I have been receiving a lot of dubious emails lately that are obvious scams to try and get details and/or money from me.
No doubt you see them too.
If you receive one you haven't seen before and that hasn't been mentioned here them put it here for all to know about it.
Here is the latest/newest I received today;
myGov (Australian coat of arms and "MYGOV" logo.)
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) TAX REFUND NOTIFICATION
Dear myGov member,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined
that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 204.73 AUD
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
To access your tax refund, please Click Here
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.
For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
Australian Taxation Office
Australian Government
Australian Taxation Office
TAX REFUND ID: QC 33526-ATO
© Crown Copyright, ATO Australian Taxation Office
Cunning that they have promised only a modest amount rather than untold riches.
So you got the refund?:kez_11:
I got two of them last year in my work e-mail
said I was owed around $300
both just before the tax year drew near
I get the odd Paypal email saying I sent a payment to someone for an eBay purchase when I didn't.
I might go and log into Paypal in my browser window and check Paypal activity and always see nothing. NEVER click on a link inside the suspicious email.
I hope you report these PayPal and/or eBay scam emails. I always do.
And I reported the ATO one too.
They all have specific email addresses to forward suspected scam emails to.
Quote from: 'purplepennyhunter' pid='62373' dateline='1415956084'I get the odd Paypal email saying I sent a payment to someone for an eBay purchase when I didn't.
I might go and log into Paypal in my browser window and check Paypal activity and always see nothing. NEVER click on a link inside the suspicious email.
Me too, Same reaction :good:
I get emails from Delta and American Airlines that my ticket is attached. I haven't purchased any tickets.
I get emails from the Post Office, UPS, and FedEx that my package cannot be delivered until I print the attached shipping label and contact them. I'm not expecting any package.
The attachments are trojans, and if downloaded will send information on your computer to the scammer.
I get emails from Amazon.com confirming my purchase with a link. I haven't ordered anything.
Various banks tell me there's a problem with my account that I need to resolve by logging on at a given link. I don't have accounts with any of these banks.
The links will either steal your account information or download something onto your computer to steal information.
I GET QUITE Q FEW FROM THE uk AND south Africa RE "LOTTERY WIN".
oNE OF THESE DAYS I JUST MIGHT GIVE THEM A POT OFFICE BOX TO POST THE CHEQUE TO SEE IF THEY ARE GENUINE.
Don't bother. You'll be faced with a never ending series of delays and fees until your money is gone.
Also, remember that these people are criminals. Don't give them a hint of your real name, address or other contact information.
We found a new one while setting up my mate's new iMac that was quite clever.
It consists of a single line, containing a link that reads something along the lines of "this is interesting" (it varies slightly).
Clicking on the link opens a web page, in our case a BBC world news article of no real interest, and then when you close it takes you (back to*) your email. *I qualified that because in our case we had just set up Apple Mail with the new iCloud address, and linked in the Gmail account. My mate didn't twig when the Gmail webpage opened, and duly logged in.
Of course at this point they've got your login credentials. About half an hour later we started seeing thousands of bounced emails, from people he didn't know. What they'd done was grab his address book, which was pretty thin, added a ton of other harvested emails, and spammed them all. Presumably they also copied all his mail, which wasn't much since he's in the 'delete everything immediately' camp.
We immediately changed the password and deleted all the spam of course, but most people wouldn't notice for quite some time, since its not a virus running on your machine, rather they're accessing your webmail directly. The delay is presumably to decrease the chances of you noticing.
Quite clever really. Don't attack the computer, but the person driving it.
...doing the rounds of the Internet,not sure if factual may well be....Basil
"Just when you thought you'd heard it all. This scam is
actually very clever. Be very careful out there!
This one could easily slip by most anyone - beware of people
bearing gifts. The following is a recounting of the incident
from the victim:
Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone saying
that he was from some outfit called: "Express
Couriers,"(The name could have been anything) he asked
if I was going to be home because there was a package
delivery for me that required a signature
. The caller said that the delivery
would arrive at my home in roughly an hour, and sure enough,
about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with
a beautiful basket of flowers and wine. I was very surprised
since it did not involve any special occasion or holiday,
and I certainly didn't expect anything like it.
