The return of the Nigerian scams

[Globalti]

I get the frozen bank account mail a couple of times a week. What really annoys me is that somebody seems to have worked out how to send me emails from my own email account, meaning I can't block them.

The Nigerian 419 fraud emails have died down; that particular seam of naivety must be almost mined out by now. However I am worried about the poor Naija astronaut who's stuck in the ISS because loss of dollar revenue from oil exports means Nigeria can't afford to bring the poor chap back.

 

[classic33]

I get the frozen bank account mail a couple of times a week. What really annoys me is that somebody seems to have worked out how to send me emails from my own email account, meaning I can't block them.

The Nigerian 419 fraud emails have died down; that particular seam of naivety must be almost mined out by now. However I am worried about the poor Naija astronaut who's stuck in the ISS because loss of dollar revenue from oil exports means Nigeria can't afford to bring the poor chap back.

All his pay still being paid into his Maltese bank account?

Thought it was Salyut Space Station?

 

[DaveReading]

Anyone catch the Bob Servant emails series on Radio 4 last year? Really made me smile.

One of the funniest books I've read for years.

 

[jefmcg]

I get the frozen bank account mail a couple of times a week. What really annoys me is that somebody seems to have worked out how to send me emails from my own email account, meaning I can't block them.

Just for the record, it's trivial to send emails that appear to come from any account you like (including the recipients). If it's done through a commercial email program, you will be able to see that the actual sender was someone else if you look at the raw message, but if someone is running their own SMTP server or more likely running one on a slave network, they could easily send email that looks (superficially) like it comes from you.

That doesn't mean it's easy to block, but spam removing software should be able to learn about it. Do you let your mail program move or delete spam?

That being said, I've just started seeing penis elargement emails for the first time in 10-15 years. Someone out the spamming world has worked out how to get around the anti-spam software I use (Spam assassin and Apple's built in Mail.app)

 

[Fnaar]

That being said, I've just started seeing penis elargement emails for the first time in 10-15 years. Someone out the spamming world has worked out how to get around the anti-spam software I use (Spam assassin and Apple's built in Mail.app)

Yeah, sorry about those, just testing my latest phishing techniques.
Prince Obadiah Ignorami

 

[Drago]

I get the 'locked iTunes account' email almost daily, despite not owning a single apple product. The worrying thing is that people do fall for this. Some are just schmucks, but many are elderly or vulnerable.

 

[ColinJ]

I get the 'locked iTunes account' email almost daily, despite not owning a single apple product. The worrying thing is that people do fall for this. Some are just schmucks, but many are elderly or vulnerable.

I know two intelligent but non-web-savvy people who gave remote access to a 'Microsoft technician' who rang them up and asked for it!

 

[jefmcg]

I used to wonder why so many phishing emails contained really really basic spelling and grammar errors. I can usually tell it's not from Barclays because they speak English there.

But I have read that they are deliberately poorly written, so they don't waste time with people who will see through the scam before it's paid out.

That being said, I once many years ago clicked on a link in a phishing email. I was lucky, the trap site had been taken down and I only got a 404 error page. I became more cautious after than.

 

[Drago]

 

[Cycleops]

Well, what's happened to the Nigerian scammers is that they are all pretending to be handsome US servicemen, mostly officers, who are looking for romance with a more mature European women, mostly British as they share a common language. Once they've suckered one they come up with some hard luck story which then turns into a plea for money to get them out of some fix. Unbelievably they ask for the money to be sent to Nigeria (alarm bells should be ringing) and the fall women duly oblige.
Easier work and more believable than working the old 'help me move this money into your bank ac' type scam.

 

[Drago]

Hold on Cycleops, you live in Africa and seem to know an awful lot about scamming mature women...

 

[Cycleops]

Hold on Cycleops, you live in Africa and seem to know an awful lot about scamming mature women...

In fact there's a very popular scam here in Ghana which involves people claiming to be able to get you gold at a much discounted price(Ghana is a gold producer). They then either trick you to buy a load of fake gold by letting you sample only a bit of the real stuff or arrange to meet you in a remote location and rob you.
I recently heard an American having a conversation on his phone with the scammers trying to fix up a meeting. I warned him but I don't think it sunk in.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I used to think my dad was Eddy Merckx as i had so may international benifactors wanting to give me money..boy bid he get around..
sadly all those millions never materialised.....shame

 

[Andy_R]

Haha, I like the no phone line bit of that. Can imagine the pidgin English speaker at the other end wondering what they've said wrong or misunderstood!

Nice bit of casual racism there.

 

[PaulB]

I feel sorry for you fools, I really do! Me, for instance, am even now awaiting more than £1.2 million to land in my account so you won't be laughing at me then, will you? All it cost me was £200 for the registration fee...and the slight delay in releasing the funds that I've just forwarded them £5,000 to trigger and then, THEN I'll be a millionaire! Obviously, if the £5,000 doesn't cover the unexpected request for 'supportive funds', I'll simply send them another £10,000 which will be a drop in the ocean compared to the £1.2 million I cannot afford to lose out on. All thanks to the great blessing of coming in to contact with Mrs. Blessed Akinfenwe. Does anyone want this sainted lady's details?