You open your email inbox and it’s full of email messages from people you’ve never heard of, telling you that you’ve won millions in a European Lottery that you’ve never entered to participate or that they have an uncle or relative who left them millions of dollars and they want your help moving the money, blah blah…!

Just read the following similar emails that fill up my inbox everyday;

From: “Nelson Donald” <ndonald154@yahoo.com
To: undisclosed-recipients

From Donald Nelson
Banjul the Gambia
(West Africa)
——-
Private/Confidential
 
Dear friend,
 
I write to solicit your assistance in a project of mutual benefit and regret any inconveniences contacting you this way with my proposal.
 
I am Donald Nelson, former Head of Accounts Department at the Diamond Mining Company of Sierra Leone.
 
I and my partners (two others) are in urgent need of a foreign associate to work with us to facilitate the transfer of a large sum of money which we intend to invest into profitable areas of business in your country.
 
The funds currently secured with a security company is legitimate money rightfully belonging to me and my partners, which was earned from private diamond business deals during our time as top officials at the Diamond Mining Company of  Sierra Leone. Due to unstable political and economic environments in Africa, it is not quite safe investing ones financial future in this part of the world. We are currently living in Banjul capital city of The Gambia and in collaboration with some top officials of the Central Bank of Gambia have concluded arrangements for the transfer. The money involved is eighteen million five hundred thousand US Dollars.
 
However, as a result of the regulations here, we cannot transfer the funds to your country without having an associate there.
 
I am writing to know if you could be our overseas associate to handle the transaction privately at your end, where by the funds shall be transferred through your bank account, for mutual benefits. All aspects of the transaction will be done legitimately from here via the banking process. We propose your commission shall be 20 per cent of the total money been transferred, in view of the importance your role as our overseas partners will be, without which we cannot transfer the funds.
 
Please consider this proposal seriously and handle with utmost confidentiality the information I have provided you with here. If you are in a position to assist, then get back to me immediately, so I can give you more details.
 
Sincerely,
Donald Nelson.

Does anyone out there actually still fall for these types of email scams? These people need to get a life, or may be, at least evolve with time and realize that people are not that naive any more to fall for their scams.

ITOCHU CORPORATION
-1, Kita-Aoyama 2-chome
Minato-ku,
Tokyo 107-8077,
Japan.
Tel: 81-663-380-0654
http://www.itochu.co.jp

I am Mr.Masahiro Okafuji ,Vice President of ITOCHU Corporation based in Japan.
We specialized in Textile,Machinery,Aerospace ,Electronics, Metals & Minerals
E.T.C. We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium
of getting to our customers in the Canada/America/Africa/Europe and
other nearby
countries as well as making payments through you to us.You do not have
to leave
your present job for this  one because this job will be on a part time
basis as
it comes once in a while and remuneration is on a percentage basis of
8% of the
total amount your receive from my customers at any time on our behalf.

Please to facilitate the conclusion of this transaction if accepted,Do
send your
email to the email address below ,We sincerely appreciate your willingness in
transacting this business project with us.If interested send your email to
:mokafuji@yahoo.cn

Thank you for your time.
Masahiro Okafuji ,
Vice President

Sir/Madam

Regarding this e-mail sent to you please find my details at the bottom
of this e-mail.

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual
final draws held on the 5th November,2009 by Wellkang International
Limited.

However the results were released on 19th November,2009 and your email
was attached to ticket number (7PWYZ2006) and ballot number

(BT:12052006/20) as one of our lucky winners.

Get back to us for a lump sum pay out of £750,000.00GBP.

Provide

Your Name:
Address:
Age:
Sex:
Occupation:
Tel/Fax:
Country:
Email:

Mr BURT HARDLEY
14 Queens Avenue, Stamford, Lincs,PE9 2YP,London
United Kingdom
+44-703-196-4661
Email: wellkangclaimsdept@gmail.com

I need your assistance so that we can both transfer abandoned sum of
$19.5Million Dollars own by(late Mr Sadiq Uday) from my bank Hang Seng Bank
here in Hong Kong. Please Reply quickly so that i can give you more
informations about the source of the funds and  share in the ratio of 60% for
me and 40% for you. Please Reply with Full Names:Private Phone Number: Current
Residential Address: Occupation: Contact me via songlee11233@sys-w.com

from WORLD CUP 2010 FIFA LOTTERY
reply-to WORLD CUP 2010 FIFA LOTTERY
to
date Sat, Dec 5, 2009 at 10:48 PM
subject Winning NO: XB3/701/LNRC

hide details Dec 5

WORLD CUP 2010 FIFA LOTTERY,
HEADQUARTER, UNITED KINGDOM.
=====================
Winning NO: XB3/701/LNRC
Batch NO: 905534213/255
Ref NO: 7458222754
=====================

Dear Winner,

You are a lucky winner in the ongoing WORLD CUP 2010 AWARD PROMO LOTTERY DRAW.

