Time-Wasters Update

“Warning – Your Anti-Virus Exipres Today” is an email claiming to be from McAfee anti-virus. However, note the misspelling of the word “Expires”. Not from McAfee – just a stupid scammer.

A message from ‘Samantha Sloane’ claims we haven’t paid an invoice from some weeks ago and still owe her the payment. The email doesn’t show any company name and the sender’s email address is actually XY00qcyNFWv which is obviously a made-up one. Plus, her email address is an Indonesian one whereas the fake address at the bottom of the email is a village near Reading. Pathetic lies.

“Power-Saving trick”. “The hidden switch that even big energy execs are using 24/7”. Seems like a typical conspiracy based email trying to convince idiots of some ridiculous scheme. The message goes on to claim that ‘most’ homes have this magic switch and it can save you at least 53% in the first month. There is no such magic switch in homes unless you consider the Off switch to be magical. Anyone can save as much as they want to by simply turning off electrical items. Live without electricity and cut your bills. Not exactly a practical answer for most but no magic involved.

Wowee!!! I’ve won the Spanish lottery to the tune of £?????. The email doesn’t actually say how much I have won – there is an attachment to open to get that information. Of course I didn’t enter the Spanish lottery so cannot possibly have won it, plus the sender’s email address is a personal one at Gmail so she is a scammer not an employee of the Spanish lottery. The email says I must contact a lawyer named “Dr. Call Patrick Gomez” who also has a personal Gmail account. The scammer didn’t proof read her scam message properly. I wont be opening any attachments. Shame I didn’t win but then I didn’t enter it.

Yet another magic answer to curing yourself of diabetes. This one goes on about a natural solution found by ex diabetics needing no diet or medication but the message gives no information. It’s just a pitch to get people to watch a video clip. Dumb

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

August 12, 2022

Do Not Respond to Scam Emails

We all get masses of scam and spam emails on everything from supposed invoices to be paid to an unexpected win on a lottery you never entered to the closure of some bank account you probably don’t have to a fortune waiting for you at some international airport.

You may want to reply and tell the lying cheating thieving scammer what you think of him or her or perhaps you want to stop that person and think that telling the Police is the best idea.

What Happens if You Reply to a Scam Message?

It is quite possible that nothing will happen as most scam emails have return email addresses that go nowhere or go to someone whose email address was hijacked for sending out the scam messages, so that innocent person may receive your vitriolic reply.

However, in most cases the following is likely to happen

Replying to the message tells the scammer that the email address is active so it goes on their “active” email spam address list for sale to other scammers and that results in many more scam messages to you.
If you bothered to give a detailed reply to the scammer then he or she may take the time to read it and use the information you provided to judge which types of scam you are most likely to fall for, then your name goes at a higher price to scammers looking for your type of person.
Now the scammer knows that a real person responds at your email address he or she can search for you on the Internet. That will give the scammer more information about you – maybe where you work, your interests, friends and relatives, possibly your address etc. This is all useful for identity theft scams so you may become a target for those scams.

This carries on – there is a lot a scammer can glean from your reply, so it’s really best not to reply however strongly you feel offended by the scams these people perpetrate.

So, What Do You Do?

If it’s a financial scam then report it the FCA at https://www.fca.org.uk/contact#contact-form

Otherwise you can report the scam to the government at [email protected]

They can do little about individual scams but build up records of scams and can pass information on to the relevant Police force where appropriate

Don’t reply to scammers – it just makes their job easier.

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

August 10, 2022

Facebook Listens to Your Conversation

People have wondered for some time how Facebook works out what adverts to serve up to which people and sometimes an advert that’s a little too accurate may turn up. That’s sets people wondering whether Facebook listens in on their phone conversations and there’s anecdotal evidence that seems to make the point.

At congressional hearings, when Senator Gary Peters asked Mark Zuckerberg (head of Facebook) if Facebook listens to users through their cell phone microphones in order to collect information with which to serve them adverts, Zuckerberg said “No.”

How Facebook Collects Information

The Facebook APP does request microphone permissions for any videos you post, as well as to identify music or TV shows when you use the “Listening to” status feature, but does not listen to your conversation.

It starts with your Facebook profile plus everything you post on Facebook. Facebook tracks you through Like buttons on other web pages. This is even true for people without a Facebook account.

