Silly Spammers

[Post-Crisis D]

Today's spam was . . .

"Order ASAP for Price Month!"

[LilyBLily]

This week I got a request from somebody in Estonia (I think that's the "es" ending) through PayPal for some big dollar amount. Then another email saying it had been canceled--although the body of the email said I had paid them.

I went to the real PayPal and changed my password. PayPal said there had been "unusual activity" and wanted a little more verification than usual, which I gave. No money was paid out.

I did not know one could request money from someone via PayPal. I assume I have to okay a payment request after it is made. It does seem like a dangerous possibility if the hackers figure out a way to bypass my manually okaying the payment.

[Post-Crisis D]

You can request money or send an invoice to someone via PayPal.  I don't know what happens if you decline to pay.  Maybe there's an option to decline or report it as an error or fake?  I think I might have gotten one once, but I'm not sure.  The ones I do remember getting are all fake.  They get sent by eMail and they hope you click their links because if you go to PayPal directly and login, you will find no invoice there.

[Anarchist]

Today's spam was . . .

"Order ASAP for Price Month!"

[Post-Crisis D]

Bots be stupid.

Had a spam comment on my blog today.  On an older post.  This spam message said how useful they found the post on gaming to be and so on.

Except the post had nothing to do with gaming.

Neither does the blog.

[LilyBLily]

I guess I shouldn't laugh, but those blackmail emails saying the extremely talented hacker has taken control of my computer's camera and microphone always make me chortle. That computer doesn't have a camera or a microphone.

But I know there are some confused people out there whose computers also don't have cameras who imagine that this "extremely talented hacker" can install a camera, anyway. Angled at their--ahem--private parts.

It would indeed take extreme talent to get a nonexistent camera to do that.

[Post-Crisis D]

I guess I shouldn't laugh, but those blackmail emails saying the extremely talented hacker has taken control of my computer's camera and microphone always make me chortle. That computer doesn't have a camera or a microphone.

But I know there are some confused people out there whose computers also don't have cameras who imagine that this "extremely talented hacker" can install a camera, anyway. Angled at their--ahem--private parts.

It would indeed take extreme talent to get a nonexistent camera to do that.

It's always tempting to reply back and offer double what they are asking if they send proof they have the video.   

I did do that with a customer once who had returned an order unopened and demanded a full refund to their credit card immediately.  I responded and told them I'd pay them double if they would send a copy of their credit card statement or other proof of the charge.  I wonder if they frantically went searching through their credit card statements?  The item was free so they were never charged anything.

[Post-Crisis D]

Gotta love dumb spammers/scammers.

Got one today from "American Express" warning of a suspicious charge on my "Capital One" card.

Or, maybe it's nice that the credit card companies are looking out for each other. 

[LilyBLily]

Honestly, my favorite is the "I have taken control of your computer camera" extortion, since this computer has no camera.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Love this one 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Honestly, my favorite is the "I have taken control of your computer camera" extortion, since this computer has no camera.

Same here.  I try to be like Kaiser Soze in that regard: "One cannot be betrayed if one has no people."   

[Post-Crisis D]

Silly spammers . . . promising me new "clients" for my blog.

[She-la-te-da]

I've been getting the one for the toll road fees. Apparently I am in severe violation and about to be arrested, or worse.

Also, I have been removed from the group. Wow. That's so sad.

In my state, we get something in the mail if we get on a toll road, with the fine to be paid. The state doesn't have my email, nor my cell phone number, so there's no way for them to contact me that way. I've reported it as spam, but it keeps coming.

I used to get texts about some property near me, if I still wanted to sell it. Always using some random name for me, and for them. I've driven by that property, and if it's actually listed to someone, they'll never sell it. It's full of rock, goes straight up about sixty feet, and in no way, shape or form would ever be sold. I'm actually pretty sure the state owns it.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I send my book orders via a courier service (our postal service is just about non existent  ) I now get regular emails letting me know there is a parcel waiting for me to collect. I get them almost daily. I keep blocking them but they pop up from another bogus address. 

[Post-Crisis D]

I've been getting the one for the toll road fees. Apparently I am in severe violation and about to be arrested, or worse.

