Understanding Email Spam? ... and other tech scams

[Steve A.]

It was my fault.
I wasn't thinking, and clicked on the link on my friends email.
It all looked so official.
To say that woke me up, would be an understatement!

T

Did you get malware running Linux?

[big_teee]

This was strictly an email issue.
It had nothing to do with the OS. (I've scanned everything, and it's all clean)
I opened the email from a friend that apparently got hacked, and I did what the email said.
That let the virus, or malware into my yahoo web mail, it took over my account.
It then sent emails from my address book.
I logged out of my yahoo email, as soon as I saw what it was doing.
Yahoo locked me out as a result of all the flood of emails leaving my yahoo account.
I went through the process yesterday evening to get back into my yahoo account and changed my password.
That is why I was warning all here, if you got a strange email from me yesterday, to delete it.
Since I do strictly web mail, no computer based mail client, it all happened on Yahoo's servers.
It's all fixed now.
Thanks,
Terry

[Mick Bailey]

I've had unauthorized logins on my Gmail account in the past year. When I looked into it there were numerous sites describing how to hack passwords. Some step-by-step instructions on YouTube as well.

My Uncle has got so sick of security updates, spam, bogus e-mails and the constant threat of being duped that he's abandoned the web. No smartphone, no broadband. He says he feels liberated. So he's back to sending cheques, cutting the coupon or phoning. Just like the old days.

It now seems that scamming people is OK. Not a real crime - a bit like cheating at sports. If someone came to your home and said they were from a Utility company and tried to scam cash out of you on the doorstep, then that's taken seriously. Now someone does the same thing electronically on a grand scale and it's unremarkable. Just the way it is. That degree of acceptance angers me. We're swimming with sharks with the Web, but not everyone is 100% diligent 100% of the time, particularly if you're elderly or just trusting. Trust is not a virtue these days - it's a weakness to be exploited.

[big_teee]

I've had a bumper crop of spam this weekend to my big_teee email address.
More than normal, it started on friday.
Probably approaching one thousand.
Luckily most go to my spam folder, and easy to dump them all as a group.
My other anonymous emails have remained unscathed.
Anyone else getting bombarded?
T

[Enzo]

All the time, it comes and goes. Often as not the source is way removed from your computer.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I've had a bumper crop of spam this weekend to my big_teee email address. More than normal, it started on friday. Probably approaching one thousand. Luckily most go to my spam folder, and easy to dump them all as a group. My other anonymous emails have remained unscathed.Anyone else getting bombarded?
T

Lucky I have an email service that id's and dumps most spam before it shows up in my in box. But yes, a couple spams a day since about a week ago, when the average was maybe one a month. I blame it on TRUMPUS and his Russian friends.

Also, after a year's respite, once again I get daily phone calls from Joe Macavoy, he's "with the police," begging for cash donations for his shady "organization". The money goes in his pocket. After being told NO every single call, must be a thousand times over the years, you'd think he notices a trend? No...... dumb as a box of rocks Joe keeps pestering. And he gets an attitude when you rightly tell him to f___ off. Now I just hang up soon as I hear his voice. He belongs in state prison, denied access to any telephone for the rest of his life. Let Joe beg his fellow prisoners for money for the "police" see how that goes over.

[big_teee]

Speaking of Spam?
I got two of the windows support desk Scam phone calls today.
I told the first, that I would add on the FBI, he quickly hung up.
The second was a woman and while she was giving her pitch, I told her I wasn't interested.
She said it didn't matter if I was interested, I hung up on her anyway!
T

[Enzo]

Hello, I am calling from the technical department at Windows...

Oh, you ARE?

Yes, and we have detected a problem on your computer and...

Does your mother know you lie to people for a living?

What? We can help clear up your problem if you...

Does your father boast to his friends about your dishonesty? DO you brag to your friends that you spent the day trying to steal money from people?

I take it as a small challenge to see how long it takes for me to get THEM to hang up.

[big_teee]

Not really computer related, but all tech scams.
Got this from my aunt in texas, and some make you think!
Hope this helps someone beat the low life sumbitches, that scam people!
T





NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID




1. LONG - TERM PARKING

Some people left their car in the long-term parking at San Jose while away, and someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car's registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people's home in Pebble Beach and robbed it. So I guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should NOT leave the registration/ insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener. This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.





2. GPS:

Someone had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents. Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.




3. CELL PHONES:

I never thought of this! This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her cell phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says, "I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago." When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text "hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.




Moral lesson:
a. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc.
b. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.
c. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet "family and friends" who text you.




4. PURSE IN GROCERY CART SCAM:

A lady went grocery-shopping at a local mall and left her purse sitting in the children's seat of the cart while she reached something off a shelf/ Wait till you read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she reported it to the store personnel. After returning home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security to say that they had her wallet and that although there was no money in it, it did still hold her personal papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet, only to be told by Mall Security that they had not called her. By the time she returned home again, her house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves knew that by calling and saying they were Mall Security, they could lure her out of her house long enough for them to burglarize it.

[Steve A.]

Reformatted to share on another forum

From the Music Electronics Forum
>>> Not really computer related, but all tech scams.
Got this from my aunt in texas, and some make you think!
Hope this helps someone beat the low life sumbitches, that scam people!
T<<<

• NOT ALL THIEVES ARE STUPID •

1. LONG-TERM PARKING:

Some people left their car in the long-term parking at San Jose while away, and someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car's registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people's home in Pebble Beach and robbed it. So I guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should NOT leave the registration/ insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener. This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.

2. GPS:

Someone had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents. Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.


3. CELL PHONES:

I never thought of this! This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her cell phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says, "I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago." When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text "hubby" in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral lesson:
a. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc.
b. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.
c. Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet "family and friends" who text you.

4. PURSE IN GROCERY CART SCAM:

A lady went grocery-shopping at a local mall and left her purse sitting in the children's seat of the cart while she reached something off a shelf/ Wait till you read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she reported it to the store personnel. After returning home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security to say that they had her wallet and that although there was no money in it, it did still hold her personal papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet, only to be told by Mall Security that they had not called her. By the time she returned home again, her house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves knew that by calling and saying they were Mall Security, they could lure her out of her house long enough for them to burglarize it.

[Steve A.]

Not really computer related, but all tech scams.

Thanks for posting that! I reformatted it deleting all of empty lines and spaces (what the heck kinda software was your aunt using?!?)

I was going to share the 'Can You Hear Me?' scam a neighbor told me about but after googling it I learned that the scam warning itself was a scam presumably intended to generate clicks...

'Can You Hear Me?' Scam Warning
snopes.com ť

CLAIM:
People are being victimized by scammers who call and ask "Can you hear me?" and record the "yes" response in order to use it to authorize fake charges.

• RATING: unproven
• ORIGIN: unproven

In late January 2017, news outlets across the United States reported on a purported “can you hear me?” telephone scam. According to those reports, the scam begins with an unsolicited phone call to the putative mark. After the caller makes contact they ask the recipient “Can you hear me?” to elicit a response of “yes,” and a potential onslaught of unauthorized charges ensues.

On 26 January 2017, CBS News reported the workings of the scam thusly:

>>> Virginia police are now warning about the scheme, which also sparked warnings by Pennsylvania authorities late last year. The “can you hear me” con is actually a variation on earlier scams aimed at getting the victim to say the word “yes” in a phone conversation. That affirmative response is recorded by the fraudster and used to authorize unwanted charges on a phone or utility bill or on a purloined credit card.

“You say ‘yes,’ it gets recorded and they say that you have agreed to something,” said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America. “I know that people think it’s impolite to hang up, but it’s a good strategy.”<<<

But how can you get charged if you don’t provide a payment method? The con artist already has your phone number, and many phone providers pass through third-party charges.

http://www.snopes.com/can-you-hear-me-scam/

The only time I remember being recorded saying "YES" to confirm something was when applying for a bill consolidation loan at one of those places like HFC or American General. But the reported "scam" here sounded interesting enough to me to want to share it.

It just goes to show that I am NOT smarter than ave-er-age bear, er, thief, BooBoo...

Steve A.

P.S. Using Evernote on my Samsung Tab 4 7.0 tablet it was a real pain deleting the spaces because unlike characters the software/hardware/? did not allow me to select blank spaces and carriage returns.

P.P.S. I will edit the title of this thread to include tech scams, T.

[big_teee]

Yes, I should have deleted some of the lines, but that is how it copied and pasted.

My son and his family got hit by a debit card skimmer when buying gas, a few weeks ago.
His wife has a daycare, and the card she use for her daycare was hacked.
When they bought gas, and entered the pin number the skimmer copies the pin.
Even though they live and shopped in Arkansas, the account was emptied in Houston Texas.
Luckily the bank refunded their money, but it was a hassle to clean it up, and they had to file a police report.
T

[J M Fahey]

You mean you're not going to pay me back for the $1,500 I just sent to your hotel in London? You sounded very desperate with your wallet stolen and the hotel holding on to your passport until you could pay your bill... ;-)

Steve A.

LONDON?????
You´ve been CHEATED!!!!!
Big Tee is in NIGERIA you fool!!!!
I just sent him $3000 so the elephant handler could buy the special whistle needed so it would stop trampling on Big Tee !!!!!!
I think you will be scammed and lose your $1500.
Big Tee´s Insurance Company promised to send me back $5000 as a gift of gratitude as soon as he gets back to his hotel in New Delhi.
I mean, New Delhi is in Nigeria, isn´t it?

[big_teee]

LONDON?????
You´ve been CHEATED!!!!!
Big Tee is in NIGERIA you fool!!!!
I just sent him $3000 so the elephant handler could buy the special whistle needed so it would stop trampling on Big Tee !!!!!!
I think you will be scammed and lose your $1500.
Big Tee´s Insurance Company promised to send me back $5000 as a gift of gratitude as soon as he gets back to his hotel in New Delhi.
I mean, New Delhi is in Nigeria, isn´t it?

Hey guys, with a little bit of brain storming, I think we could come up with our own scam!
Something like, I found Jimmy Page's long lost stolen, 3 pickup black beauty Les Paul?
I just need the 4500 euro pounds shipping and insurance, to get it back to London, France! :<)
Send money to (Place address here) !
T

[R.G.]

The real problem is that the internet allows instant access to YOU on any level from obvious to hidden by anyone anywhere on the planet. This includes both the criminally and financially greed driven individuals and organizations.

There are automatically computers to spread the attempts to fool you into giving up some information or letting your computer become infected at even one second's worth of inattention. You cannot NOT be exposed to all of these attempts to pick your pocket or loot your accounts without giving up communications with people you do want to talk to.

The money is so easy and the victims so diffuse and poorly represented that the enterprise hackers can buy the most highly talented computer people to write the scams.

This is legitimately one of those places like national defense or roads that governments would step in and protect their people. However, governments have very similar interests to the Bad Guys here: governments too want clandestine access to anything you do or think. Governments will "protect" you from the organized looting only to the extent that it keeps you voting for them, and will actively either hire the Bad Guy hackers or subborn them into doing governments' bidding.

The online scamming and hacking of the host (that's you and me) proceeds from both the Bad Guys and the government. As long as neither parasite is sucking so much that the host dies, all is well.

Sadly, we have another binary parasite.