Intrigued about who had sent me such a gift, I inquired as
to who the sender was. The deliveryman's reply was, he
was only delivering the gift package, but allegedly a card
was being sent separately... (the card has never arrived!)
There was also a consignment note with the gift.
He then went on to explain that because the gift contained
alcohol, there was a $3.50 "delivery/ verification
charge," providing proof that he had actually delivered
the package to an adult of legal drinking age, and not just
left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by
anyone, especially a minor.
This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash. He then
said that the delivery company required payment to be by
credit or debit card only, so that everything is properly
accounted for, and this would keep help in keeping a legal
record of the transaction. He added couriers not needing to
carry a bunch of cash, would make them less likely targets
for robbery.
My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled
his wallet out of his pocket with the credit/debit card, and
'John,' the "delivery man," asked my
husband to swipe his card on a small mobile card machine. It
had a small screen and keypad where Frank was also asked to
enter the card's PIN and security number. A receipt was
printed out and given to us as our copy of the transaction.
He then said everything was in order, and wished us good
day.
To our horrible surprise, betweenThursday and the following
Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our
credit/debit account at various ATM machines.
It appeared that somehow the "mobile credit card
machine," which the deliveryman carried now had all the
info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all
our card details after my husband swiped our card and
entered the requested PIN and security number.
Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card,
we immediately notified the bank which issued us a new card,
and our credit/debit account was closed.
We also personally went to the Police, where it was
confirmed that it is definitely a scam because several
households had been similarly hit.
WARNING: Be wary of accepting any "surprise
gift or package," which you neither expected nor
personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of
payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package.
Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or
there is no proper identification of who the sender
is.Above all, the only time
you should give out any personal credit/debit card
information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or
transaction!"
Quote from: 'Basil' pid='62521' dateline='1416219380'...doing the rounds of the Internet,not sure if factual may well be....Basil
It was... happened in Sydney in 2008.
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/sales/express.asp
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/flowers-wine-credit-card-scam.shtml
Origins: The victim's account quoted above began circulating on the Internet in mid-October 2008. While many of the forwards now identify the defraudment as "occurred in the North Vancouver Area" or "happened to our friend who lives in North Vancouver," in actuality the crime took place in Sydney, Australia between 1 October and 3 October 2008.
During that brief span, the thief, posing as a delivery man bearing flowers and wine, robbed ten Sydney residents of $32,000. As described in the e-mail, he would telephone potential marks, announcing that he had a delivery for them, then shortly thereafter arrive in a white van emblazoned "Express Couriers" on its side. (Express Couriers is a non-existent company.) After presenting them with flowers and wine, he would ask for credit or debit card payments of $3.50, which he would then run through a wireless EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale) machine set up to skim not only the cards' numbers but their PINs as well. Later that day, he would proceed to drain the accounts associated with these cards at local ATMs.
The robber was apprehended a few weeks later during a traffic stop on the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway and charged with ten counts of fraud.
One that had been going around recently is email supposedly about a parking fine asking for you to pay the fine.
Another is malware that interferes with your Internet banking and redirects a payment you are making to a different external account. If you get any unusual messages during Internet baking, call the bank and check that the messages are legitimate. Also If you get an SMS with a confirmation code to be entered during Internet banking double check the account numbers are correct.
Quote from: 'Fulvio' pid='62529' dateline='1416234478'It was... happened in Sydney in 2008.
Thanks,i've never heard of it before...
Quote from: 'purplepennyhunter' pid='62373' dateline='1415956084'I get the odd Paypal email saying I sent a payment to someone for an eBay purchase when I didn't.
I might go and log into Paypal in my browser window and check Paypal activity and always see nothing. NEVER click on a link inside the suspicious email.
yeah that's good advise, I got my email hacked when half asleep checking it one morning by clicking on a link.. lesson learnt the hard way
Quote from: 'Oldcoinchest' pid='62560' dateline='1416298365'yeah that's good advise, I got my email hacked when half asleep checking it one morning by clicking on a link.. lesson learnt the hard way
Get in the habit of selecting the text and copying rather than clicking the link. That way you not only avoid hidden surprises, but you can edit the url when you paste it if need be, to remove tracking tokens and the like.