No eMails on that, but I did receive two different text messages claiming I owed tolls.  Seems unlikely since I've never driven on a toll road and I don't even know of any close.  There certainly aren't any where I regularly drive.

I just hit the button to report both as junk and haven't received any new ones since.

Plus, I'm at the local police department fairly regularly and also interact with the county sheriff's office with some frequency, so if there was a warrant out for my arrest, I think they would have gotten me by now.

[Hopscotch]

You "interact with the county sheriff's office with some frequency?" Pardon but I couldn't resist the

[LilyBLily]

I just was reading the latest edition of the AARP Bulletin with its roundup of scam after scam that people STILL fall for. I do understand that people of a certain age tend to isolate themselves from new information, so maybe that's their excuse for thinking that they have to pay some angry government agency in gift cards or bitcoin (!). But there's no excuse for buying into a Ponzi scheme that promises to return 20% interest on your investments. Or for giving $800,000 to some fake love you've never even met.

I know people simply want to believe, but spammers mostly aren't silly at all. Their dupes are. 

The AI impersonations of close family members is a tougher one. Verify, verify, verify.

[Jeff Tanyard]

You "interact with the county sheriff's office with some frequency?" Pardon but I couldn't resist the

He doesn't mean any harm.  He's just making his way the only way he knows how and fighting the system like a true modern-day Robin Hood.   

[Post-Crisis D]

Now there is a free piano scam.

I received one a while back and thought it odd.  I kind of thought it was a scam but, as I don't need a piano, I ignored it as it didn't matter either way.

Now I am getting more and more of these eMails, so it seems logical to conclude it's a scam because there can't be this many people with pianos to give away that are eMailing random strangers to see if they want them.

But what's the scam?

Well, they will ask you to pay for the moving company to move it except, reportedly, the moving company is fake so they'll take your money and you'll never get a piano.

I wonder what happens if you offer to pick it up?    (Yeah, I know, you'll never hear from them again . . .)

[LilyBLily]

You do realize that no one wants pianos these days and mostly one has to pay to have them hauled away to the dump? The innards of a piano that is old have to be completely replaced, so the value of an antique piano is usually in its case only. Nice wood, special wood, interesting design, etc. We have one in the family: a grand piano, although thank god not a concert grand, which runs even larger nearly 100 years old. It takes up a lot of space in a modest living room in the kind of modest house that doesn't have a "great room" or a "family room." The problem is, the person it was willed to has such serious tinnitus that it is never played anymore. So it is rotting from the inside, and meanwhile there's too much sentimental value attached to it to let it go. We know someone who ended up chopping up a piano to get rid of it economically. It may come to that.

So, no, you do not want a piano. It is the modern equivalent of a white elephant--the original white elephant, that is.

[Post-Crisis D]

You do realize that no one wants pianos these days and mostly one has to pay to have them hauled away to the dump?

I was prepared to say that people not wanting a piano was another sign of the decline of Western civilization, but then I realized, if that were true, this scam probably would have ended by now.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

You do realize that no one wants pianos these days and mostly one has to pay to have them hauled away to the dump? The innards of a piano that is old have to be completely replaced, so the value of an antique piano is usually in its case only. Nice wood, special wood, interesting design, etc. We have one in the family: a grand piano, although thank god not a concert grand, which runs even larger nearly 100 years old. It takes up a lot of space in a modest living room in the kind of modest house that doesn't have a "great room" or a "family room." The problem is, the person it was willed to has such serious tinnitus that it is never played anymore. So it is rotting from the inside, and meanwhile there's too much sentimental value attached to it to let it go. We know someone who ended up chopping up a piano to get rid of it economically. It may come to that.

So, no, you do not want a piano. It is the modern equivalent of a white elephant--the original white elephant, that is.

They've been targeting retirement homes in SA. My friend's retirement home was scammed. They thought a piano would be a lovely addition to their entertainment. The committee even discussed where it would go. 

[Post-Crisis D]

The latest scam is a nebulous court order from the Chief of Police in New Delhi, India.  Apparently, I have "juvenile porn" on my computer featuring "women and minor children."  And, if I don't respond within 12 hours, they'll have no choice but to have the court do whatever they're going to do that I won't find out for 12 hours, I guess.

