This is a follow up to my post last week on “Look Out for Phishing E-mails.” Jervis961 had commented on a phone scam known as *72 or 72#. This rang a bell, but I couldn’t remember the time frame. Curiosity got the best of me and so I started to surf around the Internet.
There was a lot of information about the *72 scam. Here is a recap: If someone calls you and asks that you call another number for any reason and the phone number begins with *72 or 72#, don’t do it! Whatever number you dial after *72 will have its calls charged to you. Basically, this is unintentional call forwarding. You can get more up to date telephone scams information here.
Why am I writing about something so old? To remind everyone that scams and cons are recycled all the time — they just appear to be different due to little changes in how they are executed. It will be attempted over and over until people catch on. That is when an old scam will be recycled into something slightly different.
Here is a quick story. I know a professional trainer who teaches group and private lessons. To sign up for a class you use her Web site and then mail your payment. Well, she got an e-mail from someone who said an Italian model was coming to the U.S. and needed training between camera shoots. The e-mail even named hotel and geographical references in the area where this pro teaches. There were three e-mails with the final one stating that the payment for the classes would be a cashier’s check.
The cashier’s check would be a fixed dollar amount, that for some reason the model would not be able to cash, in order to pay the trainer directly. Instead, the trainer would have to cash the check and send the left over amount to the model’s manager. I have not heard or read of something like this before, but it did remind me of another well know scam.
So, which phishing e-mail does this remind of? Yup, that’s right, it is the, “My cousin is the king of a country and needs your checking account number so that we can deposit money into it and for your help you can keep half the amount” scam! While it is different, the delivery method is the same. Plus, it plays on what people desire so much — that they could win something or get something for doing almost nothing.
Here are the highlights:
- Scams and cons are recycled all the time.
- If you get suspicious e-mails, look for similarities of past scams you are aware of.
- If it looks too good to be true, it most likely is.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Thanks for the mention Richard. Don’t forget that the check scam can happen over ebay and even in person. By the time the bank check bounces the other party is nowhere to be found.
Recently the emails I’ve gotten for the inheritance scam have told me to contact a pastor that the emailer has set up to be a go between. I guess I’m supposed to think “a pastor wouldn’t be part of a scam, would he?”. Nice try.
On ebay I was selling a Playstation 3 and a “soldier’s dad” contacted me wanting me to sell to him outside of Ebay and ship it overseas to his son. He would pay me extra to do so. While some might fall for this I reported the user to ebay for a few reasons.
1. I would not be protected by Ebay.
2. I would most likely never get scammed
3. These scams put electronics in the hands of terrorists
While the third reason sounds funny. I’m sure you started thinking of Osama Bin Laden playing Resistance in a carve somewhere. The truth is that they use the parts to make bombs. Just remember that anything that seems to good to be true usually is.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
No, no, thank you!
You really bring up some good points. Something’s just are not what they seem and you have to be very aware of what going out there to protect yourself, family, and friends.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Did you see that a Washington woman was just sentenced to 2 years in jail for aiding in the Nigerian check scams.
http://tinyurl.com/56f9g9
July 1st, 2008 at 11:40 am
Wow, it is nice to see that something is being done about these scams!