Stupidest Spam of the Week Magic Fruit

There are endless health remedy scams – everything from lost Tibetan herbs that make you superhuman to teas that cure cancer to vegetables that reverse every known ailment and so on with whatever fantasy remedy the scammers can think up.

Everyone beyond a certain age has vision problems – usually correctable with spectacles but for some much more severe.

This latest scam is about a magic fruit – one slice before bed each night will give you a sudden 100% improvement in your eyesight. ”imagine being able to see twice as well, instantly”.

The phrase ‘see twice as well’ doesn’t really have any meaning as it depends which facet of sight is being talked about.

The email goes into raptures about doctors falling off their chairs after this fruit fixed people’s eyes in just 15 minutes.

The picture of the fruit is a little odd as it is deliberately out of focus but appears to be a fig. Nice though they are, there’s nothing magical about figs and they certainly don’t fix long term eyesight problems instantly.

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SpamArrest

SpamArrest is an online service that claims to protect your mailbox from 100% of spam messages.

Their motto is “Take Control of Your Inbox!”

www.spamarrest.com

Key Features

  • Patented challenge/response technology blocks 100% of automated spam.
  • Get a new email address ([email protected]), as well as protect your existing mailboxes.
  • Access your email using POP3/IMAP-compatible program such as Outlook or Eudora, or from anywhere using the webmail system.

More Features:

  • SMTP is a standard protocol used for sending email and when you send email through the Spam Arrest SMTP server or webmail, the person you are sending email to is automatically added to your whitelist.
  • Protect and consolidate up to 5 of your existing email accounts into one spam-free mailbox.
  • 1GB mail storage
  • Whitelist options – You can authorize incoming messages based on sender email, sender domain, recipient email, mailing list email, and more.
  • Disposable email addresses available
  • Anti-virus protection
  • Anti-phishing protection
  • Customizable challenge email Add a custom message to the challenge email that is sent to unknown senders.
  • Mailbox forwarding Forward your Spam Arrest inbox to another email account or wireless device.
  • Confirmed email delivery Find out when people read the email that you sent to them.
  • Mail delivery rules Automatically perform various actions (discard, forward, copy/move to folder) upon the arrivals of new email, based on specified criteria.

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

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Missed Parcel Delivery Card

parcel graphic

Huge numbers of parcels are delivered by Royal Mail and if you’re not at home when the postman calls then she leaves a card telling you where and when  you can pick up the item and a phone number for more information.

But scammers have been creating fake ‘missed delivery” cards that look very similar to the original Royal Mail version which is called the ‘Something For You’ card.

The scammer posts the fake card through your door and hopes that you phone the number on the card.

If you do, it’s a very expensive call to a long recorded message and you will may only notice when your phone bill arrives just how expensive it was.

There are other variants on this scam, including one where the delivery is claimed to be highly valuable and you must phone urgently or one where you have to phone and pay a charge for re-delivery. Of course there is no such item.

Take care before calling the number on any mail delivery cards put through your letter box.

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

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Social Media Accounts For Sale

People buy and sell social media accounts – for a variety of reasons and you might think this is illegal, but it isn’t. Some consider such accounts to be assets, and some go the trouble of creating and beefing up social media accounts in order to maximise the sale price.

This is definitely sketchy behaviour and immoral in many cases, but not illegal.

This largely relates to Facebook accounts but there is a market for new accounts with all of the social media networks.

Some Reasons Why People Buy Social Media Accounts

  • Advertising and Marketing companies. Facebook can impose restrictions or ban dodgy advertising. Hence, these companies can use a lot of accounts to run advertising campaigns on multiple accounts simultaneously and when accounts are limited or stopped by Facebook, they switch to other accounts.
  • Social media accounts traders and retailers. There are people and companies that make it their business to buy and sell accounts.
  • Anonymous users. Some users want to hide their identity perhaps due to unpleasant experiences online or perhaps for nastier reasons.
  • IT companies may need multiple accounts to test their tools and APPS.
  • Spammers filling the Internet with garbage no-one wants to read.
  • Scammers sending out their illegal messages to cheat people.
  • Fake news purveyors.
  • Conspiracy theorists.

Facebook accounts have higher prices if they are old. The older the account, the higher the price. Some accounts on Facebook can even cost several hundred dollars.

Buying these used accounts is not illegal but it does violate Facebook’s policy and terms and conditions. If you buy or sell you may be penalised by Facebook.

Example Prices

  • A basic Facebook account with some details may cost a few dollars.
  • A more detailed Facebook account that has been verified may cost more like $10
  • An established Facebook account with followers and posts may cost more especially if registered as an American user.

The more subscribers an account has then the more valuable it can be.

Do not buy or sell any social media accounts. Whatever you want them for – there are probably better ways to get and use such accounts.

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

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Klarna Identity Theft

This type of identity theft is common on retail sites that allow payment services such as Klarna, Ladbuy or Clearpay. These are chosen because it’s easy to create an account using minimum information and with minimum checks involved.

Klarna offers three payment structures:

  • Pay 30 days later.
  • Pay in 3 i.e. spread the cost of your purchase equally over two months.
  • This lets you split your payments into monthly instalments over 6-36 months. It requires a full credit check and can charge interest – representative APR 18.9%, currently.

Identify Theft

The scam works by criminals stealing your personal details and then using them to create accounts with providers such as Klarna.

Stephanie McDaid told the BBC she received a £30 Klarna bill out of the blue one day, although she hadn’t bought anything. After contacting Klarna, it was confirmed she was a victim of identity fraud.

When customers sign up to Klarna financing thee is a ‘soft’ credit check i.e. only very basic.

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud and crooks have ordered goods in your name, check your credit report for any soft searches. Also report it to Action Fraud and contact the relevant company in question, e.g. Klarna, Ladbuy and Clearpay.

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

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