Pages in topic:   [1 2] >
Warning about a scam
Thread poster: Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 23:43
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Dec 5, 2008

I am not sure if KudoZ rules allow me to discuss this, but due to the seriousness of the matter I thought I would mention it. I have been receiving e-mails like this and am almost sure it is a scam, as no-one would give millions of dollars away like this. So, if you receive anything like this through the mail, beware. I have erased all names and personal information.

"My dear

I chose to reach you through this medium because it is the fastest and mostreliable way of comm
... See more
I am not sure if KudoZ rules allow me to discuss this, but due to the seriousness of the matter I thought I would mention it. I have been receiving e-mails like this and am almost sure it is a scam, as no-one would give millions of dollars away like this. So, if you receive anything like this through the mail, beware. I have erased all names and personal information.

"My dear

I chose to reach you through this medium because it is the fastest and mostreliable way of communication, as I wish to sollicite for your urgent assistance in what I strongly believe will be of great benefit to both of us.

I am *** in Burkina Faso.The issue I am presenting to you is a case of one of my late customer, *** who died in a plane crash leaving an unclaimed treasury bills (Bonds) with my bank.

In 2003, my late customer invested intreasury bill bonds here in my Bank in Ouagadougou totaling *** USA Dollars which was due to be collected in 2005 with accrued dividends. On my yearly appraisal of my customers at the turn of every year, I discovered that this fixed deposit remained overdue for retrieval. I had put up series of mails and bank notifications to him which were sent Back uncollected. I later discovered that he passed on along with his wife and his relations in an air crash in (date).

You will read more stories about the crash on visiting this website (link).

Since his death in 2003, I have managed his account expecting any of his extended relatives to come forward to claim his money but allattempts to trace his relatives over the years has been fruitless since he did not declare any of his relatives information in his bankingrecords with us. Added to this, professional ethics obligates us to act with extreme confidentiality when dealing with clients accounts of this type.

According to the banking law, the money will be Bequeathed to the government if it remains unclaimed with the next couple months.However, I don't belong to that school of thought which proposes that The fortunes of unlucky people be given to the government and I am fully convinced that no one would turn up to execute the letter of Administration to claim his funds before the next 2 months. Hence, I decided to contact you to come in as the next of kin to my late customer so that the funds totalling $ *** can then be transferred to your nominated bank account in your country within 20 working days after we have filed in your claims transfer application to the bank.I will prepare every operation that will assist you to claim the funds As the next of kin and everything will be left between you and me. The Share would be 40% for you and 60% for me.

Again, I feel that you may be apprehensive and consider this amount too big for you to defend. It does not matter, as there are documents to back it up.This transaction is risk free and as the most senior account manager with the bank be rest assured that all documents to enable you get this fund as the next of kin will be carefully worked. Do not be bothered that you are not related in any way to my late customer as I am in position to affix your name as the next of kin.

Kindly send your reply enclosing your

Full Name.......................... ..
Mailing Address......................
Phone Number........................
Fax Number...........................
Age..................................
Occupation...........................
Sex..................................
Country..............................

to my private email address *** for confidentiality, to enable me talk to you before I send you the certificate of deposit and other relevant information relating to this fund transfer."

Please get the message around about this scam. The name, sum of money and cause of death vary from one e-mail to another.
Collapse


 
Ulrike Kraemer
Ulrike Kraemer
Germany
Local time: 04:43
English to German
+ ...
This IS scam Dec 5, 2008

You should submit a support ticket immediately to alert staff to this matter. E-mails like these coming from various (mostly African) countries have been around for years.

 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 23:43
Portuguese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Addendum Dec 5, 2008

The e-mails were not received through my account with ProZ, but through my personal e-mail, so there is no point of sending a "support ticket". My intention in making this post is just to warn the members of ProZ about this danger.

 
Ulrike Kraemer
Ulrike Kraemer
Germany
Local time: 04:43
English to German
+ ...
Oh, I see ... Dec 5, 2008

Paul Dixon wrote:

The e-mails were not received through my account with ProZ, but through my personal e-mail, so there is no point of sending a "support ticket". My intention in making this post is just to warn the members of ProZ about this danger.



Strange you haven't received e-mails like that before. They've been around for 10 years or more. Looks like there are still enough people who walk into the trap because otherwise they would have stopped long ago.


 
David Russi
David Russi  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 20:43
English to Spanish
+ ...
You're *almost* sure it's a scam?!? Dec 5, 2008

Anyone who doesn't know that these messages are scams is asleep at the wheel... This one is known as known as the 'Nigerian scam':

http://www.bsacybersafety.com/threat/nigerian_scam.cfm

Here is some general in
... See more
Anyone who doesn't know that these messages are scams is asleep at the wheel... This one is known as known as the 'Nigerian scam':

http://www.bsacybersafety.com/threat/nigerian_scam.cfm

Here is some general info about social engineering:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(computer_security)
Collapse


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 04:43
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
The Nigerian letter Dec 5, 2008

I thought everyone was aware already...

