SCAMS -post your advice of the latest here.

[JeffH]

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.

[nealeffendi]

So you got the refund?:kez_11:

[robbiegal]

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

[purplepennyhunter]

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.

[JeffH]

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.

[trout]

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:

[triplewitch]

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.

[Goldseeker]

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.

[triplewitch]

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.

[Fulvio]

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.

[Basil]

...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!"

[Fulvio]

...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.

[Ozcoins]

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.

[Basil]

It was... happened in Sydney in 2008.

Thanks,i've never heard of it before...

[Oldcoinchest]

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