Sure I’ve gotten the bulk mail scams from “Mrs. Colonel Akrun Abnor” asking for my help in getting $40,000,000 of her late husband’s money out of the country. But this is the first time it’s been personal.
This scam is different in that the scammer had to do a bit of work first to identify me as a target. It looks like the strategy was to appear as a legitimate reseller with a largish order and when I was looking forward to getting the order, slip in the scam.
They started off asking about distribution terms for our software. It was a bit odd that someone in New Zealand would write a letter where English was clearly not the native language, but it happens. I sent them pdf’s of our terms and price lists. They didn’t appear to actually read the emails I sent and asked for price lists. Now that information is on our website and included in the distribution terms that I sent them. It’s also a bit odd that they want to resell something and they didn’t have a clue about what the list price was. So it started to be a bit odd, but I’ve had real customers to the same thing—usually when one of their customers wants a bunch of software and also wants some of our titles. So I went along and we exchanged a few emails.
Now, several emails later, they placed an order for $2,300 which is fairly large sized for me. They also told me that they needed it quickly. Even though I told them that it would be very expensive, they wanted me to ship to New Zealand with UPS or FedEx. But UPS couldn’t find the address that they gave me for shipping. They hadn’t given me a postal code and when I asked for it and verification of the address, they said their agent in LA (a 4 hour drive away) would pick the software up. However, they used the zip code for Louisiana (LA) instead of Los Angeles.
Up to that point, I figured that they weren’t the best communicators and their knowledge of California geography was sketchy, but I’ve had legitimate orders with almost as much confusion. But their final email makes it an official scam. They want me to assist them in making a purchase from another vendor.
They’re probably targeting small companies, raising your expectations with each email, hoping you’ll feel invested in the process, and wanting the money badly enough to go along with their scheme.
Beware.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 1:11 PM, Sales Support wrote:
UPS will get there Tuesday or Wednesday.
Postal service will be $41.95 It will arrive sometime between Friday and Tuesday.
I will need a Postal Code for shipping. I can’t find Waltham, Wellington using google but I did find Raycroft St, Waltham, Canterbury 8023, New Zealand
I’m not sure if that is the same place.
Sales Support
On Jun 19, 2009, at 1:13 PM, Joy Jnr wrote:
Warmest Regards.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Sales Support wrote:
The total cost would be US $2,383.50 per the attached invoice.
Sales Support
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Joy Jnr wrote:
Date: June 19, 2009 1:49:59 PM PDT
To: Sales Support
Subject: I’m ready to pay the bills .
Thanks for the total quote of my order.The total cost of my order is quite correct and okay by me and I’m ready to pay the bills . Also want you to help me Charge another $650 US to a shipping agent who is going to pick up my ordered items from you.
The $650 US that will be sent to the shipping agentis for the shipping of my order plus other items i ordered from different countries which will be deduct from my credit card.Also, I’m compensating you with the sum of $100US for the transfer fee and for your efforts. Please note that i should have given the shipping agency my credit card for him to deduct the shipping funds but he told me that he doesn’t have the facilities to charge or debit credit card , so that’s why i bring my vote of confidence in you and i don’t want you to betray the vote of confidence i put in you, so i want you to transfer the funds to him after you have make the charges and the money charged from my credit card is in your account,then you can now make the transfer to the agent via western union.i will have love to do this my self but there no western union here around me,So the charges you’ll make on my credit card will be:
Order Fee: $2,383.50
Agent fee with shipping fare: $ 650
Transfer Fee plus Your Compensation: $ 100
Total: $ 3,133.5
Note that my credit card will be charged for the amounts above .Please do get back to me if you are in the office right now so that i can forward my credit card details to you , then you can charge full amount and transfer the agent funds to him via western union.
I await your quick response.
Kind Regards.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 2:07 PM, Sales Support wrote:
I know how this scam works using fake cashier’s checks or money orders, but I’m not sure how they do it with credit cards. I’m guessing that the credit card number is stolen but the card isn’t and that I’d get a chargeback when the owner of the card got the bill.
