Unprecedented Growth in the Fight to Eradicate Scam

   My first thought when I saw this email was that it's from someone with the same name as the guy
from Arrested Development.  Of course, that's Michael Cera!

   The only thing missing is a link or attachment.

   Of course, there are tons of emails like this around.  And people do respond.

   Would you respond?  How many people at your workplace would respond?  How would you help people recognize this kind of email and not respond?

---

International Debt Funds Recoup Unit of
United States Department of the Treasury Washington DC.
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW;
Washington, DC 20220


Hello,


International Debt Funds Recoup Unit, incorporated November, 2016 as affiliate of United States Department of the Treasury Washington DC, established for the control of recouped international debt funds, within the short time of this establishment, we have experienced unprecedented growth in the fight to eradicate scam and terrorism.

With Our vast experience cutting across several facets of the world and affiliations with numbers of reputable foreign and local organizations, International Debt Funds Recoup Unit has brilliantly done very well in contributing to the effort of the American Government to curtail fictitious and nefarious activities of scam via the internet, which is perpetually taken out on citizens of United States and innocent citizens of other part of the world by impostors through our vast networking.

We implore your earnestly attention on our resent activities in affiliation with Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI. Your computer and telephone communication  were under surveillance device manipulation on discovery that you have been in communication with impostors, imposing as important dignitaries to the undisclosed organization.

The transaction database of Western Union and Wal-Mart Money Gram recently went through screening on evidence for transaction made on your name overseas and the statements of your bank account were properly studied on evidence for transaction made within the states and overseas. However, the collective findings urged the setup of multifaceted maximum security on your everyday activities most specially your email correspondence and telephone communications.

The state of affairs grows to be interesting that intelligent agent of International Debt Funds Recoup Unit and Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI,
where deployed to investigate on issues of debt funds as a result of Contract Payment Funds, Lottery Winning Funds and Inheritance Funds owe to you by the undisclosed conglomerate under impersonation of impostors imposing as important dignitaries to rip you off your hard earned money and to our dismay, it was discovered that your name appeared as owner of funds valued US$10.5Million United States Dollars.

Representatives of American Government bureaus sent on your behalf on this exploit confirmed that the blueprint of your funds recoup was plain and the outcome of the event was a solution to curtail activities of con artist and indeed a perfect solution to your quest on your funds. The recouped funds are deposited in the pecuniary basement of the International Debt Funds Recoup Unit here in Washington.

To apply for claims, we urge you to reconfirm your personal information stated as following below; the details will be used to conduct lawful underlying principles of verification on your reputation as the beneficiary own of the recouped funds lodged in our basement.

1.  First Name:
2.  Middle Name:
3.  Last Name:
4.  Home Phone Number:
5.  Cell Phone Number:
6.  Home Address:
7.  Date of Birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
8.  Driver's License/ Passport Copy:
9.  Marital Status:
10. Current Employer Name:
11. Position/Title:

This is compulsory instruction. REPLY BACK TO THIS ADDRESS ONLY IF YOU WANT FAST RESPONSE TO YOUR E-MAIL ( mrmichealcenadesk@webmail.hu )

God Bless America.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Michael Cena

---

   I do enjoy these kinds of emails!  It unfortunate that some people do fall for these scams.  Interesting that this one doesn't ask for my SSN, but wants a copy of my driver's license and/or passport - that can be very valuable to the scammer.

   While there are no links or attachments here, but is still danger.  I've written about these kinds of scams in the past, and the prior advice still holds.

1. You didn't win!  An unsolicited email promising some kind of prize or payoff is not real.
2. Don't respond to unsolicited email.  It just lets the spammer know you are a live person.  And definitely don't respond and provide information about yourself.
3. Use care with links in unsolicited email.  There's a good chance that link leads somewhere you don't want to go... like a phishing site or a malware download.
4. Watch out for attachments... even pictures.  Stop and think before you click on that attachment.  Even if it looks like it came from a friend.  Were you expecting the email and attachment?
5. Be stingy with your personal information.  Much of what happens in today's world happens online.  And you will have to provide some information sometimes.  But every site doesn't need all your personal information.  And just because a site asks for information doesn't mean you have to provide it.  Before you fill out that form, stop and think, then decide how much information you want to provide.

   You can find a few more tips here.  These steps can help you at home and at the office.

   What's your favorite example of this kind of scam?

Ho-Ho-Holiday Spams and Scams

   It's that time of year again folks.  And whatever holiday you may, or may not, celebrate... there's something we're all likely to see.  It's not presents, though maybe there are some for you.  It's not snow, though we're already seeing that here in the upper midwest US.

   It's malware and holiday scams!

   Unfortunately, it happens every year.  Sometimes it's malicious attachments.  Sometimes it's links to malware to download or phishing sites with forms ready to collect your personal and financial information.

   Here is my 2017 edition of my Top 10 Tips To Avoid Holiday Spams and Scams...

The Matter at the Hand

   Check this out!...



   Here's a transcript:

   Calling from Criminal Investigation Division of I-R-S.  The matter at the hand is extremely time sensitive and urgent, as after all that, we found that, there was a fraud and misconduct on your tax which you are hiding from the federal government. This need to be rectified immediately so do return the call as soon as you receive the message. The toll free number is 1-8-6-6-9-7-8-6-6-1-8. I repeat again, 1-8-6-6-9-7-8-6-6-1-8. Thank you.

   Needless to say, this is a scam.  You can look at all of these reports on phone number lookup sites.

   Now, you may think that this obviously sounds like a scam.  However, it unfortunately works.

   So what should you do if you or someone you know receives one of these calls?

1. Don't respond.  Just leave that alone.
2. Report it.  Here is the FTC info page on reporting scams, spams, do not call or telemarketing violations and other issues.  Here is the complaint reporting page.

   I did file a report with the FTC.  It doesn't take long and it's the right thing to do.

   While these calls can be either annoying or entertaining, the bottom line is that they work and some people do fall for these scams.  So educate yourself and others.

   Do you have any interesting robo-call or scam stories to share?

Payday!

   I received this great news in email today.  For some reason gmail marked it as spam!  But it looks great to me! :-)

Google Docs and the Mailinator

   You're minding your own business, just checking email, when you get an email from a "friend" inviting you to get a shared Google Doc file.

   You're a student of security, or at least a fan, so you're always skeptical when you receive an email with a link or attachment.  This one appears to come from someone you know.  The subject and body of the message seem consistent with a Google doc sharing message.

   Problem clue #1 - look at the "To:" line.  Clearly, this message wasn't sent to you.

   Problem clue #2 - were you expecting this email and file?  Has this sender sent you Google docs in the past?  Did this email arrive at work or home - and do you normally use Google docs there?

   But, you are rushed and don't have time to send your friend a message to see if this email is legit.  So you click.  If you're not already logged in to your Google account, you're asked to log in.  What you see next is...

Hello Dearest One

   I just got some incredible news!  I really love working in Information Security, but with this windfall it's certainly time to retire.

   And I wanted to share this news with all of you!

   Here's the email I received that covers it all... this is so exciting!

---

Hello Dearest One,

I am Mrs. Jessica W the Administrative manager at a vault of financial & security Institute in Madrid, I am contacting you as regards an abandoned sum of $31.7 Million Us dollars (Thirty One million, Seven Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) in our safe deposit vault, that belongs to one of our foreign customers that share the same surname with you, who died along with his entire family on the 11th march 2009 in a ghastly motor accident in Porto Portugal.

The banking policy can only allow the release of such funds to a benefactor through an application as next of kin to the deceased. After his death, the bank has been expecting a possible beneficiary, but nobody came for the claim, this institute has exploited all its ethical possibilities in other to contact possible relation or inheritor, but no success, I have made my own research with the help of private investigator, it is my knowledge that this man has been living in Barcelona for the past 19 years and has never returned back home. I also leant that his wife and 7 year old daughter died with him during this accident, however because of the international financial crises, a lot of reform has been made within the Spanish financial system; this includes the new law on succession/claims which indicates a duration in which such inheritance could be tolerated,

Upon your acceptance to partner with me, I urge you to please kindly get back to me with your direct contact details for further details via my email address: EMAIL: jessica_jessicaxx@yyy.com  or Alternative Email: jessica_vivian@yyy.com on how you and me can make a claim to the funds in question. I GUARANTEE you that this process would be executed under a legitimate and risk free arrangement. Thanks as I wait to hear from you as soon as you receive this proposal e-letter.

Best Regard,
Mrs. Jessica W
EMAIL: jessica_jessicaxx@yyy.com
Alternative Email: jessica_vivian@yyy.com

---

   I did alter the email addresses!

   I'm not sure what I did to get so lucky to receive this gift, but it sounds like the greatest thing ever!  And the thing is, I'm lucky that I even saw this message because it was in my spam folder.

   😃😄😉

Call Me

  I recently received some awesome news via email.  And it was totally unexpected.  Check it out:

   Now I can retire in style!  :-)

   Needless to say, this is a phishing email.  We've talked about phishing many times in the past.  And we keep talking about it.

   So why does phishing still work?  There are two primary reasons:

1. No cost/low barrier to entry.  It is effectively free to send out potentially millions of phishing or spam emails.  Attackers can easily relay email through open mail relay servers, but there are other ways to send spam and phishing emails.  Open mail relays are systems that send email but don't require any kind of identification.  Here's some more technical info on open relays.
2. Exploiting the human factor.  People are busy and we all receive too much email.  It's not always easy to take the time to figure out if an email is OK or not.  Attackers leverage this by sending plausible-looking email, though there are plenty of poorly-created messages as well (like the one above that I received).

   As I mentioned in a previous column, rather than looking examining an email for evidence of phishing, we can approach all email as if it's hostile and then look for indications that it's OK.

   If you'd like to have some fun... try these spot the phishing online quizzes!

   I won't be contacting the "friend" to sent me the above email.  And I did not win.

   Have you seen any interesting phishing emails you'd like to share?

Brexit Protection - click here

   Brexit Protection... or should we call it Brexitection? :-)

   How does Brexit affect your finances?  Do you care?  Plenty of people do.

   And that creates an opportunity for scammers.

   Any time there are major news events, particularly disasters or anything economic, people get worried. and the scammers are right there to play on those fears.

   According to the Telegraph, they have seen emails with subjects such as "Brexit causes historic market drop". These emails have links that supposedly connect to pages with information on how to protect your investments.  Of course, they actually download malware to the victims computer.

   This is a common problem... common because it works.

   We've covered this topic before... and the advice remains the same.  In fact, here are my top 10 email scam tips from a 2013 post!  These are just as relevant today as then.  And they will be relevant years from now:

We're Going About It All Wrong

   Phishing, scam, spam and malicious emails are an ongoing problem.  A recent study found that rates of these malicious emails are worst in months that have an "a", "u" or "r" in the name, with highest delivery volumes on days ending in a "y".

   Seriously though, while the worldwide spam volume seems to be trending down since a peak over 70% in 2014, rates were trending up in the first quarter of 2016 and the percentage of email that is spam or malicious is well over 50%.

   Email, along with malicious files on websites (whose links are usually delivered through email!), continue to be the top malware vectors.

   In fact, attackers don't even need to use their best, or most complex, attack methods.  It's far more cost-effective to send out random or targeted email, or to place random malicious files on websites and email out the links.  Remember, most cybercrime is economically motivated.  It's a business and the goal is ROI (return on investment).  And business is good.

   It's a big problem because we are fundamentally trusting beings.  I've always believed that people want to do the right thing.  When it comes to people, we should assume positive intent.

   However, email is not a person.

GOOD DAY

   I received the following email recently.  Looks too good to be true!  $1.5Million united state dollars!  Maybe I should reply? :-)

   The only thing missing is a link or attachment.

   Of course, there are tons of emails like this around.  And people do respond.

   Would you respond?  How many people at your workplace would respond?  How would you help people recognize this kind of email and not respond?

--------------
From: Dr. Xxxxx Xxxxx
Reply-To: "Dr.Xxxxx Xxxxx"
To:
Date: Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 6:58 AM
Subject: GOOD DAY

Good day,

How are you doing hoping all is well with you and your family? We know you might have forgotten about this your outstanding compensation payment due to delay on the delivery up till now. We are here by writing to inform you that your payment file was found in our Office and we discovered that your Compensation payment of $1.5Million united state dollars have not been sent to you as it was instructed by The Economic Community of West African States (ECO-WAS)We are here to inform you that your payment has been converted into ATM Visa/Master Card to free it from Expiring, and all the necessary Arrangement for your

ATM VISA CARD Payment worth of $1.5Million United State Dollars has been granted for your payment through Our ATM Card Department Center.Now Your ATM Visa/Master Card is well packaged with every legal documents to convey it having any problem with any Authorities or with your Federal Government therefore we are here by inviting you to our office here in Republic of Benin, Office Address, UNITED BANK OF AFRICA BENIN, Xxx Xxx n,Xxxx Xxxx 2000, to enable us complete the normal formalities and activation process of your ATM Visa Card and issue the Secret PIN CODE/NUMBER to enable

you start using it at any ATM MACHINE worldwide of your choice nearest to you, as soon as it is activated, But if you are unable to come down here in our office in person you will be required to update our ATM Department Center with your contact delivery details as stated below so that they will proceed with

the necessary arrangement for the delivery of your ATM VISA/MASTER CARD.

1. Your Full name, ________________
2. Your home Address, _____________
3. Your telephone number, _________
4. A copy of your ID, _____________
5. Your age/sex, __________________
6. Your occupation, _______________
7. Your country, __________________

Therefore you should contact OUR ATM CARD PAYMENT DEPARTMENT CENTER immediately on their below;

E-mail :( dr.xxxxx.243@gmail.com )
Contact Person; Dr. Xxxxx Xxxxx
Director Of UNITED BANK OF AFRICA BENIN,
Telephone Number; +229 nnn-nnn-nn
Try to call him immediately to know when your ATM VISA CARD will be delivered to you. I am waiting for you to update us as soon as you have received your

Visa/Master ATM Card.
Thanks and God Bless You.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Xxxxx Xxxxx

It's That Time of Year - Holiday Spams and Scams

   It's that time of year again folks.  And whatever holiday you may, or may not, celebrate... there's something we're all likely to see.  It's not presents, though maybe there are some for you.  It's not snow, though we'll see that soon enough here in the upper midwest US.  It's malware and holiday scams!

   Unfortunately, it happens every year.  Sometimes it's malicious attachments.  Sometimes it's links to malware to download or phishing sites with forms ready to collect your personal and financial information.

   Here is my 2013 edition of my Top 10 Tips To Avoid Holiday Spams and Scams...