Flying Angel
2 May 2006, 18:37
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Internet Fraud or "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid"
Have you ever gotten an email, letter, or phone call from someone you never heard of saying that you had won a lottery you didn’t remember entering? Maybe you were a little suspicious at first, but the huge sum of money (and natural human greed) quickly over came that little voice in your head warning you that this couldn’t possibly be real. The sums are generally enormous, in the realm of $100 million USD. Who could say no to that? After all, the only thing they want from you (yet) is your full name, email address, home phone number, cell phone number, and fax number. What’s the harm in that?
WHAT’S THE HARM IN THAT???? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND????? When was the last time you looked yourself up on the Internet? Don’t just use Google. It’s merely one search engine. Use DogpileDOTCom, a meta-search engine that employs several engines at once, including Google. With just the information listed above and a little time and determination, a person can find out your physical address; criminal records; social security number; names, ages, and birthdates of your children and spouse; financial records; neighbors’ names and addresses; educational records; employment information and history; political and religious affiliation; charitable contributions; and income tax records, just to mention a few little things.
The folks who got ahold of you are generally from Nigeria, and increasingly other parts of West Africa anf the EU. Find that hard to believe? Check out this link: 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference at http://j-walk.com/other/conf/index.htm. (You really ought to take time to read it. The article isn’t long but it’ll sure open your eyes, and it’s quite humorous.) Scamming is one of the largest industries in Nigeria, bringing in zillions of dollars a year. The corruption reaches to the highest levels of government. And the virulent industry is now spreading worldwide, not just in Western Africa, but as far as the UK.
And if you still don’t believe me, check out this site: FraudWatchersDOTOrg at http://www.fraudwatchers.org/. That oughta scare the pants off you and inform you at the same time.
The lottery scam is just one of many. There are several other popular ones, and they’re coming up with new ones daily.
For instance, another popular one involves becoming a silent business partner. You are contacted by a solicitor for, say, Dr. Jean Bertrand Aristide, deposed President of Haiti, who has zillions of dollars secreted all over the world. All you have to do is help recover this money for a healthy “management fee”. Believe it or not, this happened to me earlier this month.
Then there’s the check collection scam where a businessman from out of the country needs someone to simply receive his checks and money orders from US customers, deposit them in your bank, and then issue him a cashiers' check for the amount minus your management fee. Guess what? The checks and money orders you are receiving are forgeries, so you are stuck holding the bag with the bank. Plus you could be arrested for receiving stolen goods.
I could go on and on. There are so many more. (Read about them in FraudWatchersDOTOrg http://www.fraudwatchers.org/) (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/%29). Just be afraid. Be VERY afraid. An as my sweet old Uncle Foghorn Leghorn used to say, “If it, I say, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
<admin edit - removed name for personal security reasons>
Clueless, Texas
Flying Angel
Thanks to:
Dogpile.com,
FraudWatchers.org
Scambaitsdotcom, including bigal, Thunderchid, EvilTwinSister, and Skip Daily
And finally, most of all, to Zoticos, my Muse
posted by PublicHero at 5/02/2006 11:14:00 AM
Powered by eBlogger (http://www.publichero.blogspot.com/)
P.S. Do my friend/publisher a good deed and click on the advertisements so he can earn a few pennies. You don't have to sign up for a thing, just click. He'll be very grateful and able to contiue to provide a place for us buding writers to post. I you have an interesting article to post, contact him at herodotoszoticos@yahoo.com).
Internet Fraud or "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid"
Have you ever gotten an email, letter, or phone call from someone you never heard of saying that you had won a lottery you didn’t remember entering? Maybe you were a little suspicious at first, but the huge sum of money (and natural human greed) quickly over came that little voice in your head warning you that this couldn’t possibly be real. The sums are generally enormous, in the realm of $100 million USD. Who could say no to that? After all, the only thing they want from you (yet) is your full name, email address, home phone number, cell phone number, and fax number. What’s the harm in that?
WHAT’S THE HARM IN THAT???? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND????? When was the last time you looked yourself up on the Internet? Don’t just use Google. It’s merely one search engine. Use DogpileDOTCom, a meta-search engine that employs several engines at once, including Google. With just the information listed above and a little time and determination, a person can find out your physical address; criminal records; social security number; names, ages, and birthdates of your children and spouse; financial records; neighbors’ names and addresses; educational records; employment information and history; political and religious affiliation; charitable contributions; and income tax records, just to mention a few little things.
The folks who got ahold of you are generally from Nigeria, and increasingly other parts of West Africa anf the EU. Find that hard to believe? Check out this link: 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference at http://j-walk.com/other/conf/index.htm. (You really ought to take time to read it. The article isn’t long but it’ll sure open your eyes, and it’s quite humorous.) Scamming is one of the largest industries in Nigeria, bringing in zillions of dollars a year. The corruption reaches to the highest levels of government. And the virulent industry is now spreading worldwide, not just in Western Africa, but as far as the UK.
And if you still don’t believe me, check out this site: FraudWatchersDOTOrg at http://www.fraudwatchers.org/. That oughta scare the pants off you and inform you at the same time.
The lottery scam is just one of many. There are several other popular ones, and they’re coming up with new ones daily.
For instance, another popular one involves becoming a silent business partner. You are contacted by a solicitor for, say, Dr. Jean Bertrand Aristide, deposed President of Haiti, who has zillions of dollars secreted all over the world. All you have to do is help recover this money for a healthy “management fee”. Believe it or not, this happened to me earlier this month.
Then there’s the check collection scam where a businessman from out of the country needs someone to simply receive his checks and money orders from US customers, deposit them in your bank, and then issue him a cashiers' check for the amount minus your management fee. Guess what? The checks and money orders you are receiving are forgeries, so you are stuck holding the bag with the bank. Plus you could be arrested for receiving stolen goods.
I could go on and on. There are so many more. (Read about them in FraudWatchersDOTOrg http://www.fraudwatchers.org/) (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/%29). Just be afraid. Be VERY afraid. An as my sweet old Uncle Foghorn Leghorn used to say, “If it, I say, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
<admin edit - removed name for personal security reasons>
Clueless, Texas
Flying Angel
Thanks to:
Dogpile.com,
FraudWatchers.org
Scambaitsdotcom, including bigal, Thunderchid, EvilTwinSister, and Skip Daily
And finally, most of all, to Zoticos, my Muse
posted by PublicHero at 5/02/2006 11:14:00 AM
Powered by eBlogger (http://www.publichero.blogspot.com/)
P.S. Do my friend/publisher a good deed and click on the advertisements so he can earn a few pennies. You don't have to sign up for a thing, just click. He'll be very grateful and able to contiue to provide a place for us buding writers to post. I you have an interesting article to post, contact him at herodotoszoticos@yahoo.com).