I got this today with the Australian coat of arms & ATO letter head
personally addressed to me.
Checked the ATO scams website & here is the same letter sitting on their scam page.
The coat of arms & ATO looked a little blurry.
DO NOT PRESS THE BUTTON!! if you do you will install a virus.
BASTARDS!!!!!
After we've processed your tax return, we have issued you with a notice of assessment.
You are entitled to a tax refund.
Refund reference: Ref/141/41/2014
Amount to be refunded: $415.15 AUD
Email on file: xxxxxxxx@optusnet.com.au
To access your tax refund form, click on the ATO button.
Tax Form
Get it done the right way!
Your refund may take longer to process if:
not including your date of birth
including incorrect card account details
not including any name change from a previous year's return
Report all these dogs to the real so called senders in full header then mark as spam
Quote from: 'Fulvio' pid='62595' dateline='1416376325'Quote from: 'Oldcoinchest' pid='62560' dateline='1416298365'yeah that's good advise, I got my email hacked when half asleep checking it one morning by clicking on a link.. lesson learnt the hard way
Get in the habit of selecting the text and copying rather than clicking the link. That way you not only avoid hidden surprises, but you can edit the url when you paste it if need be, to remove tracking tokens and the like.
Thanks for the advise, I have a 2 step log in process now aswell, a google authenticator app where the code changes every 30 seconds
Here's a new one to me. Very amateurish -anyone sucked in by this almost deserves to be fleeced.
QuoteFrom: WESTERN UNION (mailto:wumtservice1@gmail.com; return address shows as info@westernunionmoneytransfar.com)
Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2015 5:17 AM
Subject:WESTERN UNION!
Dear Beneficiary,
Hope this mail finds you well!
We are writing you from the desk of Mr. Hikmet Ersek, Chief Executive Officer and President of The Western Union Company,this letter is to notify you about your compensation as one of the fraud victim that sent money via our service(Western Union Money Transfer).
A regular mail was dispatched to you a month ago but yet no reply from you. We are contacting you again because the instruction stipulates that this fund should be paid directly to you.
This have been agreed upon and have been approved by the European Union(EU)to compensate you with the sum of (Eight hundthored and twenty thousand United States Dollars) as one of the scam victim.
You are hereby advised to acknowledge this mail and help us to reconfirm your identity for security reasons.
When you respond I shall send you a copy of your Fund Approval Certificate from the European Union and further instruction on how to claim your funds.
Kindly acknowledge the receipt of this email or call as soon as you receive it.
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Hikmet Ersek.
Tel:+14842730569
Western Union Company.
(c)2015.
Yesterday I received an email from "Mr.Bill Gates" and he wants to 'gift' me $5 MILLION USD. Maybe I should revise and expand my bucket list now. He does ask that I spend it wisely to help alleviate the level of poverty in my region.
I am apparently one of only ten lucky individuals selected to receive this gift. And he doesn't even know my name.
All I need to do is send some personal details to him or Melinda using the link he so kindly provided.
Oh dear, I accidentally (on purpose) permanently deleted it.
Last week we received an email with the subject heading.."Would you like to experience a threesome" :shock: The message then asked to click on the link below to view my wonderful body :dodgy: No way was I going there, who knows what nasty virus awaited :diablo:
Geez, they're both classics Jeff & Auto ..... I continually remind the kids never to click on anything of that ilk.
(btw: I was so so so so tempted to reply regarding the offered internet "threeway" on the cyber "freeway", but I thought better of it, well I think I thought better of it, perhaps I didn't press backspace, so if it's here then it's the latter and I've obviously had already licked the envelope :whistle2: ). :angel:
I sold shoes on ebay and the buyer postal address was in the US, but wanted it sent to Nigeria to someone doing charity work, they sent fake Paypal and ebay emails saying they paid. Of course I checked with both companies and no pay. After a few days they send ebay email saying the account will be closed unless I send item. Their account is now closed.
