Let your voice be heard

Are you one of those people who will stand up and say something about an issue that you think is wrong?  How do you go about finding others who also feel the same way that you do?  Blogs and social networking sites can be a great way for you connect with like minded people so that you can join together to try and make an impact to change the issues that are important to you.

Since I have a Twitter account I get a notification when I get a new follower, and I always check out that new follower's page to see if they are connected to any resources that might be a good fit to team up with.  Here are a few recent ones that I wanted to share with you.

 LoanFraudVictim - This Twitter user has a website at http://wellsfargomortgagefraud.com/ detailing the story of her battle to hold Wells Fargo accountable for the damage they did.

NetWatchDog - This Twitter user is from the website http://theinternetwatchdog.com/ which is filled with information on internet scams and fraud.

WFmortmodscam - Working to keep Wells Fargo Home Mortgage or another lender from stealing your home? It's time to fight back! Blogging at wellsfargomortgagemodscam.com/blog/

BanksGoneBad - Florida mortgage pro who has seen banks fraudulently foreclose on homeowners as well as perpetrate fraud on investors and bond holders. I'm helping 2 fight back  http://banksgonebad.com/

Victims - Tell your story!

I will OFTEN get requests from media people for victims to share their story (on radio, tv or in print).  If you are a victim who would be willing to share your story, please contact me via email with your name, state you live in, and the type of scam you were a victim of (counterfeit check, romance, roommate, credit card fraud, 419, ID theft, etc.)


This can be a wonderful way for you to share your story and help to warn and educate other people about scams!

You can also find me at http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

A little humor

Another member of our message board told me about the "You might be a Nigerian scammer" list on EbolaMonkey.com, and I wanted to share parts of it with you.


You might be a Nigerian Scammer if . . .

YOU WRITE IN ALL CAPS.

You refuse to use spell check and think that Courier is the only font in the world.

You hate Americans.

You confuse American last names with first name. Ex. Smith Adam or Williams Brian

When someone asks you for a picture, you look for the nearest magazine. (or modeling website)

You always put DR. in front of your name, no matter what the situation. Even if you are not a doctor.

You become extremely angry when you catch someone lying, even though everthing about you and what you are doing is a lie.

You have trouble keeping your lies straight.

You introduce yourself as a Prince or a King.

Your father or husband was a Nigerian General.

The new President of Nigeria is seeking vengence on your family because your father or husband confirmed a life prison sentence on him when he was in charge.

People around you tend to get assassinated, poisoned, or killed in a plane crash.

You write in the most contrived, archaic, and atrocious English.

You try to capitalize off human misery (e.g. mutilations in Sierra Leone, the September 11th attacks)

You have $25-$100 million dollars just laying aroundatrocity

You address everyone as "friend" or "dear"

Everything is "confidential."

You are a prestigious International Banker and you have a Yahoo or Hotmail email address. Even if you are trying to be secretive, the best you can come up with is a yahoo email address because you aren't smart enough to log into register.com and register a fake domain name.

You are an ex-general who got converted to Christianity and now wants to make amends to God by sending a stranger the $ 25 million you stole from your country.

You are the wife of the deceased state employee whose husband stole all this $11, 000,000. but got converted to Christianity before his death and wants you to "invest it all in Christian work in the US to make amends for his sins against God.".

A contract was over invoiced/overcharged by $25 million and the money is now "floating" in a suspense account at the Central Bank of Nigeria under your sole control.

You have resolved to share 35% of your fortune with a complete stranger for taking absolutely no risk whatsoever.

You are The Chairman in charge of Minting and Printing at Central Bank of Nigeria and you control the Nigeria Remittance Office. Not only can you supply any document needed to prove these funds exist, you can also print any document needed to authorise release of the funds to a complete stranger.

All you require to make someone rich is YOUR NAME, COMPANY`S NAME, ADDRESS , TELEFAX NUMBER. YOUR BANK NAME ,ADDRESS, TELEFAX NUMBER. YOUR BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER AND BENEFICIARY NAME.

You are a high official at Nigerian Petroleum holding on to millions in over-billings.

You have a motorcycle for sale on EBAY for an extremely low price and your will to ship it for free for a small deposit of $2000.

By some strange coincidence You and your trusted barrister and/or other associate always read and write your emails mere minutes apart on the same computer.

You are a destitute political refugee living in a camp on the boarder of some country, but you still manage the daily trip to a cyber cafe in Logos, Nigeria in order to check your email.

When you get caught trying to scam someone, you use the "I'm doing this because the white man robbed me and made us Africans slaves" excuse. Even though you have no idea of the ethnicity of the person you are robbing, disregarding the possibility that you could be stealing from someone who has African ancestry.

You pose for a photo with a loaf of bread on your head

-dont know what these mean:
Ivannastiff Kockupmianus
Iama Dildo
Bendme Overand Dome
I Love Juanking
Will U Phystme
Iblowdudes
Anita Cox
Humpin Bois
Butt-Plugg

You "monitor" emails rather than read them.

Need money urgently so your child can have an vital operation tomorrow, for weeks.

Work for a African bank and can rip them off with just a USA bank account and $200.

Ask a stranger to help you secretly rip off a bank etc.

--------------

419 scams

I recently gave a presentation at a local high school, and when I was going over a list of different scams and said that 419 scams are the ones that most people think of when they hear the word "scam" the students looked at me and most of them did not know what I was talking about. I guess since I have gotten so deep into the world of scams I just assume that everyone knows about 419 scams. I guess that this is just more proof that we need Scam Education and Awareness Programs in our schools and communities to teach people about these scams.

What is a 419 Scam?

To break it down to the basics. these are the letters and email that claim to be from a Prince or Dignatary from another country who has a large amount of money that they need to get out of the country, and if you would be kind enough to help them they will share a portion of the money with you.  Another variation of the 419 scam claims that you have a relative that died and left you a large amount of money.  In either case, they will ask you to send them some money for "legal fees" to transfer the money.

The scammer may even tell you that they are dying or that there is some other urgent reason that they need to complete this transaction.  These are all just lies to pull at your heart and cause you to make rushed choices.

Here is an example of a 419 Scam email

DEARLY BELOVED

RE: PLEASE ENDEAVOUR TO USE IT FOR THE CHILDREN OF GOD.

Reply email to my private email:mommylinda@live.com or mrslindakunte01@gmail.com

Dearly Beloved,

ln my quest to locate a genuine God fearing person, a good friend and a partner to bring my dreams to a reality, l have decided to take the bold step to contact you via this medium, l would not like you to pick offence, that l am bothering you, since you do not have the slightest knowledge about me neither have we ever met.

I am MRS. LINDA KUNTE from Kuwait . I was married to DR HARRY KUNTE who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years, before he died in the year 2002. we were both married for thirty two years and we were blessed with an adopted male child, who is twenty five years old now.. My husband died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

Before his death we were both involved in charity services. Since his death I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which is against my principle. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $11.8 million eleven million eight hundred thousand u.s.dollars with a bank in Europe . Presently, this money is still with the bank in Europe for safekeeping.

Recently, my doctor told me that I would not last for the next three months due to my cancer problem..Though what disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition of health I have decided to donate this fund to charity, orphanage home or an individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein.

I want an individual that will use these funds to fund charity, orphanages and widows and to ensure that these set of people are well maintained. The bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that griveth. I took this decision because out of the vision God almighty gave to me and for my love for humanity and the less privilege people in the society, our only adopted son and my husband's relatives are well off and I don't want my husband's hard earned money to be misused by them.

As I do not want a situation whereby this money will be used in an ungodly manner. Hence the reasons for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death because l have lived a fulfilled life. As it is right now, I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health and also due to the presence of my husband's relatives around me always. I don't want them to know about this development. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the bank in the Europe .

I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as the original-beneficiary of this funds. I want you to see to the need of the less privileged. My happiness is that I lived a fulfilled life and l don�t have any regrets in life . Please note that any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for another individual as I stated herein.