I like the way they try make you feel guilty about not going along with their scheme. Oh and they’ll give me $100 for my trouble. As an aside there are 10 Western Union offices in Wellington, NZ. Up until they asked me to help with purchasing “other items i ordered from different countries” (which makes no sense), they could have been any of a half dozen legitimate customers I’ve had over the years.
I was a bit surprised that I didn’t get at least one more pleading email, but I guess they had other prospects that looked more promising.
And just in time for this post, I got a simple Nigerian scam from the Ivory Coast.
I am Ms.Lucy Benjamin from Abidjan Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
I want to invest my sum of US$5.2millions in your country with your help if you are interested.
If you are interested to invest with me ,reply back to me so that I can give you my full information and the source of this my money and on how this transaction will take place.
God bless you for your prompt attention.
I love you,kiss.
I need your guidance.
For me to see your message,please reply me back to my personal email address(benjamin_lucy4@yahoo.co.jp)
I am a girl of 24 years old and I inherited this money from my late loved father.
Ms Lucy Benjamin
And for something different, a puppy scam. I love the commas instead of periods, the complete lack of paragraphing, and the avoidance of plurals. The way this one works is that you wire money for the puppy and then “unanticipated expenses” delay the shipment and you need to wire just a few dollars more and everything will be OK. The scam continues as long as you send money.
Reply-to: cta.all@gmail.com
Hello,
My name is Troy, I came across your email address through am email
surfing Affiliated with the US chamber of Commerce, and My late Grandma was a
puppy breeder, She died about 4 months ago and she left 2 Female English
Bulldog,2 Female Yorkshire Terrier and 1 Male and a female Maltese before she
die, one of the Female puppy recently had a litter 3 puppies, They are so
adorable, Due to my job as a Oncologist Doctor, My Job does not permit me to
take proper care of these little puppies,I love to take care of them myself
but due to the nature of my job i does hardly have time for my self,So i
decide to look for someone,who is caring and lovingly parent who will take
good care of them and will to adopt them from me,If you are interested in
having one of them,please contact me as soon as possible, for more details
and information about adopting them from me and also do let me know the type
of the puppies you are interested in adopting from me and in case you want
Yorkshire Terrier , the Bulldog or Maltese
Looking forward to your prompt e-mail again.
Thanks.
Troy Clayton
And here’s a new one. The FBI found some of my money! Grammar’s not too bad but clearly not a native speaker. Scammers do seem to have a preference for the phrase “the sum of”. And what’s with the USD? This clearly marks the mail as originating from overseas—not from the FBI.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’d be much more likely to believe that some government agency owed me a few hundred dollars and they put it on a debit card than that they owe me the sum of 2.5 million dollars.
Subject: Hi
Date: July 18, 2009 2:12:21 AM PDT
Reply-To: robswan_mueller@yahoo.com.hk
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC.
WASHINGTON D.C ROOM, 7367
J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,
NW WASHINGTON, DC 20535,0001.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SEEKING TO WIRETAP THE INTERNET
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has discovered through our intelligence Monitoring Network that you are eligible to receive the sum of $2.5 Million USD regarding to an over-due Inheritance/Award payment which was fully endorsed to be paid in your favor.Therefore, the FBI Seattle Division in conjunction with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Has screened through our various Monitoring Networks and has been confirmed and notified that the transaction you have with the Citigroups Nigeria is Legal and you have the Lawful Right to claim your due fund. Your fund valued at $2.5 Million USD has been deposited into a Gold smart Card number: 5428 0500 1100 4432 personal identification (PIN) is – 1111. You will have to change the PIN to your own secret PIN when it is delivered to you. This card will enable you buy and withdrawal cash anywhere around the globe, this is done for your own security, with this card you will not have to take the risk of sending your personnal banking details online or on the internet as you have been strongly advise by your local bank not to send your banking details to anyone on the internet.
Bear in mind that you will be responsible for the handling and shipment charges of your Gold Smart card to your choice location. This is a mandatory fee and must be paid before the commencement of your ATM card to your designated home address, once the fees is being paid you will receive your ATM card within the next 2-3 working days.Note: Initially, deduction was been made from beneficiaries fund but a law was put in place to stop deduction, immediately we discovered that some government official make over deduction from beneficiaries fund, hence the era of deduction was abolished.
Finally, You are advised to contact the Agent in charge with your name, contact address {where you would like the atm sent to} direct phone number and present occupation with the below information accordingly and seek for the urgent release of your ATM card to your designated home address:
Name: Mr. Coleman David.
E-mail: colemandavid01@yahoo.com.hk
Tel: +234-80-2610-4397 or 011-234-80-2610-4397
Thank you for your co-operation, GOD Bless America!!!
Yours Faithfully,
ROBERT SWAN MUELLER III
And another from New Zealand. I guess the scammers don’t realize that people in New Zealand speak English and their choice of words and punctuation is odd. They do appear to have learned that excessive politeness isn’t a characteristic of English prose.
Hello Sales,
My Name is Mr RON KAY am interested in purchasing some of your products,I will like to know if you can ship directly to New Zealand, I also want you to know my mode of payment for this order is via Credit Card.
Get back to me if you can ship to that destination and also if you accept the payment type I indicated. Kindly return this email with your Website Or Attached the wholesale price sheets.
I await your quick response.
Kind Regards.
RON KAY
Company Name: RONKAY STORE LTD
Address: Unit 6,Raycroft St, Waltham,
Wellington,
NEW ZEALAND.
Phone: +64 4 494 0022.
Fax: +64 4 594 0324.
Update 2009-09-13. The standard scam. I haven’t seen one of these for a while.
Mrs. Agueda Carlos <sguy6579@mail.usyd.edu.au>
Subject: PLEASE CONTACT HALIFAX BANK PLC
I am sure this mail would be coming to you as a surprise since we have never met before and you would also be asking why I have decided to chose you amongst the numerous people in the world, precisely I cannot say why I have chosen you but I know I am making the right choice.
Before I move further, permit me to give you a little of my biography, I am Agueda Carlos, 89 Years old woman and the wife of Late Sir Mendo Carlos who died in a Plane crash on Monday the 7th of September 1998 GMT 14:22 UK while they were flying from New York to Geneva. Please see site below for more information. http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9809/swissair.victims.list/index.html
Presently, I have willed out almost half of our assets to several charity homes and to some of the less privilege in different countries. Despite the agreement between my late husband and I to give aid to the deprived, we also agreed to render support to an individual we have not meet before in life due to the fact when we were still young in life we receive an anonymous help from an individual we did not know and which we have not being able to know till date, the impact we got from such gesture made us to do same.
I am sorry to inform you that you will never have the chance to know me because I have just concluded the assignment which my husband and I have agreed upon before his sudden death and you happened to be the beneficiary of our last WILL (which is a sum of money deposited in Halifax Bank UK), hence I need you to do me a favour by accepting our offer.
We have some fund in the sum of £800,000.00 (Eight Hundred Thousand British Pounds) with Halifax Bank UK; I have not made any transaction with my account for over 1year now because of my illness and other charity work. Right now I want to give you the said sum for you to help the less privileged in your country and for your own personal use.
You have to contact Halifax Bank Plc now for the transfer of the funds to your personal account with this information below;
Contact Person: Mr. John Kerry
Email Address: internationaltransferdept@halifaxbnkplc.co.uk
hhalifaxbank@aol.com
Phone: +447024074742
Fax: +448447743247
The only money you are expected to pay is £180 British Pounds for the account activation because I have not used the account for more than a year now and it is currently dormant.
When contacting the bank, please state that I sent you to contact them as my Next of Kin and send them your information like.
Full Names:
Postal address;
Direct telephone number;
Age:
Occupation:
Gender:
When contacting them, also include this code number: (/0433/F), you are to also present it to them for verification.
Please, try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid any further delay.
Be also notified that I will no longer be reading my emails or surfing the internet as I have retired completely from the outside world to my ranch, at this moment I have nothing to do with cars, emails and other luxuries, all further correspondence should be forwarded to the Bank for the transfer of the fund to you.
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Agueda Carlos
—————————————————————-
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.