In Conjunction with MTN AND TOYOTA. This Draw was held Today on the 04th Dec. 2009 as the last draw before the Fifa World Cup and the last draw before the world cup.

You won the sum of £900,000.00 (NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS). You are to contact the Claim Agent MR. SOLOMON MARK, With the information Below.

Name:MR. SOLOMON MARK.
Email:wc_fifaawardpromo010@yahoo.com.hk

Fill the form below to enable us process you winning prize,

NAME:….., ADDRESS:….., PHONE NO:…., OCCUPATION:…, AGE:……., SEX:……, COUNTRY:….

Sincerely,
Mrs. Linda Hull
Promotions Manager.

Warning to All Lypotherapists!

There is yet another scam making the rounds via email right now.  Please keep an eye out for any emails that come from familiar-looking email addresses.  These emails claim that the person emailing you was robbed at gunpoint in another country.  They then ask for immediate help with transferring funds and wiring money.

Again, these do not look like spam; they will likely be similar to your friends’ email address.  So check closely!

And remember, knowledge is power!  Stay safe!

Last week my wife got sent a death threat scam email.  I posted it on here and was surprised by amount of hits this blog received.  Turns out a lot of people want information about the evil organization known as MZP as well as MZP squad leader Scot.  Not sure if looking to me for answers is the greatest idea by google but I’m grateful for the blog hits. 

Here’s the original email ”Scot” sent my wife:

This is Scot, head MZP Squad. I wish to let you know that i have been paid by a client to assasinate you at convenience. I have never met you before, but they gave me the full description of your identity

The reason why they want you dead was never not disclosed to me. My guys are now contantly watching you waiting for my
instruction to terminate you at convenience.

THIS IS MY MESSAGE:
Listen very well, the Police cannot do much to help you out in this right now because you are being watched,any such attempt is very risky and can push us to terminate your life without any other option.

We DON NOT want any trace  whatsoever. So, you are advise to send your reply within 48hrs to:  victorseropian@aol.com

WARNING: Like you have been told, any attempted attempt  to involve third party will be too bad

Bye for now

Here’s the post I wrote about it:

http://huskyanimator.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/death-threat/

Well it’s been well over the 48 hour window Scot said the hit was going to take place and my wife is still alive.

With serious situations most people get worried or anxious…..I on the other hand end up getting inspired to draw cartoons.  Even though it turned out to be a spam scam it was scary when I read the threatening message at first.  Although the second I figured it out it wasn’t real I knew that I’d be doodling a Scot leader of the MZP squad by the evening.

Little is known about the mythical Scot other than he works for the MZP. Will, that and his spelling/grammar is worse than mine.  If you’re going to send a threatening “hired to assassinate you” email think about proof reading it Scot.  English skills aside he can get in and out of any situation successfully “taking care” of his target in the process before they even know he’s there.  Scot is stealthy like that.  You don’t get to be a squad leader of MZP by not being good at what you do.  They only accept the best of the best.  With MZP failure is not an option.  Heath insurance isn’t an option either.  MZP dosn’t offer the worlds greatest benefits.  They even stopped matching 401k due to the recession.  Cheap bastards.

Early sketches of Scot. At first I was going to draw him as fat but then I realized Scot is a lean, mean, spam emailing, killing machine.

Black and white inked Scot

Final color Scot, leader of MZP squad in full assassination gear

Even though Scott is shown in his basic assassination gear he has a wide variety of different options depending on the job he’s been assigned.  He’s got a closet as deep as his weapons arsenal.  Scot can get at you any place, any time, any where. 

For his super secret, ultra stealthy missions where his must not be noticed at all costs. Don't worry this uniform is for your own good. After all if you saw him He'd have to kill you to.