For now I don�t want any calls from you because of the presence of my husband's relatives who are always around me and I don�t want them to know my plans. Do get in touch with me on my private email address mommylinda@live.com or mrslindakunte01@gmail.com for more details to proceed.

Hoping to hear from you soonest and do notify your interest to help me assist charity.May the peace and blessing of God be upon you and May God bless you as you respond to my plea.

Remain blessed.

Best Regards,
MRS. LINDA KUNTE

Scam mentioned on popular television

Does anyone watch the show Medium, about Allison DuBois who works for the DA's office and can see and hear people who have died and can pick up on things? Allison DuBois is a real person, and her gift has helped to solve many cases.

On the show this week her daughter Bridgette who also has this gift, runs into a man in the library using the computer every day. He is dressed as an African prince, or at least that is the way that he appears to the girl. She sees the name that he uses on an email account, and when her older sister is later complaining about the spam emails and mentions the same name Bridgette tells the family that she knows this guy and that he comes to the library all of the time. They family tried to tell Bridgette that it is a scam, and that he is just pretending to be a Prince with a lot of money and that in his emails he asks you to give him some money to help him get his money out of the bank that it is in.

(sorry . . . you have to watch the short ad in order to see the clip)



So, the next day Bridgette sees this guy at the library again and gives him all of the money she has (about $30 I think . . . remember, this is a girl in grade school) and she says he can take it to help him get his money and then he just has to pay her back when he does get her money.



The man later returns to the library to give Bridgette her money back saying that he cannot take money from a little girl, and that he had only been doing this type of thing for a few weeks. Don't we all wish that THIS part happened in real life!

I do think it is great that they are getting the word about the Nigerian scams out into the popular television shows. This one episode could have helped to educate a lot of people that this is a scam.

http://www.tv.com/medium/dear-dad-.../episode/1317709/summary.html?tag=ep_guide;summary

Social Networking Friend Scam

This is from a Press Release from the FBI today

No, Your Social Networking “Friend” Isn’t Really in Trouble Overseas

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), there has been an increase in the number of hijacked social networking accounts reported to www.ic3.gov.

One of the more popular scams involves online criminals planting malicious software and code onto to victim computers. It starts by someone opening a spam e-mail, sometimes from another hijacked friend’s account.

When opened, the spam allows the cyber intruders to steal passwords for any account on the computer, including social networking sites. The thieves then change the user’s passwords and eventually send out distress messages claiming they are in some sort of legal or medical peril and requesting money from their social networking contacts.

So far, nearly 3,200 cases of account hijackings have been reported to the IC3 since 2006.

Cyber thieves are also using spam to promote phishing sites, claiming a violation of the terms of service agreement or creating some other issue which needs to be resolved. Other spam entices users to download an application or view a video. Some of these messages appear to be sent from friends, giving the perception of legitimacy. Once the user responds to a phishing site, downloads an application, or clicks on a video link, the electronic device they’re using becomes infected.

Some applications advertised on social networking sites appear legitimate but install malicious code or rogue anti-virus software. These empty applications can give cyber criminals access to your profile and personal information. These programs will automatically send messages to your contacts, instructing them to download the new application too.

Infected users are often unknowingly spreading malware by having links to infected websites posted on their webpage without the user’s knowledge. Since the e-mail or video link appear to be endorsed by a friend, social networking contacts are more likely to click on these links.

Although social networking sites are generally a safe place to interact with friends and acquaintances, keep in mind these suggestions to protect yourself while navigating the Internet:

Adjust website privacy settings. Some networking sites have provided useful options to assist in adjusting settings to help protect your identity.
Be selective when adding friends. Once added, contacts can access any information marked as viewable by all friends.
Limit access to your profile to only those contacts you trust with your personal information.
Disable options, such as photo sharing, that you might not regularly use. You can always enable these options later.
Be careful what you click on. Just because someone posts a link or video to their wall does not mean it is safe.
Familiarize yourself with the security and privacy settings and learn how to report a compromised account.
Each social networking site may have different procedures on how to handle a hijacked or infected account; therefore, you may want to reference their help or FAQ page for instructions.
If your account has been hijacked or infected, report it to by visiting www.ic3.gov or www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center is a partnership between the FBI and National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

Mrs Bernie Madoff

Well guess who I got an email from today . . . Mrs. Bernie Madoff! Okay, it was from a scammer pretending to be Mrs. Bernie Madoff. Does anyone else see the irony in the fact that someone who runs a scam fighting website got an email from a scammer pretending to be someone that operated the largest and most talked about Ponzi Scheme to date?