Quote."Would you like to experience a threesome" The message then asked to click on the link below to view my wonderful body
Maybe it was this link The Vic Willis Trio - If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMU2qJa_wFA)
Not exactly on-topic, but not exactly off-topic either:
http://www.coindesk.com/gaw-faces-ponzi-scheme-charges-from-sec/
Josh Garza is a piece of shyte who scammed about 10,000 people (though I actually made money out of it, and had I not been in hospital for 4 days getting my eye fixed, would have made a ton more) with a ponzi.
Scum like this deserve everything the courts can do to them.
Some of the scammers don't even try very hard. This one is a real amateur hour effort. Reported to PayPal then permanently deleted as per my usual practice.
(https://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10055/139/Scam.jpg)
I could, but won't, suggest quite a few improvements to make this more convincing. :taunt:
Strangely no spelling mistakes and only one grammar blooper. This type of "phishing" scam is usually riddled with them.
eBay nor PayPal will never send you emails asking for details
If they do just forward the email to spoof@ebay.com.au or spoof@paypal.com.au
This PayPal scam was on ACA a couple of nights ago.The interesting thing is how anyone these days can have several Hundred Bank Accts,most with Suncorp apparently.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/03/19/18/58/scammers-make-millions-in-online-fraud
They were using a variety of tricks but the one mentioned by the Police involved hundreds of Ebay & GT. Accts.,they would buy/sell non existent goods between them and then claim on PayPal for non delivery.When one Acct. got to hot they move onto another.
This was similar to the Laptop scam on Ebay/GT a few years back,the guy that ended up tracking down the Crim. was a scammed member of the Public with "superior,highly advanced computer skills",Ebay/PP & the Police had no clue.
He had dozens of Ebay Accts & Bank Accts.,he would buy/sell cheap non existent laptops between them and set up FB where it showed he had sold a dozen Toshiba Notebooks(for eg) and received glowing FB from happy buyers.
When he had sold a bunch to unexpecting buyers and the Emails started flooding in for non receipt of goods,he would move onto another fake Acct. and start again with HP(for eg) Notebooks.
Hope that all makes sense,....Jungle out there,extreme buyer beware on any major purchase these days.
NBN Co. has promised a technician will visit (between 1pm and 5pm) this afternoon to check my intermittent internet connection. I have had 5 dropouts, totalling 14 minutes in the a period of ¾ hour since I fired up my ping monitor.
The technician just called to say he would be here in a ½ hour.
Meantime, in the last hour I have received calls from "Telstra Technical Department (https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/scammers-pretending-to-be-from-telstra-technical-support-continue-cold-calling-australians)" and "Windows (https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/beware-of-scammers-continuing-to-pose-as-microsoft-with-fake-upgrade-claims)" to advise I have a problem with my computer and offering to help me fix it -told them what I thought of that scam and hung up. Purely coincidence but that sort of thing could be a real trap for someone with no technical know how.
I think I'd average about 1 scam call per week, those you mentioned plus the "Motor accidents injury" mob and the "Government Solar Rebate" mob.
Just makes you feel special that they all care so much eh! :winkextra:
I would feel special if they can give a name when asked by me "Who do you want to speak to about this issue?".
They never have a name -funny that!
Or, I will try next time with "What IP number is the one you have identified with the problem? I need to know which of my computers is the one to go to for checking." The heavily accented (probably Indian) "Telstra" lady today said the problem was identified from my IP number, which they supposedly can see even though I am not a Telstra customer in any way, shape or form -haven't been for years and never will be again.
Ah, the ATO one - lost count of how many times I have been told that a warrant has been issued for my arrest :-/
I had one of the computer scammers call me back after I told him what I thought of his rubbish story. He asked me why I didn't want to talk to him! Hung up on him again. He wasn't giving up and rang back yet again but I was bored of the game by then and didn't feed the bear.
These days if no-one speaks immediately when I say hello, there endeth the call. I don't bother answering any call with an överseas caller ID.
Pedro
QuoteI don't bother answering any call with an överseas caller ID.
Also "anonymous" (although some of these may actually be genuine so I treat that as a preliminary warning) and have seen some "000000000000" on caller ID and don't even answer those now -actually pick up the hand piece and sit it straight back into the cradle to stop that annoying ringing.
At work, last week, I had 5 calls in one day from the "motor vehicle accident department". It becomes very annoying.