For when Scot needs to hit the slopes to "snipe" a target. But this suit comes with rules. It CAN NOT be worn after Labor day

Just when you thought the most dangerous thing in the sandy desert were camels during mating season comes Scot

Similar to a chameleon this suit gives Scot the ability to blend into his surroundings. He could be right next to you now. But don't worry he's not. Spam emails can't hurt you.

Much like me Scot refuses to take his shirt off at the beach so he made a aquatic version. Comes in handy when sneaking aboard cruise ships for the all inclusive buffets. What? Super secret hit men got to eat to.

And Finally the M.T.C.S.  or better known as the Melissa Tracking Combat System.  When Scot found out my wife was ordered to be taken out by the power that be he needed to come up with something new.  Something improved.  Something pink and purple.  Only once Scot has disguised himself in my wife’s favorite colors will he be able to sneak up with her unaware of his presence.  Only elements missing from the MTCS are rhinestones and glitter.  Once he adds those she’s as good as dead.

Scot will stop at nothing to get his target.  Even making himself pretty.

Scot is the worlds prettiest assassin now

A lot of us are already well familiar with the frustrations of spam: unsolicited e-mail advertisements. In recent years, unwanted emails have evolved in an attempt to avoid increasingly specialized filters and wary consumers. We've put together a list of red flags to help you quickly identify e-mails that may be harmful to your computer and your bank account.

Suspicious attachments

Attaching files to an email is a quick and simple way to share files with your friends and family. The unfortunate downside is that unscrupulous scammers can attach files like viruses and trojan horses in the hopes that an unwary recipient might download the file and infect their computer. Whenever you see an email with an attachment that you were not expecting, be cautious about downloading the attachment or even opening the email.

Links that don't make sense

In an email that claims to be from Yahoo, a link to a specific page on Yahoo's site appears. So why does the text of the link not begin with “http://yahoo.com”? Because it is a scam. Many scam artists attempt to gain account information or even credit card numbers by pretending to be respectable websites looking for information about your account. These emails will typically have a link to a page where you can reset your password, confirm your credit card information, or log in to access some special new feature. To spot these bad links, you need to look at the url: the address of the page that is being linked to. All urls begin with “http://” or “htpps://” and from there vary from website to website. If the url isn't visible in the text of the link, you can hover your mouse over the link and the url will be displayed in the lower left corner of your web browser.

Notices about accounts you don't have

Malicious emails that mask themselves as being from major websites are counting on their recipients actually having accounts with that website in the first place. If you get an email about your facebook account when you never even signed up with facebook, chances are very good that this is a phishing or virus email.

Password reset requests you didn't send

One of the most common email scams currently in circulation is the fake password reset. These emails claim that you recently requested a new password, and direct you to a webpage where you can enter your “old” account name and password. You may be able to pick out these emails by the link urls or because you don't have the account that you would ly be resetting a password for in the first place. Even if you don't see anything wrong with the link or the account information, never respond to a password reset email that you did not specifically ask for.

Sender addresses that don't add up

An email from YouTube.com will be sent from an account that ends with @youtube.com. If “joey5683426$$@ytmail.com” is sending you vital updates about your YouTube account, it's a safe bet this is also a malicious email. If your email system hides sender information, you can change  your settings to show full headers or usually click a link right in the email to show all of the sender information.

Money transfer plots

Typically claiming to be from Nigeria, these emails claim that there is some obscene amount of money sitting in an account somewhere that the sender wants transfered to the US before something horrible happens to it. It's not unusual for these emails to be completely in upper case and poor English, although there are exceptions. These emails are phishing attempts, trying to get your bank account information so that the sender can access your funds. No matter the pretense for the email, you should never share bank account information with anyone you don't know. Recent varieties of these emails claim to be from “a member of your church.”

Bizarre emails from contacts

The most dangerous and hard to pick out malicious emails are the ones that come from your friends and other contacts. Typically if you receive a suspicious email from a friend or family member, it is either because their machine has been infected or because their email account has been compromised. If you see an email from one of your contacts that contains strange characters in the subject, has attachments that you weren't not expecting, links to a file sharing site, or otherwise looks unlike the emails you're used to from that person, take the time to contact them before clicking on any links or downloading any attachments.

