this is nothing to do with cycling, but important none the less

[hopless500]

There seems to be a lot of them around at the moment. Getting loads at work claiming to be from Land Registry, HMRC and the like. They're not always obvious - I work in accounts and I'm getting remittance advice emails and invoice query emails with this stuff hidden in them too . Some have zip files, but not all. I had to get our IT bods to double check all the antivirus and firewalls just to make sure it was still all ok. Can't figure out how they are all suddenly getting through.

 

[colly]

I had one arrive a few weeks ago that was from my daughters e mail address.
I opened the mail and almost, almost, clicked the link. It suddenly dawned on me that she wouldn't send me just a link with no text, she would have at the very least said 'Hi' or 'look at this'.
Whatever it was would hijack the inbox of anyone who clicked the link and would send itself on to every one who had previously sent a e mail to that inbox. I don't know if it was a trojan or not but I know my daughter spent ages fending off returns of the same thing from all of her contacts.

So not so easy to spot as you might think.

 

[PeteXXX]

The quick check I do before opening any link in an email is to hover over the link and see where it's aiming at. FF and IE both show the destination at the bottom left of the screen.

 

[Rob3rt]

LMFAO, you fell for that?

 

[martint235]

No.

By that logic if someone is strong enough to take someone elses money by force then its the weaker persons fault for getting mugged because they arent strong enough to defend themselves.

No cos that's using force rather than intelligence. Basically every time you hand over money it's because someone used their intelligence to provide something you either didn't have the intelligence to provide or couldn't be a++++d to provide.

And let's face it a lot of the victims of scams are victims because of their own greed. Did anyone ever think "Ah that poor Nigerian. I must help him get his cousin's money out but I'll donate my share to charity"?

 

[stephec]

No cos that's using force rather than intelligence. Basically every time you hand over money it's because someone used their intelligence to provide something you either didn't have the intelligence to provide or couldn't be a++++d to provide.

And let's face it a lot of the victims of scams are victims because of their own greed. Did anyone ever think "Ah that poor Nigerian. I must help him get his cousin's money out but I'll donate my share to charity"?

When a con man knocks on a little old lady's door and convinces her that she should hand over her life savings to fix a non existant problem with her roof, is that all her own fault as well?

Personally I think that anyone who does that should be placed on said roof, and then booted as far as possible off it.

 

[PaulSecteur]

When a con man knocks on a little old lady's door and convinces her that she should hand over her life savings to fix a non existant problem with her roof, is that all her own fault as well?

Personally I think that anyone who does that should be placed on said roof, and then booted as far as possible off it.

Exactley what I was about to write!

I dont like this "forgive the scammer, forget the scammed" attitude.

And as for that "every time we buy something...." from an earlier post, thats an agreement between 2 sides that know whats exchanged and for what cost. A scam isnt.

 

[martint235]

quote="stephec, post: 2646436, member: 63"]When a con man knocks on a little old lady's door and convinces her that she should hand over her life savings to fix a non existant problem with her roof, is that all her own fault as well?
Personally I think that anyone who does that should be placed on said roof, and then booted as far as possible off it.[/quote]

Exactley what I was about to write!
I dont like this "forgive the scammer, forget the scammed" attitude.
And as for that "every time we buy something...." from an earlier post, thats an agreement between 2 sides that know whats exchanged and for what cost. A scam isnt.

A scammer has used their intelligence to persuade you that you want something they have and that you're willing to pay for. That's just the same as Tesco convincing you that their baked beans are better than Asda's.

As for the little old lady, is there a time when you become incapable of thinking "Ooh maybe there's something wrong with my roof, maybe I should get a second quote"? I'm not including physical intimidation here as that's just an element of force.

 

[stephec]

So you'd have the same opinion if someone knocked on your gran's door?

If we apply the same situation to a mentally handicapped person living alone would it then be the fault of whoever allowed them to live there alone, and not the fault of the thief?

 

[martint235]

So you'd have the same opinion if someone knocked on your gran's door?

If we apply the same situation to a mentally handicapped person living alone would it then be the fault of whoever allowed them to live there alone, and not the fault of the thief?

I'd be incredibly shocked if someone knocked on my gran's door! But if someone knocked on my 85 year old dad's door I know that he'd either call me or ask the guy who lives next door.

Who's fault is it if a mentally handicapped person uses a credit card to buy a £4000 television?

 

[Cush]

Some basic tips for spotting scams:

• Anything that doesn't quote your name is a scam ("Dear Customer" is a huge spam/scam giveaway) - anyone you have dealings with will know who you are and address you that way. (Beware of using your real name in your email address, as some scammers will use the part before the '@' as the name in the mail they send. I gets lots of spam / scams that start "Dear goo_mason")..

I have had several of these and have always ignored them but I am guilty of of an offence in your second line and as I have had the same email address for a long time. After reading the above I think I should change at least part of my email address. Not being computer savvy, how do I go about this with out changing my provider, which I don't want to do.

 

[stephec]

I'd be incredibly shocked if someone knocked on my gran's door! But if someone knocked on my 85 year old dad's door I know that he'd either call me or ask the guy who lives next door.

You know what I meant when I asked that question, but go on then, if your dad fell for it would your opinion be, "unlucky dad, but that guy was just too clever for you."

Who's fault is it if a mentally handicapped person uses a credit card to buy a £4000 television?

You've not answered the question there.
Totally different situation, if he fills in the application form correctly then he will have a card to use. If someone knocks on his door and cons him because of his mental capacity, who's fault is it then?

 

[asterix]

I'm kind of with Ian on this. Plus if you're clever enough to devise a scam that people actually fall for, don't you deserve their money?

Yes obviously. That is how banks work.

 

[martint235]

You know what I meant when I asked that question, but go on then, if your dad fell for it would your opinion be, "unlucky dad, but that guy was just too clever for you."



You've not answered the question there.
Totally different situation, if he fills in the application form correctly then he will have a card to use. If someone knocks on his door and cons him because of his mental capacity, who's fault is it then?

I'm confident that my dad wouldn't fall for it. If he did then yes unfortunately he's come across someone cleverer than him. However this is a guy who talks to insurance salesmen for upwards of an hour asking them if they can insure his cave.

Define "cons". If someone persuades a mentally handicapped person to part with their money (or a credit cards money) to purchase something is that a con if they are aware of the person's status?

 

[chriss2.0]

After reading the above I think I should change at least part of my email address. Not being computer savvy, how do I go about this with out changing my provider, which I don't want to do.

it depends on your email provider,
you basically find your name on the page (usually top right)
click on that, and you should get the option to change your "account settings" click on that
look for ur email on the page, and somewhere it should give you the option to change or add ur address