"if it seems too good to be true, it IS."
if you only remember one maxim your entire life, this is the one.
hi, i'm a total stranger and i'm going to give you 22.5 million euros. does the maxim apply??
of course it does. this is a scam. fortunately, it's insanely easy to spot. ANY stranger offering u a large sum of money is scamming u.
the most popular form of this scam is the Advance Fee Fraud scam, and as many Nigerians were involved in the beginning, it's often called the "419 scam" for reasons explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_fraud
if you even slightly unclear on why a stranger offering u a vast sum of money is a scam, please, PLEASE read this. it is comprehensive.for example, SEAJ's experience is explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_fraud#SMS_messages
of course, the Net and mobile-texts have opened new avenues for the scammers. the reason u NEVER reply to a scammer, for any reason, is because u are proving yr email address is valid. they harvest email address-lists and blast out millions of emails--those that can be proven ACTIVE can be sold for a higher price. just...say....DELETE.
happily, the Net has provided opportunities for "scambaiters." these are people who counterscam the scammers. this is dangerous business, but ppl who know what they are doing tie up the scammers' time and resources, thus hindering them from working a REAL scam on some poor soul. some of these accounts are hilarious...the baiters have accomplished things you wouldn't believe. scammers exploit greed, so baiters use the same technique. people have gotten criminals to TATTOO THEMSELVES as proof of their commitment. they consider the ultimate compliment to be when a scammer drops his guard (there are few female scammers, although many pose as women) and sends them a hate-filled email when they realize they've been COUNTERscammed.
another essential read is here:
http://www.419eater.com/html/ethics.htm
not unlike 141, it is its own world with a lot of activities going on. note we are talking about letter/email-type scams, NOT about cybercrime. technical scams like phishing, spearphishing, social engineering and other more sophisticated scams are out there. TT is right when he says to check the URL carefully. but, it's better practice to just DELETE.
i'm not going to get into detail, but i will post some security links...
http://www.schneier.com/ (he's US-centric but exceptional. subscribe to Crypt-O-gram, it's free)
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/ (UK firm, outstanding ongoing exposure of scams. Graham Clueley is the most prolific here but they've assembled a great squad).
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/
this company is another top-shelf security firm: headquartered in Finland, with a branch office in Kuala Lumpur...u heard about that "iPhone tracker-location thingie"? OK, now read F-Secure's Mikko Hypponen break it down for u, this is tech-security-journalism at its best:
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002145.html
as u might guess from its Finnish roots, F-Secure spends a lot of time researching mobile-phone viruses.
this is a lot to take onboard but remember:
- if it sounds too good to be true...
- whenEVER u get an email claiming to be from eBay/PayPal/a bank claiming there's been a security breach, yr acct's been compromised, anything designed to ALARM you, it's almost certainly a scam. do NOT click. call yr bank, or contact eB/PP directly if u think there's any validity. remember: stay CALM. did YOU initiate a transaction, or did an email come out of the blue?
- keep personal data as private as possible. social networks are magnets for scammers.
the more u read and educate yourself, the calmer u are, the more difficult it will to scam u. the scammers will move on to the next target.
finally, if you really want to gain more knowledge, read one of Kevin Mitnick's books. he invented social engineering and his explanations of the multiple scams he's pulled (he went to jail, and is now working on the other side) is fascinating. and if u want to see a fictional version of a complex scam done as a feature-length film, track down a copy of David Mamet's THE SPANISH PRISONER (
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120176/). the less you know about this film, the better the experience. other Mamet films are based all or in part on scams, but TSP is seamless.
yes, it's a long way from an SMS message to a feature film, but scams are very real, and if these guys get yr contact details u can expect to spend A LOT of time fending them off. educate yourself. read. relax. delete. stay safe out there.
JtB