Emails from yourself (that you didn't send)

These kinds of emails can be unsettling when you find them. If you find an email from your own account sitting in your inbox that you know you didn't send (and you haven't given anyone else access to your account) immediately change your password and security question for your account. Next, check out your “sent mail” folder to see if any other emails went out that you were unaware of. Let everyone who received one of these suspicious emails know that you did not send the emails, that they should not read them or click any links or attachments and that you suspect  your account was compromised. You can also let your email provider know about your concerns. If this problem comes back, your computer may be infected and need virus cleanup service.

As users and spam filters become more aware of these malicious emails, scammers will develop new ploys to get at your computer, bank account, and other information. The best weapon against these attacks is a healthy dose of skepticism, though even cautious users can fall victim to scams and viruses. If you believe you may have a compromised email account or infected  system, or if you just want to find out more about how to prevent these problems, give Geek Choice a call any time at 1-800-GEEK-HELP (433-5435). We can help you with Virus Removal, Spyware Removal and general computer repair.

Detective Krum

There is an Alarion Bank spoof going on and our readers need to be warned of this spoof.  You may receive an email stating the following:

“Dear Alarion Bank Customer,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the system.
We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.
We requested information from you for the following reason:

- We have observed activity in this account that is unusual or potentially high risk.

Please download the form attached to this email and open it in a web browser.
Once opened, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access.
We appreciate your understanding as we work to ensure account safety.

Sincerely,

©2009 Alarion Bank. All rights reserved.”

Included in this email is a file for you to download the “form”. I suggest if you receive one of these emails you should contact Alarion Bank at   1.888.900.9785 and inform them of the email. There is a high probability, the “form” the email wants you to download will hijack your computer and could infect your computer with a virus, rootkit or key logger. Alarion Bank is aware of the problem and has issued a Fraud Alert, see below:

Fraud Alert
Alarion Bank has received reports of a fraudulent “phishing” scam involving fake e-mail messages delivered on or about 11/06/2009 that appear to come from Alarion Bank, often with the subject line “Official Notification” or “Notification ID.” DO NOT RESPOND TO OR CLICK ANY LINKS IN THESE MESSAGES. Simply delete them.

One other point – Alarion Bank is located in Ocala, Florida and has a (D+) bank rating.

Funny story…I sent out an email from my personal account because the website is still working out a few bugs, like tying in an email to the website. So… a guy gets all up in my grill over how we’re a scam and he’s going to turn us in to the authorities, etc,etc. I said “here is our non-profit organization number. Please tell everyone you know about us, especially the proper authorities, newspapers, and the local news. I even hear that ‘Get Gephart’ is a great way to get our names out there so everyone knows about us.”

If we’re lucky, his passion will spill over and bless this wonderful family in Clearfield, Utah.

–Ed

This is probably the worst lowlife scammer I have ever encountered. This bottom feeder is using the good name of a cancer research institute to recruit unsuspecting and honest people into a money laundering scheme.

From: recruitatgci@sify.com
Subject: GET PAID TO SAVE LIFES… WORK WITH US NOW!!!!
Date: August 22, 2009 5:36:07 PM EDT (CA)
Reply-To: michminn@xpmail.net

Gray Cancer Institute
Mount Vernon Hospital
Northwood
Middlesex HA6 2JR
United Kingdom

The Gray Cancer Institute is a leading centre for research applied to
cancer treatment, working in close collaboration with clinicians at
Mount Vernon Hospital. It was originally a radiobiology research unit with
it’s focus on radiotherapy, but research in tumour physiology has led to
new initiatives in cancer chemotherapy and it is introducing new ways of
exploiting modern molecular biology.

We have donors who have been making generous donations to the Institute
for the development our research and to help people cancer patients. Due to
intensive research work, lack of available time and different forms of
donations,
from our American,Canada and European donors, we hereby need a collector in your
country who would act as a representative, collecting payments on our behalf.

JOB SPECIFICS:
1. Collection of Donations / Payments
2. Cashing of Donations / Payments
3. Sending cashed donation/payments to the institute
following Our Instruction.
4. Keeping Record of each donation / payment received
and sent.
Note: Your pay will be $500,300 Pounds or 400 Euros weekly.Depending on
the countrynyou come from.

If you are interested in working with us, reply with the following
details:

EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION FORM
Full Names:………………………
Address:…………………………
City:…………………………….
State:………………………….
Zip-code:……………………..
Country:………………………
Age:…………………………..
Present Occupation:………..
Telephone(s):……………….

