This new scam knows you

I am rarely impressed with scams these days. Most of them are the same thing. There is the "hold my money for me, and I will give you a percentage" scam. There is the "you inherited money" scam, and many others. But this one is different. It is simple, yet tricky. If you aren't paying attention you might fall for this one.
The biggest issue with this scam is that it is very wisely targeted. The name in the "from" section of the email was my fathers name, However, I set up all of my fathers email accounts, so I know that the email address is not his.
The scam then asks "Is this what we discussed the other day?" If I wasn't suspicious over the obviously fake email, I may have just gone ahead and clicked on this. However, seeing the link URL, it is clear that this is not only a bad URL, but it is also directed specifically at me (my name is in the URL).
I found no info searching for the owner of the URL or the email address. So, If you receive something similar, consider it a phishing attempt.

This Court Scam is easy to spot

Dear Dave,

This is to inform you to appear in the Court on the February 22 for your case hearing.
Please, do not forget to bring all the documents related to the case.
Note: If you do not come, the case will be heard in your absence.

The copy of Court Notice is attached to this email.

Regards,
Benjamin Michael,
Clerk of Court.

I received the above email yesterday. attached to it was a zip file that contained a virus. This email scam has 2 clever tactics, but a bunch of easily spotted flaws.

Clever Tactics

For starters, this scam uses my name to address me. This tactic lends a bit of credit to it's claim of being official. However, my name is part of my e-mail. Therefore it takes no effort to find it. The email also uses a coming date for the "court case" that creates urgency, as well as informing me that if I do nothing, I may have problems because the case will be heard in my absence.

Obvious signs of a scam

This email is, however, an obvious scam. For starters, there is only my first name used (exactly as it appears in my email address) an official communication from a court would use my full name. You would also see more information about the court in an official email (such as the type of court: civil, criminal, etc, and the location of the court. (ex Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois) An official court document would also have contact phone numbers.

Considering the fact that many people (even in this day and age) do not have internet access, official court documents, and summons still come in the normal mail. Any email that claims to be a court summons should be considered suspect. If it has a phone number, call it to determine if it is legitimately from a court. If it says what court it is from, look up that court separately and call them. If there is an attachment... don't open it.

The FBI - FATF cam

Here is another example of a scam that try's to steal from you through fear. It claims to be from the FBI, and claims that if you don't get back in touch with them, you will be arrested for money laundering.
The main giveaway that this is a scam is the e-mail address that they give you to reply to. It is obviously not official. Even if the address did look official this still looks suspect. However, since it is claiming criminal activities, and these days it is better to be safe then sorry, I did one thing to verify that this e-mail is fake. I called the FBI. It is easy to find their real number. Look on their webpage. Don't follow links in the e-mail, or open attachments. just search for the real FBI office closest to you (use Google, or any other search engine) and give them a call.

Scam e-mail below:

Federal bureau of investigation
Field Intelligence Unit
J. Edgar Hoover building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, USA.

Urgent Attention: Beneficiary

I am special agent Mark A. Morgan from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Field Intelligence Unit, we have just intercepted and confiscated two (2) trunk boxes at John F Kennedy airport in New York, and are on the verge of moving it to our bureau headquarter.

We crosschecked the content of the boxes and found it to contain a total sum of $4.1 million and also backup documents which bears your name as the receiver of the money contained in the boxes, investigations carried out on the diplomat which accompanied the boxes into the united states has it that he was to deliver this funds to your residence as payment which was due you from unpaid contract, inheritance, lotto, loan, etc.

We cross-checked all legal documentations in the boxes, and were about to release the consignment to the diplomat, when we found out that the boxes is lacking two very important documentation which as a result, the boxes has been confiscated and kept in our security vault.

According to section 229 subsection 31 of the constitution ratified in 1992, your consignment lacks proof of OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATE AND LEGAL DELIVERY PERMIT CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE from the joint team of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation and homeland security and therefore you must contact us for direction on how to procure the two certificates, so that you can be relieved of the charges of evading tax which is a punishable offense under section 12 subsection 441 of constitution on tax evasion.

