Email Scam?

Billson

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I have recently been receiving quite a few spam emails from people claiming to be lawyers, bankers, etc. saying that they have clients who have recently died and that they had some money who have no beneficiaries and they are looking for people from foreign countries to stand as the beneficiary of the deceased and that they are willing to compensate them, or in this case me, if anyone would help them to claim the money. The sums they are talking about is always in the millions of $.The money is supposedly held by a securities company and they will be the ones to take care of all the paperwork to facilitate the transaction.

I know that these are most probably scams but I don't see the point of it. They will usually ask for the person's name & contact details like my address and telephone number to start processing the paperwork.

If they are trying to steal my identity, the information doesn't seem to be enough for them to do anything about it.

Out of curiosity, I replied to one of the emails and gave them one of my mobile phone numbers. It's a prepaid line so it can't be traced back to me in case they are indeed trying to steal my personal information. Surprisingly, someone actually called me up to talk about it. I can't tell where the call originated from because the caller ID from overseas calls won't show up on my phone. I tried indulging him to try and extract some more information and he told me that if I agree to help him and after providing him all my information, I'm supposed to travel to whatever country the money is being held to claim the money, in this case Spain or Africa.

Who's he kidding, I'm supposed to spend several thousands of dollars to meet with someone I don't know and never met to claim some money that they can't even prove exists. If he's willing to shoulder my travel expenses, maybe I'd think about taking him up on the offer if only to get a free trip to Europe or Africa.

He's actually been calling me up several times a day but since that first phone call, I haven't answered any of his subsequent calls.

For you guys who are lawyers, bankers, or anyone knowledgeable with financial matters, what do you think this actually is?
 

Empath

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It's called the Nigerian scam. Many people have been taken in by it. Some people have been totally wiped out by it. Some have even been killed.

Check the above link. It should be required reading of everyone that uses the net.

Edit: I see AW left a good reference link too.
 
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gadget_lover

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They call you, even meet with you. You give them your savings or checking or stock account number so they can transfer money to you, then they do a wire transfer to steal what you have.

Do not have anything to do with these folks.

No one will even need a third party to collect money. It's too easy to just go to the bank themselves.

The next scam you will see is an overpayment on something you sell or even unsolicited in the mail. The person says it's Ok, just send them a check or money order to cover the difference. Their check won't clear, but they will have your money. A retarded man in San Jose was in jail because he fell for such a scam but the check was forged.

Daniel
 

Billson

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Thanks for the link.

I'm just curious what these scams are. I'm not actually going to do anything. Why do you think I gave them an untraceable number? I know that things that sound too good to be true usually/always are.

I also wanted to let others know in case they are gullible enough to believe the offers.

Now that you mention it, I just remembered that the guy who called me is supposed to be an English lawyer in London but I noticed right away that his English was strange. At first I couldn't pinpoint whether it was middle eastern or Indian but now that you mention it, Nigerian or African seems to be more likely.
 
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gregw

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Go and read the stories at 419eaters.com to see how some of these guys reverse-bait some of these nigerian scammers to actually send money to them.. :laughing:

Please DON'T try it unless you know what you're doing though...
 

chesterqw

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paypal and banks scams are very common!!!

if you see those in your inbox, don't click on the link in them!!!

they may contain virus, spyware or adware

and some will ask you to log in into a fake website that looks legal and real ,stealing your password forever!!!!

only login at REAL addresses you , yourself type into the address bar and no spelling mistakes!
 

tvodrd

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4th edit. :( I got the following personalized scam attempt the other night. I made a few bids on an A2 that JSB offered. I think I bowed out at $97.
site1049.jpg

Nice try Antonio! :thumbsdow

Larry
 
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3rd_shift

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I have seen these too.
Do not under any circumstance fall for these. :xyxgun:
Most of these land in my "junk" email before I even get to see them.

Too good to be true? Yup!
 

Alin10123

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These are typically nigerian scams. But recently i've been getting a huge proportion of the scams that are coming from China and Hong Kong.
 

turbodog

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Prepared to be kidnapped and held for ransom if you travel to see them.

Legit bankers/lawyers do not use email for anything other than fluff conversions.
 
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