If you are interested in working with us, reply for more information.
Thank you very much…
Regards,

Michael Minns
Gray Cancer Institute
+447045707784

Should any of you receive the following email from larydube@yahoo.com, I do hope you’ll realise straightaway that it is a scam. Internet fraud must work on some people because if it didn’t no-one would send this sort of email. But it is ludicrous. How dumb do you have to be to fall for it?

The local FBI and computer repair shops are being swarmed with calls regarding an email you don’t want to open. This scam isn’t about tricking you into revealing personal information, all they want you to do is open the email.

The email poses as an FBI agency or some sort of government authority. Inside they may ask you to send money, or personal information. However, if you opened the email they could already have all the information they need to steal your savings.

Scam emails have been circulating throughout the Tri-state for several weeks. The sender falsely claims to be an FBI agent. “They may claim to be the FBI, the IRS, The Secret Service. In any case, these institutions would never contact you by email,” said Detective Kurt Pritchett with EPD.

Pritchett says, if someone see’s a reputable company on the email like the FBI for example, they’re more likely to open it. That’s exactly what scam artists want. “This type of email contains software that can be like a Trojan Horse or something where they can gain access to your computer,” he said.

This means, hackers can steal your personal information and your bank account numbers just because you opened an email. The FBI has received several hundred calls about this scam. Over the past few weeks, numerous calls have came to computer repair shops like PC Quest. “One gentleman called and said he clicked on some FBI email and now his computer is frozen. His computer wouldn’t let him out of the program,” said Angie Tennison the manager of PC Quest.

To keep this from happening, officials say do not open emails from anyone you do not know. Plus, make sure your computer has a reputable anti-virus running at all times. If you get the FBI scam delete it. If you’ve already opened it go ahead and delete it anyway, run a virus scan and call your computer technician.

Source: http://tristatehomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=96231

Both the downturn of the economy and the rise of online classifieds has expanded the world of consumer scams. Whether the scam is a phony job posting or a Cragislist deal that seems too good to be true, it pays to stay informed on what the latest scams are—so you can avoid them.

The Law Enforcement News Center has a daily updated list of the latest stories around the globe about new consumer scams. They already have a substantial list, but if you know about a scam that isn’t there, you can send them an email and let them know about it.

See the list here.

Search your neighborhood crime map at CrimeReports.com

An email arrived inviting me to take part in BT’s Terminate the Rate scheme, to reduce mobile phone call costs. While I have no idea what the motivation is, this is a new BT scam. BT are not operating a Terminate the Rate scheme, as a search of their website clearly showed. And comms.bt.com isn’t a BT URL either.

So, if you get an email like this one, below, ignore it. There are no dangers lurking within the email, but if you’re reckless enough to click on any of the links, you may not be so lucky.

By the way, I use Mailwasher to vet my emails, which enables me to read stuff like this without running the risk of downloading and opening it – well worth the money. It’s primary purpose, a spam filter, is pretty damn good, too – I’ve been using it for many years, since it was a freebie.

A recent article published in the Washington Post reports that Nigerian email scammers have been redoubling their efforts during the recent economic slowdown. Already the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that these types of scams grew by 33% last year. Interestingly, when people are in dire economic circumstances they are more willing to take chances that promise them huge windfalls of cash for very little effort.

So, as always, whenever you receive an email that promises you a huge sum for “transferring” money for a deposed (or deceased) dictator or asks you for a deposit fee so that your Irish lottery winnings can be disbursed to you, just delete it from your inbox.

Don’t be another victim. Just remember: if it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603764.html

Search your neighborhood crime map at CrimeReports.com

We have posted many Lottery scams in the past and prefer not to repeat ourselves again about how these scams works. Just take a look at the Identifying scams page for explanations.

Remember, no there are no lotteries that hand out millions that do not require you to purchase a ticket. Heck! They chose you credit card number but have no idea who you are!

Yet, they had your email address? Scam, Scam, Scam.

Attn:Winner

Winning No:VCard/877/798/2009
Email Ref No:VCard/699/33/2009
Notification Date:11/04/2009

AMOUNT WON:500,000.00GBP (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds).

