Taking the Nigerian Scam Up a Notch

[HungLikeJesus]

I got an e-mail from my sister this morning that said:

I have truly found your dream house ... check it out!!

and included a link.

I thought it might have been spam, but I clicked the link anyway.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

I got an e-mail from my sister this morning that said:



and included a link.

I thought it might have been spam, but I clicked the link anyway.

I've been snookered like this too, in instant messaging/chat programs as well. my bil's computer had been compromised and some foulware bot was grinding through his contact list with a little one sentence text worm baiting their hook link. I clicked it, I became infected too, and the cycle repeated itself. Sadly, this was on my computer at work (back in the day) and I had to go around to all my work contacts saying "um you might want to get that checked" so to speak.

Embarrassing and frustrating

[HungLikeJesus]

I should clarify - in this case it was not malware, but a real e-mail.

[infinite monkey]

So...was it your dream house?

[HungLikeJesus]

Well, it is a cool house:


Twenty-three acres in Malibu, ocean and city views, but no garage and no price given.

It's designed to look like a cave dwelling. More pictures at the listing.

[infinite monkey]

Oh, top left. 3.5 million.

It's freaking amazing! I could dream about that house.

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

Well, it is a cool house:

Twenty-three acres in Malibu, ocean and city views, but no garage and no price given.

It's designed to look like a cave dwelling. More pictures at the listing.

[Lamplighter]

Your other left

[infinite monkey]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Your other left

I'm so direction dyslexic!

[wolf]

I've gotten the mugged in a foreign country email ... same deal, with all the correct contact information, but at least in the case of mine, I was wise enough to contact the supposed victim, who, while given to rushing around the world at a moment's notice, was unlikely to be doing so while he was on unemployment.

[ZenGum]

No garage, but parking for two brontosauruses out the back...

No price, because if you need to ask ...

[classicman]

Just got this... I've been getting A LOT of packages lately so I opened it...

Delivery information,

Our company's courier couldn't make the delivery of parcel.

REASON: Wrong postal code.
STATUS OF YOUR PARCEL: Sorting
SERVICE: Express Shipping
NUMBER OF YOUR ITEM: U074309168 NU
FEATURES: No

Label link to your parcel is enclosed to the letter.
Download and print the label and show it at your post office.

{deleted}/shipping/label.aspx?download=Label_Details_USPS_Tracking_IDXXXXX.noway

Attention!
If the parcel isn't received within 30 working days our company will have the right to claim compensation from you for it's keeping in the sum of $11.62 for each day of keeping over limited time.

You can find the information about the procedure and conditions of parcels keeping in the nearest office.

Thank you for attention.
USPS Express Services.

Upon a scan it seemed legit. Then I went grammar nazi on it and was all WTF?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Trojan

The trojan is known as Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Gimemo.qea (Kaspersky), Trojan.Smoaler (Symantec), Posible_Worm32 (TheHacker), Heuristic.BehavesLike.Win32.Downloader.D (McAfee-GW-Edition).

At the time of writing, only 4 of the 42 AV engines did detect the trojan at Virus Total.

[xoxoxoBruce]

MR MORRIS HONG
CITIC BANK OF CHINA,
TELEX TRANSFER SECTION,
ASIA PACIFIC.

Ref: Remittance of (USD$5,500,000.00)

Attention:Beneficiary.

We received instruction from our correspondence bank to transfer the sum of $5.5 million into your account which we are on the process to open an online banking account on your name and forward to you the account information so
that you can transfer your fund into your regular account in your country by your self, to avoid any problem.

But we are surprise this morning when we are about to open your online banking account and received another email from Ms Diane L. Mcallister whom claim to
be your representative and forward to us the following account information for us to transfer the fund into her account.

The account which she forward to us as follow.

Bank of America
St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Diane L. Mcallister
Account# 003767127294
Routing # 063100277
65 Jabotinsky St\#2
Ramat Gan, ISRAEL 54224

Please, Do reconfirm to us as a matter of urgency if this lady is from you and has your authority to receive your fund If this lady is not your representative, You are requested to fill and send this information for verification purpose,so that your fund value of $5.5million united state dollars will be paid to you through online banking method.

1. YOUR FULL NAME..........................
2. YOUR TELEPHONE......
3. FAX......................
4. AGE...........
5. SEX........................... .........
6. YOUR OCCUPATION.................... ............
7. YOUR ADDRESS....................... .
8. BANK DETAILS WERE YOUR FUND WILL BE TRANSFER INTO....

HOWEVER, WE SHALL PROCEED TO ISSUE ALL PAYMENT DETAILS TO THE SAID MS.Diane L.Mcallister,

IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN THE NEXT SEVEN WORKING DAYS FROM TODAY, WE WILL PROCESS AND RELEASE THE FUND INTO
Ms Diane L. Mcallister ACCOUNT.

Email me with my email address on:china_citic_bank@Safe-mail.net

Confirm your receipt of this mail without delay.....

Yours in service

MR MORRIS HONG
FUND MANAGER
CITIC BANK OF CHINA,
TELEX TRANSFER SECTION,
ASIA PACIFIC.

Google had put this in my spam folder with the following message in orange;

Be careful with this message. This message may not have been sent by: info.morrishong@gmail.com. Similar messages were used to steal people's personal information. Learn more

Now I want to know why Diane L. Mcallister and Google have teamed up to screw me out of my $5.5 million?

[footfootfoot]

I wonder what they'd do if you emailed them back and said, Yep, Diane is my representative, send it all to her.

[BigV]

then they would win.

their goal is to engage you. getting your attention at all is the first win for them and loss for you. actually actively participating in that engagement is more win for them. It's like pushing back against a flood. It is futile, the flow will just go around the side and drown you from the back. The only effective way to respond is to leave. Move to higher ground.

I get your joke. But I think it would be wasted, they comprehend (and compose and correspond) like a robot. A waste of a clever idea. Wasted on them, that is. I got a grin from it.