It also:-

Uses data from its other APPS – Instagram and WhatsApp
Tracks data from APPS within Facebook e.g. quizzes
Tracks when you use your Facebook login to access other websites
Maintains shadow profiles on people who don’t use Facebook.
Records unique phone identifiers through in-app advertising to associate your identity across the different devices you use.
Tracks your location constantly
Tracks your purchases

If you have ever been surprised by a Facebook advert for a product popping up right after you were talking out loud about it, it may be that Facebook has learned too much about you but it won’t be from your conversations.

Most people dislike adverts but understand that advertising fund the websites and services and APPS so is a necessary ‘evil’. Some prefer adverts that are relevant whereas others find that creepy or intrusive.

However, most do accept that targeted advertising is likely to become more prevalent and more accepted.

Facebook don’t listen to your conversations, but they can collect so much information about us that it may seem that adverts can sometimes be too accurately targeted at you.

Do enter your email address and click on the subscribe button on top right to keep up to date with new posts.

August 8, 2022

The Account Approved Phishing Scam

You receive an email from Customer Service that says “Your Account Has Been Approved”.

Sounds good.

Hang on a minute – an account at which business?

The email doesn’t specify – there is no business name.

There is loads of stuff about IDs and passwords and congratulations etc. and the link they want you to click seems to be to www.account-uk.ga/UK/account

The suffix .ga means the website is registered in Gabon, West Africa.

The lack of a business name and the registration in West Africa point to the email being a scam. Plus the simple fact that I haven’t applied for any new accounts and hence cannot have been approved for an account I actually want, makes this abundantly clear.

The temptation with these emails is to click to find out what the account is – but don’t be tempted – it’s just a simple phishing scam whereby the website link takes you to a page that asks for more personal information. Plus, clicking the link will mark you as a gullible person suitable to be targeted for future scams.

These emails often name a well-known bank or other financial organization, large retailer, APPLE, Microsoft etc.

All scams.

Do not click the link.

Do leave a comment on this post – click on the post title then scroll down to leave your comment.

August 7, 2022

Stupidest Scam of the Week – Magic Bacteria

An email complete with pictures and a video clip tries to sell the idea that swallowing a lot of newly discovered bacteria will solve all of your teeth problems.

It supposedly fixes dental decay, cavities, bad breath, bleeding gums, teeth rot and anything you can think of to do with your teeth.

Something new that can help with one problem may be interesting but so many scammers feel they have to keep going – inventing more and more things their fantasy magic can fix.

‘Makes your teeth 20x stronger than before’ but also says that the bacteria help to reconstruct the original enamel on your teeth which would make them as strong as before, so a big difference there between as strong as before and 20x stronger than before.

‘Like a titanium shield against cavities and root infection’

‘some say their teeth are stronger than a dental implant’

Quite ridiculous.

There is no such bacteria and even if bacteria were discovered that can help to regrow the enamel layer on your teeth, swallowing them would be pretty stupid, as described in the email, as your teeth are in your mouth and not your stomach.

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

August 6, 2022

Timewasters Update

Another American scammer offers free electricity using some device you can make at home for free. It claims the secret is only known to a handful or people but also says that 72,512 patriotic Americans have already built the device and have free electricity for life. Confusing – not to the scammer offering the non existent device.

The message says I deserve an extreme Dewalt drill and CONGRATULATIONS. It claims to be from Last Minute Giveaway but the sender’s email address is random rubbish “259oldupd761amp41400d59” and its @segmatchno.com This is a simple phishing email with a link to click to confirm my acceptance of the prize. The link is labelled CONFOrmation Required. That’s to try to evade email scanning by the Internet provider and it also then has a page of supposed offers for dresses and lots of links to each dress but the links are all the same. Just another tactic to try to fool the automatic email scam filters.

Microsoft has a business product called SharePoint which is about people working together and managing content. An enterprising scammer is sending out messages using the domain name in the person’s email address and adding portal on the end then claiming there is a message witing on that SharePoint portal and you should click the link to receive the message. It’s just a phishing message – trying to get your login and password details. Always read emails carefully before clicking anything and if in doubt – do not click. Contact the sender by another means to verify if the message is genuine.

An email claims in big letters that I have won a $500 Shell gas card. With the price of fuel raising so much it’s no wonder more scammers than ever are offering such non existent rewards. Just a simple con trick – do not engage with such criminals.

“Do you think NASA knows everything when it comes to new technology?”. That’s the opening line in a scam email offering super cheap new power. There is a picture in the email but it just shows someone fitting a plug into a multi way extension lead. That happens in every household and is nothing to do with new magic technology that is too advanced for NASA. Pathetic.

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