This email address has brought you an unexpected luc! k,Your e-mail address was selected and confirmed by our co-sponsor Msn International, through their latest internet software.You are therefore been approved by Visa Card Int./Msn UK the sum of 500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds).
===================================
CONTACT CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR
===================================
NAME: Mr.David Fernando
Email: vcard.team01@hotmail.co.uk
Visa Card® / Msn® Promotion Department
Do email the above Claims Administrator, at once with all the claims requirements below.To avoid unnecessary delay.They are needed to proceed.
Claims Requirements:

1. Full Name:_____________________
2. Address:_____________________
3. Nationality:___________Sex:________
4. Age:________Date of Birth:___________
5. Occupation:_________Martial Status_________
6. Cell Phone:___________Fax:___________
7. State of Origin:_________Country:_______
8.Winning No:_______Email Ref No:______

PROCEEDURES / RIGHTS AND PRECAUTIONS
Kindly indicate your payment option and Contact the Claims Administrator with all your claims requirements well filled @ vcard.team01@hotmail.co.uk
*Mode of Payment*
(i).Delivery of Prepaid Visa card® Valued 500,000.00GBP by a registered Courier Company.
Cheers,
Secretary,(Mrs.Dora Lazmon)
Visa Card® / Msn® Mega Jackpot
2008 – 2009 Microsoft Corporation.All rights reserved

I received this email from careers@holdyourplace.com yesterday about a Claims Consultant position.  It’s a good example of how smart bad folks are at trying to lure job seekers with bogus ads just to get your information.

Email from Career Network

Note some of the key tactics:

• The title of the email starts of “looking to fill claims consultant position.”  What is a claims consultant?  Everyone could be a claims consultant.
• It is personalized with my first name, and they use it again in the second paragraph.  Here’s a tip-off.  Notice that there’s an extra space between Dan and the comma in the “Dear Dan ,”  The same space appears in the second paragraph.  This is a mail-merge document.
• “To avoid being flooded…” – doesn’t that make you feel special, the idea that you’d get special treatment available to only a few people?  Sure, who doesn’t want that!
• Notice that my email is embedded in the link they want you to click on.  This will enable them to know that it was you who responded so they know they have a hook to a live person.
• Note that the address for Career Network is a PO Box.  That’s a tip-off as well.
• Let’s see if we can find this company and their location on the Internet.  Check out what folks say about them on Yahoo Maps!

I changed the email address on the link (so they can’t trace-back when I click on their link) and found it takes you to this page:

Claims Consultant Job Description

Key tip-offs:

• They don’t name the company.  It’s a “blind” ad.
• When was the last time you saw a job ad begin with the word “astutely”  Most job ads are written at an 8th grade reading level or below.  This has some fairly advanced language.
• What’s with the “Click here to login if you are an advantage member?”  Advantage member?  Are they affiliated with American Airlines’ Advantage program?
• The section below captures basic information including education name, address, etc.  It also asks you to upload you resume!

After clicking submit, here’s what you get.

What just happened?  I thought I was applying for a job?  This is now asking me about education?  Did I just miss something?  Oh, the last question:  Do I have to select a school as part of my job application?  Whew, I’m glad I’m still in the application.  Let’s continue…

Hmmm.  I’m glad they’re interested in my advancing my education, note how they reinforce that this will not affect my job application.  (Could it be because this IS A SCAM and there is NO JOB?)  Let’s continue and see…

Oh good, employment eligibility.  This doesn’t seem to be your usual EEO questions about race and gender though…

Next questions are a series of am I interested…  My Spidey-senses are tingling fully now!  We’re almost there…

OK, references.  Usually I save my references for after the interview, but I really need a job.  Let me give 3 references. After all, they require it, and 1 has to be professional…  I guess I should only include 2 of my drinking buddies then..

Here’s my 3 references. And, huh?  There’s no Continue button.  In fact there’s no button at all.  I’m left on this page with nothing to do.  There is no closure.  I refreshed the page and tried a different browser.  No luck.  BUT, what just happened here?  I gave 3 references with email addresses.  Do you believe they will contact my references about the Claims Adjuster position.  OR, do you think they’ll contact them to invite them to be one of the selected few to apply for the Claims Adjuster position?