Subject: My Great Compliments /Can I Trust You?
From: mrsruthmadoff03@googlemail.com
Reply To: mrsruthmadoff@hotmail.co.uk



Mrs. Ruth Madoff
West, Liverpool,
London.


My Great Compliments,

I’m Mrs. Ruth Madoff, 67, wife to Mr. Bernard L. Madoff, of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, who pleaded guilty to operating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, is worth up to $826 million, according to a document filed with a federal court on Friday 13th March 2009.

Just last 2Month my husband pleading stealing billions from investment from his clients and he was ordered to jail Thursday 12th March 2009, after pleading guilty to all 11 criminal counts in one of Wall Street's biggest swindles.

Now the Federal investigators in the USA are working around the clock to freeze all my assets, fearing that I'm trying to flee the country which I have done shortly after my husband was sentenced, I have $93 million in my name beyond their reach.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is working with federal prosecutors in Manhattan to prepare a filing asking a judge to formally freeze all of my assets as soon as possible.

My husband deposited the sum of (USD$25.000.000.00 Million) in a Finance Firm in Europe some years ago in my name, I need you to collect this funds and distribute it to both of us since the Federal investigators are working around the clock to freeze all my assets. Meanwhile all documents related to transfer of this fund to your account is with the bank

Presently, I’m in a hard out here in UK as the Federal investigators as well the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking for me to freeze my entire asset as well prosecute me like my husband.

Please reply back to me on this e-mail as I will like if you contact my bank directly so that he will direct you on the way forward. Please due send to me all your contact details as I will like to speak with you before we commence on the transaction.


Please Keep this transaction secret and confidentail for now. You can read my story on this website:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03152009/news/regionalnews/ruth_in_crosshair_159631.htm


God bless you.
Best Regards,
Mrs. Ruth Madoff

Inheritance Scam

Here is an email that got past my spam filters.

Subject: I have been touched
From: schooluniforms@dickies.com


My name is Mrs Bernadette finchley,I have decided to donate what I have to you.
I was diagnosed of cancer for about Few years ago,immediately after the death of my husband.

I have been touched to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to you for the good work of charity organisation,I decided to WILL/donate the sum of $12.8 million united states dollars to you to carry out my last wish on earth.

Contact my Physican Dr Steve Elliott with this specified email--
drsteveelliott101@gmail.com

I know i dont know you but I have been directed to do this.Thanks and God bless.

Regards,
Mrs Bernadette finchley.

More scam emails

Don't you love it when Banks use gmail accounts

Subject: BANK TO BANK TRANSACTION FOR YOU
From: makanabenson5@gmail.com
Reply To: makanabenson55@gmail.com

I am Mr. Makana Benson A manager with one of the majorbanks in South Africa.

I am in a position to Move a chunk of money out of the vault of my bank although legally. The money was owned by a customer who died long ago and we couldn't get trace of anyone to claim his money, despite desperate search for a next of kin.

The rules and ethics of our banking regulations demandsthat, after 8yrs of unclaimed funds (money) themoney would be forfeited to the Bank and declared surplusand paid into the states accounts.

Since I am the manager who is in charge of this unclaimed money, I have perfected legaly means ofmaking you stand as the next of kin to the late fellowas a foreigner.

This is risk free as all legal backings are present and would be detailed to you once I have gained your trust and certainty that we can be friends and trust in you. You would be handsomely rewarded with 30% of the total sum.

I will disclose some vital information about the late owner 0f the funds and how he died and the name of my bank once I have gained your trust. I expect your utmost response to this email.

Please in your reply let me have your contact telephone numbers so I can call you and explain more to you.

Makana Benson

Barclays bank London UK

I wish I had a dollar for every one of these emails I get . . .


Subject: RE: US$800,000.00 INTEREST PAYMENT:
From: joeythebag@sbcglobal.net
Reply To: infodesk.bbplc@sify.com

Barclays Bank Plc.
26th Floor 1 Churchill Place,
London, E14 5HP Reg. No: 1026167.
United Kingdom
From: The Desk of Mr.Chris Lucas
Barclays bank London UK

Dear Esteeemed Client,
RE: US$800,000.00 INTEREST PAYMENT:

I am Mr. Chris Lucas Head of Financial Services and Global Head of Banking and Capital Markets. Payment Director, Corporate Services Division and Head of Swift Transfer Unit of Barclays bank London UK.

Sometime ago, in our bank your fund was brought to our bank from National Lotto Group here in England and after some period, the money was taken back to their treasury. But for the period of time this money was in our bank, it generated an interest of US$800,000.00 which we are about to pay you Via International Bank wire transfer through one of our corresponding bank in US.

For your information and advice, you need to hasten up to pick this Fund because from time to time the National Lotto Group auditors do come to our bank to cross-check our files and our financial update, the earlier you comply with the demands of the transfer of the fund, the faster the action, because when the auditors arrive and find out that his interest fund is still in our bank they will call back the accrued interest to the lotto treasury account.

What we need from you now is any form of your identification for example;your International passport or your driver license,your telephone and fax numbers for easy communication to you with your receiving bank details and address,or if you wish to have this fund paid to you through any other means that you find more suitable kindly indicate meanwhile, forward your banking detaisl to us.As a matter of fact we dont have enough time to waste since we have wasted time in trying the best way to reach you since we do not have your contact phone number, so try and comply with the entire necessary requirement for the transaction to be completed by contacting the gentlement below for the payment.

Contact : Mr. Terry Jones (Customer Adviser Case Officer)
Email: infodesk.bbplc@sify.com
Phone No: +447035973996
Fax Line: +448704795431

Note all effort to reach you failed and I had to send you a mail on this email address, which I guessed belongs to you.

Expecting your immediately response.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Chris Lucas
Barclays bank London UK.

*********************************************************************
Barclays Bank Plc London
UK CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
This transmission may contain confidential information protected by state or federal law. The information is intended only for use consistent with the state business discussed in this transmission.If you are not the intended ecipient,you are hereby notified that any isclosure,copying, distribution,or the taking of any action based on the contents is strictly rohibited.If you have received this transmission in error, please delete this email and notify the sender immediately.Your cooperation is appreciated

Scam using Obama Foundation name

Here is an email that I found in my spam folder.

From:
Mrs Joy Terry

OBAMA'S FOUNDATION info@foundation.com

Greetings to you,On behalf of the Obama's Foundation, we wish to notify you as abeneficiary of $99,000.00 USD in compensation of scam victims.Do contactLloyds TSB Bank plc; London's Branch for verification and release of your$99,000.00 USD that we have depositedThe account log on will be presented to you by the bank in order to accessthe funds before releasing into your nominated bank account. You willtransfer the funds into your nominated account on-line as the Lloyds TSBBank plc will provide the necessary information to you. Please if you arewilling to acceptthe funds, do contact us Via: obamafoundation.49@9.cn

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs Joy Terry
Co-ordinator.OBAMA'S FOUNDATION

-------------------------
Watch out for these scams!

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of http://scamvictimsunited.com/
There is strength in numbers!

