as a mass mailing. This particular email indicates your surname is the same of the rich deceased person, yet it neglects to provide that name. This is because this email was not tailored to specific individuals, but just sent out in massive numbers without adapting the email to the individual people receiving it.
Many people wonder why cybercriminals and scammers send out such ridiculously obvious scam letters that anyone with an ounce of sense would recognize as a scam. The truth is that this is entirely intentional on the part of the scammer because the scammers know that if someone responds to such an email, they are more likely to fall prey to the scam without much effort by the scammers.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 17, 2020 – FTC Sending Refunds to Victims of Health Supplement Scam
NatureCIty, LLC the maker of the bogus health products TrueAloe and Aloe Cran have settled charges brought against it by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the FTC is now sending full refunds to people who were scammed into buying these worthless supplements that NatureCity claimed could effectively treat chronic pain, ulcerative colitis, diabetes and acid reflux despite absolutely no scientific evidence to support their claims.. The FTC is already sending out checks to the victims of the scam.
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For more information about this refund program go to the tab in the middle of the Scamicide home page entitled “FTC Scam Refunds.” It is important to note that there is never a charge for obtaining a refund through the FTC or any of its refund administrators. Anyone who asks for such a payment is just another scammer.
As for health care products in general, the truth is that there are no quick fixes when it comes to remedying such a wide variety of health issues and you should be wary of any product that promises to do so. You should also be wary of any health care product that is sold exclusively either over the Internet or through mail-order advertisements. The best course of action is to ask your physician about the effectiveness of a particular product or program before you consider buying it.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 16, 2020 – FTC Settles Claim Against Payment Processor for MOBE Work at Home Scam
Working at home sounds very appealing. No commute and you get to work in your pajamas. What could be more convenient than that? In 2018 I told you that the FTC sued nine corporations and three individuals involved in the selling of business education products online, through direct mail and at live events. They operated under the acronym MOBE which stands for My Online Business Education and promised to provide a “simple 21-step” system that would make their customers wealthy with little effort or skills. While initial registration in the system only cost about $49, victims of the scam were lured into enrolling in higher membership levels at a cost of as much as $29,997. According to the FTC, the entire operation was a scam and people were thwarted when they tried to get their money back through the company’s promised 100% risk-free guarantee. A judge initially issued a temporary restraining order against the company stopping it from continuing to do business. Later in 2018 one of the defendants in the case, Susan Zanghi settled with the FTC. Along with turning over frozen assets to the FTC, she was also permanently banned from ever selling or marketing business coaching or investment opportunities. The FTC’s case continues against the other defendants.
Now in an interesting development Qualpay, a payment processor settled charges brought against it by the FTC in which the FTC argued that for years Qualpay processed payments for MOBE while ignoring many indications that MOBE was a scam. Some of the things that Qualpay ignored were the nature of the business model of MOBE, MOBE’s history of excessive chargebacks and MOBE’s representations in marketing materials that MOBE customers made hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Under the terms of the settlement, Qualpay will no longer be allowed to process payments for any business coaching company or other companies designated as high-risk.
Years ago, stuffing envelopes was a common work at home scam. That scam has been updated by other scammers to offers of being paid to read emails, but it remains a scam. The range of work at home scams is constantly changing and evolving, but the result is always the same – rarely are these work at home schemes legitimate nor do they provide any income except for the scammers who operate them. Often the advertisements for these work at home scams appear in conventional media that have not checked out the legitimacy of the advertisements they run.
Recently there has been an upsurge in a work at home scam that actually makes you an accomplice to a crime. Your job is to receive goods, often electronics that have been shipped to you, inspect them and then reship them to an address provided to you by your new employer. The problem is that these goods have been purchased with stolen credit cards and you have just become an accomplice to the crime when you ship them to someone else who will then sell them to turn the merchandise into cash. The term scammers use to describe the people doing the reshipping is a “mule” and it can get you into a lot of trouble. The companies offering this type of work may seem legitimate, but they are not.
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As always, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Check out work at home scams with the big three – your local attorney general, the Better Business Bureau and the FTC. And as always, you can Google the name of the particular company offering you the work at home program with the word “scam” next to it and see what turns up. As for reshipping scams, they are always a scam and you should steer clear of them.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 15, 2020 – Discover Card Phishing Email
Here is another good example of a phishing email that is presently being circulated. It was sent to me by a Scamicide reader who received it. It makes for compelling reading, but it is a scam. Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which will download malware or providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new. They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work. As always, they lure you by making it appear that there is an emergency that requires your immediate attention or else dire consequences will occur. Copied below is a new phishing email presently being sent to unsuspecting people that appears to come from Discover. A telltale sign that this is a phishing email is that the email address of the sender was one that has nothing to do with Discover and was most likely part of a botnet of computers infected by scammers and then used to send out the phishing email in a way that is not readily traceable back to the scammer.
Here is the email. I have removed the link at the bottom of the email where you would be lured to verify your information.
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 My AccountLast 4 #: xxxx |
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TIPS
Legitimate emails from your credit card company would include the last four digits of your account and include your name. This email had neither. The phishing email merely had xxxx appear at the top of the email where your account number would appear. Often such phishing emails originate in countries where English is not the primary language and the spelling and grammar are poor. However this one appears grammatically correct. Obviously, if you are not a Discover customer, you will recognize immediately that this is a scam. As with most phishing emails, they lure you into clicking on a link by attempting to trick you into believing there is an emergency. However, if you hovered over the Verify link at the bottom of the email, you would see that it would not send you to Discover.
As with all phishing emails, two things can happen if you click on the links provided. Either you will be sent to a legitimate looking, but phony webpage where you will be prompted to input personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft or, even worse, merely by clicking on the link, you will download malware such as keystroke logging malware that will steal all of your personal information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely call your bank or other institution from which the email purports to originate at a telephone number that you know is accurate and you will be able to confirm that it is a scam.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 14, 2020 – FTC Sends More Warning Letters to Companies Selling Phony Coronavirus Treatments and Cures
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it had sent out 35 more warning letters to companies marketing phony cures and treatments for the Coronavirus. This brings the total number of companies who have received such cease and desist letters to 205 and this number most likely represents only a small number of the companies trying to foist worthless cures and treatments on a public eager to find some defense to this pandemic. The most recent letters sent by the FTC focused on companies selling treatments provided in clinics or medical offices including intravenous Vitamin C and D infusions an purported stem cell therapy. None of the treatments have any scientific support for the claims that they can treat or prevent the Coronavirus.. Here is link to a list of the companies receiving the most recent warning letters sent by the FTC and the FDA demanding them to stop making claims that their products can treat or cure the Coronavirus. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/06/ftc-sends-letters-warning-35-more-marketers-stop-making
Companies not complying with the FTC’s demands within 48 hours are subject to legal action by the FTC.
According to FTC Chairman Joe Simons, “There is a high level of anxiety over the potential spread of Coronavirus. What we don’t need in this situation are companies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention and treatment claims. These warning letters are just the first step. We’re prepared to take enforcement actions against companies that continue to market this type of scam.”
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As for healthcare products in general, you should be skeptical about companies that promise miraculous cures to illnesses and medical conditions. The world is full of snake oil salesmen. You should also be wary of any healthcare product that is sold exclusively either over the Internet or through mail-order advertisements. The best course of action is to ask your physician about the effectiveness of a particular product or program before you buy it. As for the Coronavirus specifically, the best places to get reliable information are the World Health Organization https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus or the Centers for Disease Control https://www.cdc.gov/
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
Scam of the day – June 13, 2020 – Hurricane Season is Scam Season
Many of you may remember an old Bugs Bunny cartoon in which he went back and forth with Daffy Duck arguing about whether it was duck hunting season or rabbit hunting season. Hurricane season in the United States started on June first and I can picture Bugs and Daffy arguing about whether it is hurricane season or scam season. The unfortunate truth is that it is both. As we have seen far too well during the Coronavirus pandemic, scammers are quite capable of taking whatever is happening in society and turning it into an opportunity to scam people. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes and earthquakes bring out the best in people who want to donate to charities to help the victims. Unfortunately natural disasters also bring out the worst in scammers who are quick to take advantage of the generosity of people by contacting them posing as charities, but instead of collecting funds to help the victims of these natural disasters, these scam artists steal the money for themselves under false pretenses. Charities are not subject to the federal Do Not Call List so even if you are signed up for the federal Do Not Call List, legitimate charities are able to contact you by phone. The problem is that whenever you are get a phone call, you can never be sure as to who is really calling you so you may be contacted either by a fake charity or a scammer posing as a legitimate charity. Using a technique called spoofing, the scammers can manipulate your Caller ID to make it appear that the call is coming from a legitimate charity when it is not. Similarly, when you are solicited for a charitable contribution by email or text message you cannot be sure as to whether the person contacting you is legitimate or not.
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Never provide credit card information over the phone to anyone whom you have not called or in response to an email or text message. Before you give to any charity, you may wish to check out the charity with http://www.charitynavigator.org where you can learn whether or not the charity itself is a scam. You can also see how much of the money that the legitimate charity collects actually goes toward its charitable purposes and how much it uses for fund raising and administrative costs.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 12, 2020 – FTC Refunding Money to Victims of Anti-Aging Scam
The makers of the bogus anti-aging supplement called ReJuvenation have settled charges brought against them by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the FTC is now sending full refunds to people who were scammed into buying this worthless anti-aging pill. The makers of ReJuvenation deceptively advertised the pill as being able to cure a wide variety of age related conditions such as cell damage, heart attack damage, brain damage and deafness. The FTC is already sending out checks to the victims who they are aware of, however, if you were a victim of this scam and have not received a check, you should call the refund administrator, Rust Consulting at 1-877-844-0319.
TIPS
For more information about this refund program go to the tab in the middle of the Scamicide home page entitled “FTC Scam Refunds.” It is important to note that there is never a charge for obtaining a refund through the FTC or any of its refund administrators. Anyone who asks for such a payment is just another scammer.
As for anti-aging products in general, the truth is that there are no quick fixes when it comes to remedying age related conditions and you should be wary of any product that promises to do so. You should also be wary of any anti-aging product that is sold exclusively either over the Internet or through mail-order advertisements. The best course of action is to ask your physician about the effectiveness of a particular anti-aging product or program before you considering buying any such product.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 11, 2020 – Critical Microsoft Security Updates Released
It is always important to update all of the software you use with the latest security updates and patches as soon as they are available. Numerous hacks and data breaches could have been avoided if individuals as well as companies installed security updates as soon as they became available. Hackers take advantage of the fact that many of us procrastinate installing security software to our great detriment. The major data breach at Equifax that affected 148 million people involved a security flaw in Apache software for which a patch had already been issued months earlier, but Equifax had not yet installed at the time of the data breach.
Microsoft recently issued a number of critical security updates for a wide range of software including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash Player.
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Here is a link to the newest updates from Microsoft for a number of their products. https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2020/06/09/microsoft-releases-june-2020-security-updates
Additionally, whenever possible you should choose to have all of your software updates installed automatically so you never have to be concerned about delays in downloading and installing the latest critical updates. Here is a link that informs you how to do this for your Microsoft products. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/311047/how-to-keep-your-windows-computer-up-to-date
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.”
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”