If you let me be nostalgic for a while, I remember the times (about 15 years ago) in which Nigerian letters did come ON PAPER to the offices of local entrepreneurs. A relative of mine got one... and called, even if we told him that it was pure nonsense. He was lucky not to trust the operation in the end. Or so he said. Hm... now that I think of it... how the hell did he manage to buy that nice Jaguar???? ...
See more
I thought everyone was aware already...

If you let me be nostalgic for a while, I remember the times (about 15 years ago) in which Nigerian letters did come ON PAPER to the offices of local entrepreneurs. A relative of mine got one... and called, even if we told him that it was pure nonsense. He was lucky not to trust the operation in the end. Or so he said. Hm... now that I think of it... how the hell did he manage to buy that nice Jaguar????
Collapse


 
EHI (X)
EHI (X)
Local time: 04:43
Hanson Files Dec 5, 2008

Of course it's a scam!
Chris Hanson has done a whole series on this topic.

Check out the "Hanson Files" on MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26870041#25432021

Really funny!

[Edited at 2008-12-05 11:27 GMT]


 
Charlie Bavington
Charlie Bavington  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:43
French to English
General rule of thumb Dec 5, 2008

You know, if it wasn't for scam emails like this, and pictures of people with no clothes on, the internet would be almost empty.

Paul Dixon wrote:
I have been receiving e-mails like this and am almost sure it is a scam, as no-one would give millions of dollars away like this.

Right enough.
The advice here, as with life in general, is that if it seems to good to be true, then it probably is.
Is too good to be true, that is.
i.e. it's not true. Just to be crystal clear, like.


 
Angela Dickson (X)
Angela Dickson (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:43
French to English
+ ...
Not just nostalgia Dec 5, 2008

Tomás Cano Binder wrote:

If you let me be nostalgic for a while, I remember the times (about 15 years ago) in which Nigerian letters did come ON PAPER to the offices of local entrepreneurs. A relative of mine got one... and called, even if we told him that it was pure nonsense. He was lucky not to trust the operation in the end. Or so he said. Hm... now that I think of it... how the hell did he manage to buy that nice Jaguar????


Tomás, I received a letter on paper, in the actual post, printed on a badly-adjusted colour inkjet printer that was running out of blue ink, telling me that I had won the Cuban lottery and that I should send my name, address and full bank details to a certain address in order to claim my prize. This was not 15 years ago, but last week.

I guess they must still think it worth the expenditure on stamps.

It's a very lucky person indeed who has only recently started receiving such emails. Mine are all captured by the spam filter but I look in the spam box sometimes just to see what I'm getting. At present I am receiving a lot of spam in German for some reason.

[Edited at 2008-12-05 11:50 GMT]


 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 04:43
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Oh my! Dec 5, 2008

Angela Dickson wrote:
Tomás, I received a letter on paper, in the actual post, printed on a badly-adjusted colour inkjet printer that was running out of blue ink, telling me that I had won the Cuban lottery and that I should send my name, address and full bank details to a certain address in order to claim my prize. This was not 15 years ago, but last week.


Well, looks like it's profitable! Hm... maybe we should create Scamz.com, a website for addicts to free prizes, Nigerian letters, free weekens for two after a 5-hour presentation of some Mediterranean appartments...


 
Florence Bremond
Florence Bremond  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 04:43
Member (2002)
English to French
+ ...
A very old trick that's still going strong Dec 5, 2008

The French police issued warnings about this in the early 19th century - at the time obviously it was only coming on paper, but otherwise the method and even the wording was exactly similar.
http://www.1789-1815.com/lettres_jerusalem.htm
... See more
The French police issued warnings about this in the early 19th century - at the time obviously it was only coming on paper, but otherwise the method and even the wording was exactly similar.
http://www.1789-1815.com/lettres_jerusalem.htm
http://www.le-tigre.net/Escrocs-et-croque-escrocs-sur.html
etc. (only in French, sorry...)
And it may be older still.

PS - Tomas: it already exists - check that http://j-walk.com/other/conf/


[Edited at 2008-12-05 13:39 GMT]
Collapse


 
ST Translations
ST Translations
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:43
French to English
Scams Dec 5, 2008

There is also one from Paypal that asks you for personal information. I'm always wary of emails asking for information. If in doubt, delete it!

 
Kornelia Longoria
Kornelia Longoria  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 21:43
Member (2007)
English to Polish
+ ...
Scams Dec 5, 2008

I probably get about 2-3 e-mails like that EVERY DAY!! This gets really annoying. If i added up the amounts i won so far i would be multi-billionaire.

 
Trudy Peters
Trudy Peters  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 22:43
German to English
+ ...
Aah... Nigerian letters on paper Dec 5, 2008

They had one nice benefit: beautiful stamps which I still have!

 
Mohamed Mehenoun
Mohamed Mehenoun  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 03:43
English to French
+ ...
a Scam ! Dec 5, 2008

I received several of those ! it's a well known scam...As professionals our profiles are here and there on the internet which induces getting such emails

I remeber once that they sent me something stating that I won a UK lottery

Cheers!


 
Pages in topic:   [1 2] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Warning about a scam






TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »
Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »