Beware: It's a Scammy World Out There
By James T. Moore (02/28/07)
Maybe you're so caught up in a movie you never notice the "con" game going on? You know, where the slick pitchman peddlers an all-purpose elixir to a country bumpkin for a buck a bottle. Or a clean-cut gentleman swindles an unsuspecting dowager with a phony stock certificate. Or an aristocratic-looking fellow obtains money from a philanthropist by posing as visiting royalty.
So, the inevitability of scams on the Internet was just a matter of time. Today, turn on your computer, click on new mail, and watch the plethora of messages that pop up, saying “congratulations” you have just won some lottery and to collect your $30 million dollars, simply contact the person below.
It’s hard to understand how even extra bright con artists can come up with so many ways of motivating you to do something. Getting something for nothing is, of course, the prime motivation. But harder to understand is, day after day getting no responses and still pushing the con button until they reel in some poor fish.
It takes only one “sucker” to accomplish their objective, or they would disappear off the Internet. And that says something about the Internet that we should be more aware of: the Internet, like life itself, is a two-edged sword: a good side and a bad side. And the bad side should be ignored if you value your valuables.
Here are several kinds of pitches you’re bound to see when you go into the Internet to get mail:
“Sir/Madam: We are pleased to inform you of the result of Euro Millions which was held 1, Feb. 2007. You will receive ONE MILLION EUROS from our authorized bank. Please keep the information about this prize confidential until your funds of One Million Euros have been transferred to you by our bank. Meantime, please furnish us: (1) your name, (2) your telephone and fax numbers, (3) your ticket number, (4) amount you won, (5) your country.”
Some questions you should ask yourself: How can I give them a ticket number when I never bought a ticket? Why do they want me to keep this transaction confidential? Which bank (except mine) would I be dealing with, and where is it?
This next scam is simpler to get into, but it has conditional steps to take before you get the meat of the “proposition”: “WAIT BEFORE YOU GO! What’s the reason you didn’t call to collect your $3,000? A. It seems to good to be true. B. I don’t want to pay for the call. C. I don’t have the time to call.”
Some questions should ask yourself: How would I know who to call, and why? How did I get eligible to win $3,000?
Then there’s this one: “Dear Winner, following publication of results of the electronic online Sweepstakes organized by the www.bankgiroloterij.nl corporation, the Slidecircuir award and the Heineken prizes, in conjunction with..” (and so on and on). Curious, I clicked on the www site above and one of the lines I saw was: op zoek naar leuke vitgaanstips, which I suppose has some meaning if you speak a language other than English.
Some questions you should ask yourself: What has Heineken got to do with this? What legitimate foreign or domestic bank would take part in this kind of scheme? Why is $1 Million Dollars or Eros always the amount of the prize money?
And this one: “I am William Morgan, the son of Mr. Morgan Tsvangiral, and my father was able to transport a box with US 6-MILLION DOLLARS through the help of a courier and have been deposited in a safe security company. Right now we need a trustworthy person who can help us clear the box, and keep this business strictly confidential because of the safety of my life and family.”
Some questions you should ask yourself: “Where did your father get the 6 million dollars? You don’t know me so how do you know I’m trustworthy? Why does this money involve the safety of your life and family?”
Then, of course, there is always one from “The Children of God” that tempts you into the “deal” by appealing to your religious proclivity. This may be one of the crassest scams of all.
I love deals. I hate scams. A deal means something for everyone. A scam means something for someone, but not you. So, if this article keeps just one person from being tempted to answer one of these phony pitches, it was worth writing.
James T. Moore
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