[Finance] ******** The Scam Thread *********

herecomesaregular said:

Rather nasty email popped up in my Junk folder today.

Heard some stories of young people falling for this one. Nasty angle.

"Hello,

I'm contacting you regarding an urgent matter that demands your immediate attention.
You have an opportunity to address this situation, but prompt action is essential.

I have installed advanced spyware, referred to as Candid, on your devices.
This spyware gives me full access to all your online activities-your webcam, messages, emails,
and call logs! Compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows, I've been monitoring you for months. Find out how!

Over this period, I've captured several images and videos of you involved in explicit activities. Given the sensitive nature of these recordings,
it's understandable that you wouldn't want them shared with friends, family, or colleagues.

Here's what you can expect if you choose not to comply: I will share these pics and videos with everyone in your contact list via WhatsApp, Facebook, Skype, email, etc.
This exposure could have serious repercussions for both your personal and professional life.
To avoid this, you need to take action immediately.

Please transfer $999 USD to my cryptocurrency wallet (btc) address provided below: bc1qw6y5ce2n6mwep83qd33c7tnfzjxy6g5dpcx0au

Once I verify the payment, I will delete all compromising photos and videos and remove the spyware from your devices.
My only interest is financial gain; if that weren't the case, I would have already shared the videos and images.

You have precisely 48 hours from the moment you read this email to complete the payment.
If you're unsure about how to use cryptocurrency, simply search for "crypto exchange" to find helpful instructions.

Critical Notices:

Avoid contacting the authorities. If I detect any police involvement, I will release the videos immediately.
Additionally, do not try to reset or destroy your devices-I already possess compromising information about you.

Keep in mind that cryptocurrency transactions are anonymous, making it impossible to trace me through the wallet address.

Take action now to prevent irreversible consequences."

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Eeyore said:

Great call today from 'British Gas' telling me I can save money and to book a visit.

At first I think it is real and tell them I look on Money Supermarket. I'm ignored and asked if I prefer morning or afternoon. The voice them asks another question and I say 'You're not listening are you ?'. I'm then asked for details and ask 'Do you prefer Vegemite or Marmite ?'

The call is clearly and data mining exercise by a scam group

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Tom Hark Preston Park said:

Pretty safe to assume that just about anybody that rings a landline nowadays is a scammer

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Fungus said:

Had an oldie but a goodie today. The email seems to have gone to all of our local U3A group, allegedly from one of the organiser, so probably a few confused recipients…

”Hello
Sorry to bother you, I would like to have a word with you
Can we talk through email for some few minutes ?
I am unable to speak over the phone due to serious throat pain caused by laryngitis.
Happy Christmas
Love Anne and Jon”

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A mex eyecan said:

well, give credit where it’s due, they are instructing you to Love Anne and John be they known to you or not

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A mex eyecan said:

well, give credit where it’s due, they are instructing you to Love Anne and John be they known to you or not

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Zeberdi said:

Return email to sender stating “TL;DR”

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Springal said:

I’ve had to deal with a fairly simple, but complex chain of events for my mum.

Yesterday I got a call to say her bank had blocked her because of fraud. They wanted to send her a text and her to go to local branch with ID to get this resolved. She then mentions she’s not had a mobile signal for 24 hours so can’t get the code. She’s also been getting PayPal emails but they were disappearing from her inbox by the time she went to open them.

It appears her email + common password (with some variations) were in haveibeenpwned database tied to her email and PayPal. It looks like they made a handful of transactions , the bank flagged as suspicious and blocked it. PayPal were good and also helped block the transactions and increase security to include WhatsApp notifications.

It looks like she was sim swapped with Lebara and having been on calls with them I can see how, there was a real lack of security - and if you had access to an email + PayPal you could pass the check. They initially seemed good but despite being told they’d put a block in place, will investigate and look to move the number back to her sim we just got an email that suggests the fraudster has initiated a PAC request to move the number to another provider. Waiting game now but reading other horror stories about Lebara I’m not holding my breath.

Definitely highlighted importance of password management either with iCloud native or 1password or similar. Also worth checking for data leaks on haveibeenpwned for older relatives periodically.

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Bodian said:

Not a scam on me, but a scam on the local authority.

I have sent this to Stagecoach:

I got on this bus at xxxxxx and clearly stated my journey was to yyyyyyy. The bus ticket I purchased states that the journey was to zzzzzzz, some 25 miles further on.

The fare was the Government subsidised £2 capped fare. I understand your company are subsidised to the amount of the difference between the £2 cap and the fare it would have been without the cap.

To enter an incorrect destination, one that is 25 miles further on, seems to me to result in your company being able to claim a higher amount from the government than you are entitled to. This is surely wrong.

The two passengers who got on the bus behind me ALSO had tickets issued to zzzzzz, when they were also going to yyyyyyyy - so this was not an accident.

Please investigate.

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Bodian said:

Not a scam on me, but a scam on the local authority.

I have sent this to Stagecoach:

I got on this bus at xxxxxx and clearly stated my journey was to yyyyyyy. The bus ticket I purchased states that the journey was to zzzzzzz, some 25 miles further on.

The fare was the Government subsidised £2 capped fare. I understand your company are subsidised to the amount of the difference between the £2 cap and the fare it would have been without the cap.

To enter an incorrect destination, one that is 25 miles further on, seems to me to result in your company being able to claim a higher amount from the government than you are entitled to. This is surely wrong.

The two passengers who got on the bus behind me ALSO had tickets issued to zzzzzz, when they were also going to yyyyyyyy - so this was not an accident.

Please investigate.

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PascalGroß Tips said:

I actually reported this issue via a Government fraud reporting process - last year I think. This was also due to destinations on Stagecoach 700 destinations I was making often being further on than the journey I was making.

I wasn't expecting anything back - but a few months late, I did actually get a very good response. it essentially said that the destination on the ticket wasn't important for the £2 capped fare and what bus companies can claim. They said that there was an agreed calculation based on number of journeys - or something like that (I haven't got the email any more). But they confirmed that the destination on the ticket didn't affect the subsidy bus companies could claim.

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Bodian said:

Cheers. Interesting that Stagecoach didn't just say that to me then!

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DavidinSouthampton said:

Over the last week I have had three separate requests for a payment from Pay-pal, something I’ve never seen before. They are all in $ amounts and all from people I’ve never heard of.

i have a PayPal account which I haven’t used for a while, and there is nothing in it anyway, but…….

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Official Old Man said:

I had my debit card scimmed (or whatever it's called) whilst away for a weekend.
Now, I'm very very carefull about these things so never EVER let my card out of my sight. I believe it was at a council car park where you have to use your phone to pay. Scanned the QR code, after checking it wasn't a sticker but a genuine code, and put in all my details as you do.
That night my banking app sent a message to call the bank, this is 100% secure, and at no time did the guy on the phone ask me any questions othere than "we presume the iphone order wasn't you". Card blocked, new card sent out.
Panicking though I checked my bank and the car park fee was paid. Strange.

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