Final Nail in the Coffin

I did a Google search for Career Network scam and found this:

Career Network Complaints – Fake job website SCAM

Review all Career Network complaints

Career Network

Posted: 2008-10-27 by NMorse [send email]

Fake job website SCAM Complaint Rating: Any links to the Career Network or The Career Resource is a scam. I went to the same applicatoin site descibed above and Thank God that my hair started standing on end and I decided to do some research before sending them my personal info. If you look below you will see what I found. They are a fraud and have been in hot water with the U.S. District Court. Enough Said… Career Network, Inc., and its principals, Walter Turulis and Kathleen Key. Complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, on January 3, 2001. On January 3, 2001, the court granted the FTC’s request for a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, and appointment of a temporary receiver. On January 9, 2001, the court entered stipulated preliminary injunction, continuing the terms of the TRO. Civil Action No: 2:01-CV-001-JM; FTC Staff Contact: Gregory A. Ashe, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3719.

Bottom Line:

• Trust your senses.  If it seems odd or off, it just may be.
• Immediately do a search for the company name, URL, or other information in the ad with the word “SCAM” to see if others have identified the ad as bogus.
• If there is no contact information, or if the announcement is vague, there’s a strong chance they are trying to get your information and the job is real.  If the ad is not concrete, the job is probably not concrete either.
• Be cautious of links on a page as they may embed your email and give a clue that you are a real, live person.  Once they know there’s someone there many scammers will adopt either flood or shift tactics to get more personal information

A couple days ago, I received the following email from “Dennis” (dennispixelservices@gmail.com) – it’s not the first time I’ve seen a variation of this spam message, either:

***** ***** *****

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dennis Cole.
Contact Address:
Pixel services Ltd,
Queen Street Close,
March, Cambs. PE15 8SP
United Kingdom .
Mobile Number:+447024061966

***** ***** *****

If you have a fitness-themed website/blog and haven’t received a message like this yet, it’s only a matter of time until they find you.  To make the email seem even more legit, they may mention your specific city or offer to send you a check in advance if you send ‘em your mailing address.

The names and story may change, but in a nutshell, it’s all BOGUS.

So what kind of scam/spam “too good to be true” emails have you received?

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to stop all these bogus email scammers?

Here’s one for you in  case you have not seen it.  If you get one, delete it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: “Peter Sands” sandspeter85@yahoo.com.hk
sandspeter10110@yahoo.com.hk

To: undisclosed-recipients

Dear Sir/Madam,
I represent Peter Sands Inc. Ltd based in the UK. My company exports finished leather products and other goods/services for world trade. Would you like to work online from home and get paid weekly? Peter Sands Inc. needs a Book-Keeper in the United states,United Kingdom, Canada, South America, Asia, Mexico, Australia and parts of Europe. So I want to know if you will like to work from home and getting paid for the services being rendered without leaving or affecting your present Job. We are recruiting individuals to work for the company as a Representative/Book Keeper in the countries listed above. We have customers we supply weekly in these countries and our customers make payments for our supplies every week in form of Money Orders, Bankers Draft and Cashier’s checks, checks which are not readily cashed outside the United States and their country of issuance. so we need Someone in the above regions listed above to work as our representative and assist us in processing the payments from our customers and Le
All you need to do is receive payment from customers, get it cashed at your bank or any financial institution that does such tasks then forward the balance after deduction of your percentage to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to. (Payment is forwarded either by Money Gram, Western Union Money Transfer, pay pal or Bank Transfer). Our payments will be issued out in your name and you get them cashed in your bank deduct your commission and forward the balance to the company. We understand it is an unusual and incredible job position. This job takes only 3-7 hours per week and you’ll have a lot of free time doing another job, you’ll get good income and regular job. But this job is very challenging and you should understand it. We are looking only for workers who satisfy our requirements and we would be glad if you accept this job offer. If you feel that you are a serious, earnest and trustworthy worker and if you want to work for Peter Sands Inc., a letter
  of employment would be sent to y
APPLICATION FORM
FIRST NAME………… LAST NAME…………..
ADDRESS…………………………………
CITY…………………. STATE…………..
ZIP CODE……………. COUNTRY…………..
PHONE NUMBER (S)………………………….
GENDER………….. MARITAL STATUS…………
AGE…………….. NATIONALITY……………
HAVE YOU DONE THIS BEFORE INDICATE YES OR NO?
WHAT TYPE OF ACCOUNT DO YOU OPERATE?
Thank you for your time and warmest regards
Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Peter Sands
Peter Sands Inc.
31st Floor
30 St Mary Axe
London EC3A 8EP
United Kingdom
~~~~~~~~~~~

~Jennifer
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