Christiano Ronaldo is one of the world’s most famous footballers.

He plays for Manchester United currently although probably not for much longer.

He is paid £26.8 million  per year so he’s not exactly short on cash.

The scam is simple.

The scammer sent out mass text messages to random phone numbers, such as

Hello. It’s Christiano Ronaldo using my second account.

Can I borrow your debit card so I can buy some new football boots at Sports Direct.

Is there anyone in the world stupid enough to believe that and send him their payment card details?

Apparently there is.

Unbelievable.

 

 

 

 

In Australia, the problems of scam email, text messages, calls and more are pretty much the same as in the UK and USA.

But the Australian government is fighting back. Their efforts to reduce scam calls have worked well. “In the first 16 months after the Reducing Scam Calls code was put in place, telcos reported blocking over 549 million scam calls to Australian phone numbers, and there has been a dramatic drop in scam call complaints.

Now it’s time to go after the scam text messages.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) registered new rules to require telecom companies to identify, trace and block SMS scams.

The ACMA worked closely with the Communications Alliance to develop the Reducing Scam Calls and Scam Short Messages industry code in response to evidence that SMS scams are increasing in prevalence and impact.

“These scam messages are deeply frustrating to Australians because they are received on devices that are an essential part of our social and economic lives. Almost every Australian adult and business is affected. We shouldn’t have to screen messages and adopt workaround behaviours to be able to feel safe and stay connected”

The harder we make it for scammers, the less Australians are likely to be targeted.”

“We expect to see SMS scams reduce as industry step up to do more to protect their customers,” she said.

Under the rules, telcos must also publish information to assist their customers to proactively manage and report SMS scams, share information about scam messages with other telcos and report identified scams to authorities.

Combating SMS and identity theft phone scams is an ACMA compliance priority, and telcos will face penalties of up to $250,000 for breaching ACMA directions to comply with the new code.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

The title is “Add this flower to your diet and burn double the calories”.

So, it’s yet another diet scam with some supposed magic ingredient.

Forskolin is made from the root of a plant in the Mint family and it is native to Nepal, India and Thailand.

It has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine and some believe it helps weight loss, asthma and a variety of other medical problems.

But there is very little evidence that it has any effect.

The scammers do like using new names for their supposed magical ingredient and Forskolin is a good candidate.

The use of language in the email is very odd

E,g, “you’ve probably heard how great it can be to get your body back”

And “There was a recent discovery that can put your body into Forskolin”

The title claims you can burn double the calories and later on it claims “you can even drop 5x more then before”.

Maybe the scammer wants to put off anyone with an IQ about 20 or maybe the language problems are due to poor translation.

Either way, it is just a scam of course.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

“Medic Feet” the new solution to any pain problem. Use the magic of acupuncture but without needles. You just wear these special sandals and all pain will vanish.  There’s lots of sandals on the market with pressure bumps that stimulate acupuncture points and it’s possible they will help some people’s circulation etc. but they cannot be honestly described as the solution to all pain. Never buy from idiots who promise far too much. 

A typical phishing email arrives titled “Attn: Verify Your Records”. It claims that’s due to Equifax’s latest security breach, my records have been compromised and I must login to verify. The email is from streamingmovie.site which is obviously not Equifax. No thanks.

“The Bible Has Cracked The Code for Longer Life”. There are lots of these crackpot emails aimed at Bible believers and this one says the bible mentions a specific nutrient that inhibits aging and can reverse todays deadliest diseases. You just have to click the link to get full details. Typical brainless rubbish.

There seems to be a permanent battle in the USA between those wanting everyone to have open access to firearms and those who want more controls on who and when people can have such weapons.  A latest set of emails exhort people to take out a concealed weapons permit before the government makes it more difficult. The email explains that anyone can fill in the fast track online form and will get a concealed weapons permit unless they are an illegal drug user or have a criminal record.  Is it really that easy? Who knows? But it is madness to try to push people to get further into weapons use without very good reason.

A new summer heat busting portable AC device claims to be taking the United States by storm.  And of course you need to get one before they are sold out. Some of these messages are just spam adverts by people who have bought up a batch of portable AC device but many are scams – no products to sell, just someone who wants your name, address and credit card information. Only buy from reputable sources.

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja.