Types of scams

This is a disorganized list of 'stuff' that is usually a scam, or appears frequently in scams. I keep adding/fixing this page, sorry for the inconsistency. 

Recurring Subjects:

  • A Final Notification! It's so final they send it 500 times.
  • Your personal information is required to complete a transaction.
  • A company like FedEx requires intimate information like your gender to ship you a package.
  • Your personal friend recommended you to this anonymous person for a business matter.
  • A company you regularly do business with needs you to click the link in this email to contact them.
  • They are seeking confirmation to add you to their mailing list.
  • Looking for 10 (or 9, or 12, etc.) lucky people for an amazing, huge income job.
  • You have a secret admirer! An ecard was sent to you.
  • A sad, desperate, but hopeful post from someone who claims to know you and just want to help you with an amazing insider get rich quick scheme.
  • Your credit score has been modified, you better tell us all your personal info so you can find out.
  • You have just won a gift card to some store, or a laptop computer, or some airplane tickets! 
  • Paypal is going to shut down your account. Or, someone is logging onto your account. Or, someone has changed your password. Click these fake links in the email and enter your real password so we can steal it.
  • Your bank is canceling your account, log into this fake link/website to save your account.
  • Facebook has found you some love matches! You are so lucky!
  • Someone has commented on your photo! Ignore anything that claims to be from Facebook, even if it really is from Facebook.
  • Your good friend (who doesn't say who they are) thinks they saw you the other day and wants to get back in touch. 
  • An email delivery failure notice from your email service provider, for an email you didn't send.
  • Someone is searching for you, don't you want to know who it is!!
  • Someone is warning you that they have personal information about you and they are going to do something with it if you don't contact them.
  • You have been approved for a loan or college grant. You are so lucky.
  • Your shipment status is being verified or is pending. 
  • Invoices for things you never purchased. 
  • Amazing lottery winning from some organization everyone knows is too heartless to give away money, like Microsoft, etc.
  • FBI checking with you about scams, you need to reply to some email address that is nowhere near an fbi.gov address like it should be. Like "bob@fbiadminoffice.gmail.com" in stead of "bob@fbi.gov".
  • Government of a scam country of origin, like Nigeria, trying to make good to victims of scams. (as if)

Content patterns:

  • Grammar so bad they either used a quick translation tool or really old charity grammar books to formulate their letters. 
  • Frequent or gratuitous use of odd characters when spelling words. For example: Saɱs Club Ǧift Card.
  • They refer to American money as "USD".
  • Overuse of ALL CAPS WORDS TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND HOW FREAKING IMPORTANT IT IS THAT YOU READ THEIR EMAIL!!!!
  • Their business matter must be kept confidential, it's a huge secret, that's why they blanket spammed it to internet strangers. (sarcasm)
  • Refers you to a news article on a mainstream website in order to verify their story and/or identity.
  • Tells you to check the attached document for more information.
  • It's in some foreign language, but gosh it looks important. Most likely in French or Spanish, as those are other languages targeted for English speaking regions. 
  • The email message content is blocked as a safeguard from your email provider.
  • They ask you to respond to the email listed in the message content and not to the sender address
  • There is a very short deadline to respond. Panic and act quickly before you have a chance to check to see if it's a scam.

7 comments:

  1. edword bella is a tosser

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I deleted his comments. Google will probably block him.

      Delete
  2. call to action /https://youtu.be/y_MjWoCx2GO

    ReplyDelete
  3. I received an email from the FBI informing me my email address was on a list that was a scam for winners of an international lottery, I never knew existed, & what action if any I needed to take to recover funds I invested. It was lengthy for an email but went on with a list of how to tell if it's a scam as well as Instructions to never reply to anything with personal information.
    It also cautioned about emails from people dying & wanting to send you their money requesting personal information & a fee to get funds. It warned about various email scams that require a fee to be paid to receive funds. Most emails of the this nature go straight to my junk mailbox which is deleted regularly..
    The FBI email came to my regular inbox. Since I never sent any money to play the scam lottery, I didn't have to fill out a fund recovery form. How legit this email was I cannot say even though the header had what looked like the FBI seal on it.
    I also received an email stating an FBI agent was acting as a courier for funds I knew nothing about & the agent kept texting wanting me to pay a $200 fee for my package delivery. What a crock!
    I received another email from Bill Gates stating (a link was provided) I was chosen to receive funds from his charity organization. He wanted me to confirm a conformation number, also provided, that I'd need to receive the funds along with other instructors.
    I honestly detest emails from places I didn't subscribe to & all of the 3rd party bs & ads. Unsubscribing is a long process due to the multiple servers used. You have to unsubscribe to each one on every server individually. Somehow they show back up a couple of weeks after initial unsubscribe action.
    Nearly everything requires a valid email address to gain access on to a website. I read all of the terms & conditions & privacy statements before I subscribe. Aside from the opt out feature you can't escape the cookies & 3rd party crap.
    I'm seriously considering deleting my email accounts & starting over.
    Some things I've subscribed to now have apps, so I'm wondering is this a better way to go or is it all the same?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sorry that happened to you, but at the same time I'm laughing. I just think it's funny that these idiots think the FBI emails people, INSTEAD of paying them a visit to their residents or a phone call. haha! Morons have no idea sometimes.

      Delete
  4. I think I'm being scammed, in saying I'm entitled to inheritence, and they sent me an affidavit, death certificate, deposit certificate, for s9 million usd, the deceased is ' Mr Evans Councillor.

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