Internet Scams
| This is a Collection of recent Internet Scam Activity I have recieved.
Most came as emails to several different accounts I have had for several years.
Recently I have noticed an increase in Yahoo messenger being used for these scams.
As I get more of them I will post the details.
For more information about online scams, see Fraudwatchnetwork.com Fraud - Qchex Scam |
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Email Scam Attempts ACT_AS_THE_NEXT_OF_KIN_TO_MR.WALKER.txt ATTENTION.txt Attn_Walker_INVESTMENT_OPPORTUNITY.txt BUSINESS_PROPOSAL.txt CALL_ME_NOW.txt Dear_Walker_01.txt Dear_walker_02.txt FOR_URGENT_ASSISTANCE.txt FROM_MR._David_Khumalo.txt FUND_DEPOSIT_INFORMATION_OF_YOUR_LATE_RELATIVE_MR._WALKER.txt From_Barrister_Mohammed_Chimere_Reach_me_01.txt From_Barrister_Uzoma_Onyedika_Reach_me.txt GOODDAY_Walker.txt HUMBLY_SEEKING_FOR_YOUR_ASSISTANCE_PLEASE.txt INVESTMENT_PROPOSAL.txt I_WISH_TO_SEEK_FOR_YOUR_CONSENT.txt MY_Dear_friend.txt PLEASE_HELP_ME_TO_INVEST_IN_YOUR_COUNTRY.txt PRIVATE_AND_CONFIDENCIAL.txt Stand_as_next_of_kin_to_late_Eng.John_waley.txt TREAT_AS_URGENT_PLEASE.txt URGENT_AND_CONFIDENTIAL.txt URGENT_BUSINESS_ASSISTANT_AND_MONEY_TRANSFER.html URGENT_BUSINESS_PROPOSAL.txt URGENT_REPLY.txt URGENT_REPLY_PLEASE.txt Walker_Treat_As_Urgent...Please_Reply.txt i_need_your_help_with_trust.txt urgent_respond.txt |
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Yahoo Messenger Attempts The general Yahoo messenger scam seems to be to convince some unwitting dupe to cash a money order or check and use Western Union to send the money to them. Of course the Money order or check is completely fake, leaving the dupe with a huge suprise when it gets kicked back and they have to repay every dime out of their own pocket. I am still stringing a few of the Yahoo Messenger attempts along, so will not post all the usernames yet. I never even talked to this guy, I came home from work one day and found a message waiting for me. 
Engr Moses Yahoo profileThis one was from someone calling herself "Arina". She was very quick to send me a few supposed pictures of herself.     She gave me a big long sob story about being an American Business woman whose whole Family had died, leaving her in charge of the family business. I did not catch on to her until the 3rd or 4th conversation when she mentioned she was going to Lagos, Nigeria for a Business trip. I checked the CIA World Fact Book and her story made some sense, she was claiming she wanted to start importing cocoa from Nigeria to the US and start a beverage company. I was starting to have some doubts, refering her to the Dept of state travel warning for Nigeria, and STRONGLY cautioned her about doing business with Nigerians. My alarm bells were ringing at this point, and it was no suprise when I came home from work a few days later to a message saying she was stuck In Nigeria. She was asking me to cash a Money Order for her and Western Union transfer the funds to her. Despite the glaring flaws in a scheme like that I agreed to go ahead, in an attempt to see how far she would try to take her scheme. As I started checking out the facts, she very cleverly attempted to side skirt my direct questions as to her location, her company name, she skirted divulging any meaningful details at all. I was not probing for personal information either, just the basic business contact info, as she claimed she was not able to get thru to anyone from her company to send her money, in spite of her claims to be the owner and CEO of the company. A few days later an envelope   arrived with a nice little check in it. I quickly noticed the strange name on it, not matching any of the names she had given me for herself. I also made a call to  The Huntington National BankThough they would neither confirm nor deny the check had sufficient funds citeing privacy issues, they strongly recommended I use extra caution when doing business with someone from Nigeria, and that they have had quite a few fraudulant check incidents in the recent past. During this time period (over 3 weeks) I was also recommending that she go talk to the US Embassy in Nigeria who have all kinds of ways to help stranded citizens. Of course my advice was completely ignored. As time went on and she was still in Nigeria, her story grew increasingly bizarre. She started claiming she had paid for several police officers from her home town to fly over to Nigeria and help her track down these people who had supposedly defrauded her, ignoring even simple questions like "What police department are they from?" All this after claiming not to have even enough money to eat! Whomever "Arina" is was quite creative and persistant, good entertainment! This one was from another Yahoo female, also quick to send lots of juicy pictures      with which to entice the her latest victim. She was not nearly as clever or creative, getting right to the point after our second conversation and sending me an interesting twist  on the scam by using  Qchex.comHere are two money orders I just recently recieved, this time from someone in the UK off of Yahoo.  They are Travelers Express/MoneyGram Money Orders for $2500 each.
I Called the US Customer service # and checked on them, both of the money order numbers had allready been cashed 10 days before the date printed in the upper right hand corner.The amounts where also incorrect, the real ones had been for ~$14 and ~$75, not $2500 EACH |