You are therefore required to get back to me on this email {agmarkamorgan01@superposta.com} within 72 hours, so that i will guide you on how to get the needed documents. Failure to comply with our directive may lead you into problem; you may be arrested, interrogated and prosecuted in the court of law for money laundering.

We may also get the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering involved if you do not follow our instructions. You are also advised not to get in contact with any other institution, since your funds are here now in the United States of America and can be delivered to any country of your choice once you secure those required documents.

Yours in service

Agent Mark A. Morgan
Regional director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
E-mail: agmarkamorgan01@superposta.com

The Lilly Hill Scam

Here is another attempt to infect your computer with malware. The e-mail came with an attached .zip file claiming to be my invoices. When opened it most likely contains malware. If this was a real e-mail, you can rest assured the company that thinks I owe them money would have the company name, info, and why I am supposed to owe them money as well as contact info clearly visible in the e-mail. Why? Because real companies know that most people won't open attachments from people they do not know.

And that is the Tip of the Day:

• If you don't know who sent you an attachment, don't open it.

Scam e-mail Below:

Please find attached your invoices for the past months. Remit the payment by 02/04/2013 as outlines under our "Payment Terms" agreement.

Thank you for your business,

Sincerely,
Lilly Hill

This e-mail has been sent from an automated system. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.

The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify your representative immediately and delete this message from your computer. Thank you.

Bank of America Scam

This scam is tricky. It claims that a large sum of money has been deposited into my Bank of America account. The receipt is attached, and if there is any error, I should contact them. I would say there is a 99.999% chance that the attachment contains malware. Why would I think that? 

1. I do not have an account with Bank of America.

2. If I check the return address on the e-mail (which is labeled "Bank of America" the actual adress is miniaturesck34@gmail.com).

If you get an e-mail like this, don't open the attachment. call your bank (if you have a BofA account).

Scam e-mail Below:

Transaction is completed. $9142 has been successfully transferred.
If the transaction was made by mistake please contact our customer service.
Receipt on payment is attached.

*** This is an automatically generated email, please do not reply ***
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender Opens in new window
© 2013 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved

Another DHL Scam

So this came in the mail today with an attachment (that I am pretty sure has malware on it). I really appreciate the threat at the bottom about charging me $8.26 per day if I do not claim it. That would be illegal. The email looks very nice, and has all sorts of links that will probably take you to fake sites that ask for credit card numbers or other things they can use to steal your identity. I've attached a screenshot.


Scam e-mail Below:

DHL notification

Our company’s courier couldn’t make the delivery of parcel.

REASON: Postal code contains an error.
LOCATION OF YOUR PARCEL: New York
DELIVERY STATUS: sort order
SERVICE: One-day Shipping
NUMBER OF YOUR PARCEL: ETBAKPRSU3
FEATURES: No

Label is enclosed to the letter.
Print a label and show it at your post office.

An additional information:

If the parcel isn’t received within 15 working days our company will have the right to claim compensation from you for it’s keeping in the amount of $8.26 for each day of keeping of it.

You can find the information about the procedure and conditions of parcels keeping in the nearest office.

Thank you for using our services.
DHL Global

A Chinese Scam?

I'm not really sure if this is a scam, or if people in China haven't quite figured out e-mail marketing. Either way, I've been getting dozens of these emails recently, so I decided to share.

Suspect e-mail below:

贵公司你好： 本公司可代开全国各大城市部分的普通发票，
如：商品销售. 广告.服务.建筑安装等等发票，
税率按(0.3-1%)%计算，可先开票给贵公司验证后付款，
贵司如有需要。详细请来电洽谈。
代理人：李嘉玲
联系电话： 13622386616
联系Q Q：876754824
如有打搅，请见谅！谢谢！

Using Google Translate, this comes out to:


Company Hello: the Company on behalf of ordinary invoice open in major cities nationwide part
: Merchandise sales advertising. Services construction and installation invoices
The tax rate (0.3-1%), can be billed to your company verified payment
Your company if necessary. For details, please call to discuss.
Agent: Li Jialing
Tel: 13622386616
Contact Q Q: 876 754 824
If disturbed, and please forgive me! Thank you!

If you search the number on google, it seems this is a scam of some sort.