And their sophisticated computer systems make it impossible for people to "consciously or unconsciously" visit "juvenile porn" sites without them knowing.  Also, they are hard at work "24 hours a day, 5 days a week."

First, obviously, none of it's true.

Second, the first scam message came about two days ago, so the 12 hours has expired (unless the second eMail resets the clock?) and police from India have not come to America to arrest me.

Third, if the porn involves "women", um, wouldn't that indicate they are 18 or older? 

Fourth, if the porn involves "woman and minor children," are they looking for these women?  Because, you know, an adult doing porn stuff with minor children would be illegal.

Fifth, do a lot of people unconsciously visit child porn sites?  How does that happen?  You fall asleep and your fingers automatically know the URLs to such sites?  How did your fingers learn that?

Sixth, I mean, how serious are they if they work 24/5?  What's with that?  So, is it okay to watch child porn on the weekends because the Internet police in India take weekends off? 

Seventh, you have to respond in order to find out what the court order entails.  What kind of system is that?  I guess if the court order is to have you executed or castrated, you probably won't show up.  Then again, it's kind of like those ads that promise a price so low you have to show up to see it, which usually means it's more expensive than you want to pay and they want to be able to pressure you into buying.  So, one can assume the absence of information means bad things which would make people less likely to respond.

Seems like maybe they didn't think this scam through.

[Post-Crisis D]

I guess if you don't hear from me again after Monday, it's because of this eMail I just received:

I know you don't know me, but believe me, your life is in grave danger. I'm writing this at considerable personal risk. Professionally, I shouldn't be doing this at all. You see, a contract has been put out on your life. I've been paid to kill you.

I'm contacting you because, from what I've observed, you seem like a decent, unsuspecting woman. Someone close to you ? someone you likely trust ? is behind this. They've paid for your murder. If you think this is some kind of sick joke, I urge you to reconsider. Keep looking over your shoulder.

You have 72 hours. Seventy-two hours to say goodbye to everything you know. Seventy-two hours left to live.

I have critical information about the plan to end your life. Information that could save you. If you dismiss this as a prank, if you decide to be stubborn and ignore me, then you'll see what happens when the clock runs out.

If you value your life, do not ? I repeat, DO NOT ? involve the police. Doing so will only make things far, far worse. Trust me on this. It will escalate the situation and ensure your demise.

Consider this your only warning. The choice is yours.

Nicholas.

Also, I'm apparently a woman now.  So, maybe if I wear a fake beard for the next couple days, he'll never find me.

[LilyBLily]

That's a new one. Kind of spooky.

[Post-Crisis D]

That's a new one. Kind of spooky.

It's actually an old one.  Goes back to at least 2010 and that was reportedly a resurgence so it's even older than that.

[Post-Crisis D]

Well, the assassin apparently missed me.

But now the international arm of the FBI is after me for the "juvenile porn" on my computer featuring "women and minor children."  Apparently, the police in New Delhi gave up on chasing me down which isn't surprising since they only work 24/5 so how serious could they be about catching people?

But, also, the international arm of the FBI only works 24/5 too so I guess they aren't that serious either.

Still, it's the inconsistencies that bug me.  Like "juvenile porn" involving "women."  And you have to respond in order to find out what the court has ordered against you.  That's not how things work.

If I were a scammer, my inclination would be to make it more believable as you'd think that would trick more people into falling for it.  But, I guess I don't have a criminal mind because, from what I've read, the inconsistencies are more or less intentional.  That is, that if you fall for the scam despite the inconsistencies, you're a more gullible mark for them.  If you think the New Delhi Police are going to come after you in America or if you think you have to respond to an eMail to find out the details of a court order against you, they've already gotten a hook in you whereas the rest of us are going, now wait a minute here . . .  Also, if you do have child porn on your computer involving women and minor children, well, you may get panicky the first time you receive such an eMail.

Actually, if you were the unscrupulous type, that might be a pretty good scam.  Set up a child porn website, wait a few months, and then send these blackmail eMails to people that accessed the site months earlier.  They'll have forgotten where they downloaded by then and they will have such material on their computers so they'd be prime targets.  Naturally, I am not suggesting anyone do this.  I am just saying that could be a lucrative scam for the unsavory types.  Feel free to use the idea in your next novel though.