Check out our blog at http://scamvictimsunited.blogspot.com/
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Has this site helped you?
Then help us to continue to fight scams by donating at http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/donations.htm

More scam emails

Subject:GOD BLESS
Date:9/10/2009 1:57:44 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From:bettylawson@earthlink.net
Reply To:rowwllms@gmail.com


My name is Mrs.Betty Lawson I was diagnosedof cancer 2 years ago, I have decided to donate the sum of $5.5 million to you for the good work of the lord. Contact my lawyer with this email
Peter J. Wallace
rowwllms@gmail.com

Quote my personal reference number tsd/08/ikg/91
I wish you all the best and may the good Lord bless you abundantly, and please use the funds well and always extend the good work to others I don't know you but I have been directed to do this.
Thanks and God bless.
Regards,
Betty Lawson

FBI Scam Email

This one made me laugh . . . look at the email address it was sent from! When did the FBI start using gmail as their main email account?

Subject: Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) ***ATTENTION***
Date: 9/6/2009 5:03:45 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: fbi.Washingtondc8040316@gmail.com
Reply To: dynamiclaw2@windowslive.com

ATTENTION
This is an official advice from the FBI foreign Remittance / telegraphic department; it has come to our notice that the Central Bank of Nigeria district has released 10,500.000.00 US dollars into Bank of America in your name as the beneficiary by inheritance means.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) knowing that they do not have enough facilities to effect this payment from the United Kingdom to your account used what we know as a “Secret Diplomatic Transit Payment” (S.T.D.P) to pay this fund through wire transfer, they used this means to complete the payment.

They are still waiting for confirmation from you on the already transferred fund which was made in direct transfer so that they can do final crediting to your account. Secret Diplomatic Payments are not made unless the funds are related to terrorist activities. The question is, why must your transfer be made through Secret Transfer if your transaction is legitimate. If you are not a terrorist why did you not receive the money directly into your account? This is a “MERE-CODED” means of payment! Records which we have had with this method of payment in the past has always been related to terrorist acts, we do not want you to get into trouble as soon as these funds reflect in your account in the U.S.A. so it is our duty as a worldwide commission to correct this little problem before this fund will be credited into your personal account.

Due to the increased difficulty and necessary security by the American authorities when funds come from outside Europe and the Middle East, the F.B.I bank commission for Europe has stopped the transfer on its way to your account so to debit your reserve account and pay you through a Secured Diplomatic Transit Account (S.D.T.A). We govern and oversee funds transfer for the World Bank and the rest of the world.

We advise you to contact us immediately, as the funds have been Stopped and are being held in our custody until you can be able to provide us with a Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer (DIST) within 5 days from the world local bank that authorized the transfer to certify that this money that you are about to receive from Nigeria is for the support of any Terrorist Activity and is Drug free or we shall have cause to cross and impound the payment. We shall release the money immediately we receive this legal document from you.We have decided to contact you directly to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightful person to receive this fund because of the amount involved. We want to make sure it is clean and legal money. Be informed that your money is now in United State in your name but right now we have it placed on “HOLD” under our custody in the bank and would not be released to anybody that comes to them unless we ask them to do so because we have to carry out our investigations first before releasing the fund to you. Note that the fund is in the BANK OF AMERICA right now but we have asked them not to credit the fund to you yet because we need a solid proof and verification from you before releasing the fund.

So to this regard, you are to re-assure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us a Diplomatic Immunity Seal of Transfer (DIST) to satisfy that the money your about to receive is legitimate and real money. You are to forward the documents to us immediately if you have it in your possession if you don’t have it let us know so that we will direct and inform you where to obtain the document from so that we will ask the bank holding the funds i.e. the Bank Of America to go ahead and credit your account.

These Document is to be issued to you from the world local bank that authorized the transfer, so get back to us immediately if you don’t have the document so that we will direct you to the particular place/office to obtain the document in Nigeria because we have come to realize that the fund was authorized by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This condition is valid until 11th of SEPTEMBER 2009 after which we shall take actions on canceling the payment and then charge you for illegally moving funds out of Nigeria.

Guarantee: Fund(s) will be released on confirmation of the document.

NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for the enhancement of public safety, welfare and security while recognizing the importance of individual privacy rights. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you with the FBI and take our proper action against you for not proofing to us the legitimate of the fund you are about to receive.

The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of his or her own Record for review. The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division processes these requests to check illegal activities in U.S.A.
ROBERT MUELLER, IIl

My Request to the Scammers

If you read my last blog entry, you will see that there is now a scam in which people are told that they can receive a portion of Michael Jackson’s estate. At the end of that blog I mentioned that I would now need to add another section to our message board, and now that I think about it I would need to add a new page to our website, with information on Dead Celebrity Scams.

This got me thinking about how this is a lot of work for all of the scam fighting sites to add a new page to our websites, with accurate information on how the scam works, the red flags to look for, plus a sample of one of the emails for our readers to look at. So, to help all of the scam fighting sites out, I would like to request that the scammers start sending out a press release when they create a new scam or a new variation. This press release should include the name of the scam, the date that the scammers are launching this variation, how the scam works or what older scam this is a variation on, the red flags that people should look for, along with a sample of one of the emails being used in this scam.

This would all be helpful because then as scam fighting websites we can just copy and paste this information into a new page of our websites.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Michael Jackson's name makes it's way into scam email

I never thought that I would be mentioning Michael Jackson’s name in a scam blog, but I guess this just proves that the scammers will stop at nothing and will use anything they think will get people’s attention. I found the following email in my spam folder the other day.

-------------------------------------

From: bjohnbranca@yahoo.com.hkSubj: Hope
you receive this message!!!

Hope you receive this message!!!On
behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Michael Jackson. I
once again try to notify you as my earlier letter were returned undelivered. I
wish to notify you that late King of Pop. Michael Jackson made you a beneficiary
to his WILL. He left the sum of Five Million, Dollars (USD$5,000.000.00) to you
in the Codicil and last testament to his WILL. This may sound strange and
unbelievable to you, but it is real and true. Being widely entertainer, he must
have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were nominated to him by
one of his numerous fans abroad who wished you good. Late Michael Joseph Jackson
until his death was a member "MJFC" The Michael Jackson Fan Club and the
Institute of entertainer. Please if I reach you as I am hopeful, endeavor to get
back to me as soon as possible to enable me conclude my job. You are advice to
contact me with my personal email: barrjohnbranca@live.co.ukAwait your
prompt response.100Yours in Service, BARRISTER John Branca ESQ.

------------------------------------------------

I cannot believe it! I never even when to one of his concerts . . . I did purchase the Thriller album . . . but out of all of the people in the world to pick from, Michael Jackson picked ME to a beneficiary to his will.

I guess this means that I need to add a new section to our message board for Dead Celebrity Scams.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

419 scam vs Counterfeit Check Scam

Over the years I have had many people ask me what is the difference between a 419/Advance Fee Scam and a Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam, so I listed out some of the differenecs here.

Initial Contact -
419 Scam
People are contacted out of the blue by the scammers.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
People have placed an ad somewhere on the internet to sell an item, so they are expecting to receive emails from people they do not know in response to this ad.

Personal Information -
419 Scam
The scammer asks for your bank account information in order to transfer a large amount of money out of the country and into your account.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
The scammer asks for your name and mailing address so that they can send you a cashier’s check for payment and transportation of the item you are selling.

How you loose money -
419 Scam
Scammer tells you that there are fees that have to be paid before the money can be transferred and you are to pay them.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
When you get the check from the scammer and bring it to the bank they tell you that the check is good, or that it has cleared. Feeling assured by this information, you take the portion of the check that was supposed to be for transportation and wire it to the appropriate people. Then, days later the bank notifies you that the check was counterfeit and that you are liable for the money that you took out, even though the only reason you took it out was because they had assured you that the check was good.

Victims -
419 Scam
While they may not know that it is illegal, they do know that the situation that they are entering into is one is which they will receive a large amount of money for assisting someone else, and that it will not be a lot of work on their part.

Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam
Innocent people who were just trying to sell items that they no longer want or need on the internet, and who trusted the word of their banks when they told them that the check was good, some of which are now facing criminal charges because not enough banks and law enforcement agencies are educated on this scam.

For more information on these scams you can go to http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/consumer/advisories/Nigeria_Mar_2003.html or our website http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch