The Expert Bets Scam

An email pops up titled something like “The Betting Experts team”.

But it’s from bettingexperts.faith which means it’s a scam as “.faith” internet addresses are obviously meant for Churches and other faith organisations. Betting does not qualify.

The email says
“ I’m so glad you opened this.

The Betting Experts have just opened their doors to new members and you don’t want to miss out.

These guys consistently bring in$120,000 – $160,000 per year – and it’s no surprise with their combined expertise”

It goes on to promise you can make $2,400 in your first week. And they have just 50 spots to release.

So, it’s a typical “Something for nothing” scam but in fact you get nothing for your money.

There’s lots of ways they can make money out of this – the simplest being to take your money and provide nothing but the more cunning ones do give you something, in order to get more from you.

Imagine you pay just a starter fee and in return get a list of winning bets to make each week. If you lose then tough luck but if you win, then you have to pay them 10%

Sounds like you can’t lose. Of course you can as it’s really only they who cannot lose.

The recommended bets are just random chance – you can do better on your own.

And paying them 10% if you win – is money for nothing.

No wonder they claim to make $120,000 – $160,00 per year. It’s from idiots who buy into their scheme where the only winners are the scammers.

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April 11, 2021

Stupidest Spam of the Week Cuckoo Clocks

Scammers pick a new item to supposedly sell and go mad on sending out floods of emails about this new product.

These scams are very easy to pick out

Sent from randomly generated email addresses e.g. gr56wxiop02mc3dvb
Emails sent from a series of often ridiculous domain names e.g. momiiesbestwithout.com or morninghubbbb.com
Poor grammar (to put off any sensible people as they are more difficult to scam)
Lots of simple phrases that look like they have been randomly rearranged (because that is what happened) e.g.
1. Decoration accessories clocks
2. Bird goes out with sound every hour
3. Log cabin wall clock
4. Material: wood
5. You need to order this?
Emails sent to addresses from spam lists
The return email address for information is different to the senders address

Always buy from reputable sources and never from unsolicited emails

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April 10, 2021

Time-Wasters Update

Karen has sent us our January bill and wants the £170.93 that we owe, to be paid straightaway. She says she sent us the bill in January and it’s now 30 days past due. It’s all lies of course – these criminals send out fake invoices by the million in the hope that some busy person will pay the bill rather than stopping to question it.

An email from Rhetorik Limited which is a data broker. The message claims to spell out their collection and use of data about me. However, all they actually have is a first name, plus the email address they sent this message to is one created by spammers so there is no such person. Pathetic. Do not respond to such messages as they are simply trying to gather data by provoking responses.

An email security alert arrives in the inbox. It says we must verify the account as otherwise it cannot be upgraded free of charge and instead will be suspended. The email account is actually one invented by a spammer selling email addresses and is caught in a catchall net. The message is from aunelas.com which is not the radio station or our email provider, so an obvious fake. These criminals are after your login and password so they can use them to steal from you.

Whoopee! We’ve been sent a Congratulations message as we have been picked in the Facebook Covid 19 Pandemic Grant Support and we have won $5 million. Facebook are greedy and nasty and only do anything when it benefits them, so the win is untrue. However, this is not anything to do with Facebook as the message is from ftbgrantsupport.com which is a scammer’s website.

An email claims to be from Melissa Luna but is signed off as Sgt Helen Scott – both lies as the message is actually from lun-908-az109 which looks like a computer generated random email address. The message is sent to ‘Undisclosed Recipients’ which means it’s been sent as mass email – probably to tens of millions of people. The message says “Hello Dear, I need your urgent assistance. Please respond immediately”. It’s just a meaningless message trying to get people to reply and they will then be pulled into a scam.

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April 9, 2021

Fact Checking Websites

It’s not difficult to build a website that copies or is similar to an established news website — and it’s easy to then post from it onto social media to encourage people to click to get to what they think is a reputable web site but may be the opposite.

Information can spread really fast but not as fast as conspiracy theories and fake news.

There is so much fake news, misinformation and conspiracy theory around and it’s up to each of us to filter the ‘information’ we take in. Judge everything in it’s context and how trustworthy the source is.

Anyone can publish anything they want subject to libel laws.

Here are some sites that can help identify the truth in amongst the dross and lies.

The BBC Reality Check

www.bbc.com/news/reality_check

This is quality journalism looking at recent claims by high profile figures and analysing the truth or lack of in their statements.

The BBC say “Worried about a story you’ve seen online or on social media? BBC Reality Check is a BBC News service dedicated to clearing up fake news and false stories to find the truth. Examining the facts and claims behind a story to try to determine whether or not it is true”.

Snopes (www.snopes.com/fact-check/)

Probably the oldest fact-checking site online is Snopes, which has been fact-checking weird stories since before Google had a search engine. They have a long record of being unbiased, showing their work, and keeping up the irreverent tone that true internet nerds love. They’re also great for everything from urban myths to political statements.

FactCheck.org (www.factcheck.org/)

If one of your hobbies is fact-checking the things politicians say, then FactCheck.org can be a big help. The site is a non-partisan “‘consumer advocate’ for voters” that monitors and checks the things people in politics say in “TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.”

Politifact (www.politifact.com/)

Politifact is another one for fact-checking what politicians say.

Washington Post Fact Checker (www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/)

Plenty of expert analysis alongside the fact-checking. The publication tends to lean liberal, but this tool has a reputation for being non-partisan. They also have a funny Pinocchio graphic that gauges just how big the lie really is.

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

April 8, 2021

Ransomware as a Service

Software as a Service (SaaS) is common and is where companies or individuals pay a subscription to access software rather than actually buying it. This is how Microsoft 365 works – you pay a monthly or annual subscription to use Microsoft Office on your devices.

Unfortunately, criminals are now treating ransomware like this – with some criminal setups letting scammers make use of their ransomware for a subscription charge.

This makes it easier for the scammers who are less computer literate as they don’t need to make or buy the ransomware software.

The Coveware 2020 report shows that ransomware attacks have increased by 25 percent from Q4 2019 to Q1 2020. The monetary value of the average ransom payment has also increased from an average ransom of $41,198 to $84,116.

Ransomware is malware that once it gets onto a computer system encrypts information files and then issues a demand for a ransom to be paid or the decryption key to unlock those files will not be provided.

Payment is often demanded in Bitcoin or other untraceable methods.

Once infected with ransomware, it is very difficult for the victims to save their data and recently, these criminals have started to publish the information they find, onto the Internet as a way of embarrassing the owners and trying to force them to pay the ransom.

All computer systems should be protected against ransomware by the standard practices of

Making regular backups of all important files
Taking backups off site
Keeping anti malware up to date and installed on every device.
Maintain firewalls and all other protections against intrusion

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

April 7, 2021

Fake IDs

We all see criminals on TV shows and movies going to suspicious characters to have fake passports, driving licences, IDs etc. created for them.

Nowadays there are many companies on the Internet openly selling fake IDs – you may have seen adverts for these and wondered how this can be legal.

The companies advertise openly but their websites make it clear that the documents faked are for fun and entertainment only and many even warn that they must not be used to deceive anyone.

So that’s the get out clause.

Is it illegal or immoral for people to buy and use these fakes?

That depends on the situation – if you use a fake ID to play a joke on a relative or friend or something similar then no harm done but clearly if you’re underage and use a fake document to access alcohol then you are breaking the law.

Likewise with similar use of other documents and claiming it was just for fun won’t go down well with the Police.

These companies are engaged in activities they know will lead to cheating, so don’t support them.

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