In their efforts to convince innocent recipients to part with their hard earned cash, email scammers have created seemingly endless versions of lottery, financial aid, and surprise inheritance stories. And now these… Looking for some new scam tales we present:
The Harry Potter Foundation giving away GBP 250,000 (and they are based in “Potter house”)
The Facebook Africa Jackpot [...]
On the eve of the Soccer/football World Cup 2010 in South Africa we spoke to Mr. BuyVi@ GraNow the head of the NGO “WESPAM” (Worldwide Excess Senders of Phony Applications and Mail). WESPAM claims to represent most of the evil Internet. Mr. GraNow said, “Events such as the World Cup represent a unique opportunity for [...]
Part 3 in a series of examples where the legitimacy and trust conferred by the Google name has been misused
3) Google birthday scam
The email features standard scam elements but what caught our collective eye is that the huge “winnings” are distributed by Google themselves in honor of their 12th anniversary.
According to our calculations the 12th [...]
Scammers aren’t above using the most trusted brands to con you out of money. This scam allows spammers to whistle while they work – all the way to the bank. This time, they are offering “free” Disneyland tickets.
The email explains that the free tickets you signed up for a few months ago were shipped to [...]
In this latest version of an old scam, Mr. X is looking for a partner to be the face of his company’s payment clearinghouse in North America and Europe. To entice you into joining forces with him, he is offering you 25% of all collections.
Sounds good? Until you continue reading:
“As our representative, you will receive [...]
By now you know not to believe those emails promising overnight wealth with very little effort – right? Seriously.
These spam campaigns apparently still attract enough clickers. The subjects in a recent outbreak were typically bold and the emails featured short one-liners promising work-from-home riches.
The clever touch was providing a link that exploits redirect functionality supported [...]
Your brother’s leaving for his three-week vacation to Mexico.
He’s already set up his out-of-office email announcements for his work and personal accounts. But he’s got hundreds of friends following him on social media sites like Facebook and MySpace and via services like Twitter and Four Square.
Two days before he goes, he sends this note to [...]
Phishing is the easiest way for criminals to find out your username and password; they simply ask you for it.
Many password thieves send emails pretending to be from your bank, Facebook or PayPal, among others. These messages explain that a problem exists with your account and include a request that you “verify” your username and [...]
You’re proud of your achievements and accomplishments. You’re also proud of all your family members have achieved.
While you have decided to share this information with friends, family, and acquaintances, you may also be sharing it with cybercriminals looking to steal your identity.
According to your family tree profile, Uncle Bob’s son, John, is your first cousin [...]
