Latest scam of the month-reminder to be aware

[Happyras]

So, here is a good one. My wife placed an ad to sell one of our young horses. We live in WA. Someone going by the name Howard Carlos Jonathon (I state this incase he is scamming others) inquired to buy the horse from NY. It would cost about 6K to ship the horse to there.

They coerced my wife into giving out her name, address and phone along with email. They then sent a crazy letter from their "finance/AP officer" along with a fake check using Wells Fargo, Asensus Trust, and Santa Rossa Mosaic and Tile logos, and a fake routing and account number. The scam requires my wife to call the officer before cashing and to ignore any message that they have resigned. It just gets funnier as they tried to email and demand we cash the check. I only wish she had gotten more info so the FEDs could chase them down for fraud.

I have had similar inquiry when posting items for sale on Ebay and Craigslist, but I never went further than to tell them no. It was easy for my wife to trust this was serious, as most folks reading that horse industry ad would be in a very limited group who have some wealth. It is a common scam now to inquire, and get your banking info by trying to cash a fake check then switching to requesting wire transfer details.

It was an impressive attempt, as they sent the letter Priority Mail Express, but there was no professional structure or letterhead on the letter. The fake check was printed as if on actual secure paper, but it was obviously not real.

I just thought this should be shared as a reminder to be careful giving out any personal info.....

 

[Lewis Clark]

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Chuckanut]

It was an impressive attempt, as they sent the letter Priority Mail Express, but there was no professional structure or letterhead on the letter. The fake check was printed as if on actual secure paper, but it was obviously not real.
.

Thanks for the warning.

You might consider handing the check and letters off to the Post Office. Using the mail to defraud people is a crime.

Do they still have postal inspectors?

 

[Happyras]

Thanks for the warning.

You might consider handing the check and letters off to the Post Office. Using the mail to defraud people is a crime.

Do they still have postal inspectors?

Thanks, I forgot that might be better than placing a fraud complaint with the Fed. Such a mail has traceability!

 

[rodi]

I had a similar scam tried on my (twice) last time I sold a vehicle on Craigslist. I think I posted here to confirm it was a scam. Out of state, offering cashiers check for sales price plus shipping costs, but of course the check would be fake... but you don't find out till later.

Scammers are pretty amazing. (In a bad way).

Yesterday I got a robo call from "Amazon Fraud department" telling me to press 1 to talk to a representative. I did and they said there was an issue with an I-phone I'd ordered. What was extra confusing is that older son had just ordered an iphone the week previous (much to our annoyance since he's supposed to be saving money). I think that was coincidence.... They said they suspected some fraud because the phone was being shipped to Florida and they showed our address in CA. They had some personal information (knew our address and my husbands name.) The husbands name thing was a red flag since he is not on my amazon account - he has me order his stuff. The guy said I needed to change some settings on my account - I explained I wasn't home. He gave me a phone number to call him back when I was home. I told him it sounded scammy, but truthfully, I was a little unsure since they had my address and knew my husbands name.

I texted son - his iphone was ordered through apple directly. I checked my amazon account and son's amazon account - no mystery iphone purchases and no addresses added to our accounts in Clearwater Fl. I call back the number that had called me (different than the number the scammer gave me)... It was a non-answering number. I called the number he gave me and got the same guy... I told him my account was fine, no orders for iphones (fraudulent or not) and no extra addresses. He hung up on me. 20 minutes later he calls again (I guess nor realizing I'd already called him back - as soon as he heard my voice, he hung up.

This was the first time I've had a scam attempt have so much socially engineered data. But it's all publicly available (I googled myself.)

Scammers suck.

 

[travelover]

I've noticed that on Facebook Marketplace, there are numerous obvious scams with tractors, golf carts and popular vehicles at ridiculously low prices. Not sure how long this has been going on, but it is a flood.

 

[easysurfer]

This is why I avoid buying/selling stuff in person like at Facebook marketplace and prefer to do so on ebay.

Not saying there aren't scammers there also, but at least that way won't have to meet them in person.

Who knows what up to no good ideas the scammers may have in mind?

 

[erkevin]

This is why I avoid buying/selling stuff in person like at Facebook marketplace and prefer to do so on ebay.

Not saying there aren't scammers there also, but at least that way won't have to meet them in person.

Who knows what up to no good ideas the scammers may have in mind?

When I do face-to-face sales/purchases, i always do it in the lobby of my local police department

 

[foxfirev5]

At this stage of life I'm done with the fancy transactions to sell a few items. Put it in the front yard on a busy road at the lake cottage with a simple cash price. If it sells fine if not, put it back or throw it out.

 

[braumeister]

Another method I've used a couple of times is to meet at the buyer's bank and watch them get a bank check which they then hand over to me.

 

[braumeister]

Funniest one I've seen in a while was a neighbor who put a washing machine out by the road with a sign "Works perfectly -- FREE".

It sat there for a week. Then he changed the sign to "$50" and it was stolen that night.

 

[OldShooter]

It sounds like the OP's check looked suspicious. I had a friend who played along with a scammer one time just for fun and the check that arrived was perfect. No reason at all to suspect it. The only possible reason for suspicion was that the scammer was in Atlanta and the bank was at the end of the road in Montana. Obviously that was so clearing would take as long as possible. Friend called the bank: "Oh, yeah. We've been seeing a lot of those lately ..."

So don't count on a bogus check looking bogus and don't take one without checking with the bank it's drawn on and then waiting for good funds in your own account. Your own bank can help assure this.

 

[Walt34]

You might consider handing the check and letters off to the Post Office. Using the mail to defraud people is a crime.

Do they still have postal inspectors?

Yes they still have postal inspectors. Also know that if the bad guys send you documents (such as fake checks) paper is terrific for recovering fingerprints. A fingerprint is composed of the oils that are naturally secreted along the ridge lines of one's fingers, and these are readily absorbed by the paper and are recoverable many decades later. So if you get documents like that and think about reporting it to law enforcement, try to handle the documents as little as possible. Put them in a plastic bag so you can look at them, but do try to handle as little as possible so you don't overlay your prints over the bad guy's. That can make the bad guy's prints difficult to impossible to read.

 

[RobbieB]

Yup. All cashiers checks are fake. Take cash only. And really look at the cash too.

 

[Chuckanut]

A friend of mine's son was selling his motor scooter. Some fellow from the midwest wanted buy it sight unseen. He would send the lad a check to cover shipping costs, and then ask the boy to send him back any extra money.

The check is, of course, no good. By the time it bounces weeks later, the scooter and some money are gone for good.

I do wonder why in this age of computers it takes banks so long to confirm that a check is good. I would think this is all handled overnight by the check cashing system.

 

[Sunset]

My lastest was an email phising attempt:

Pretended to be from American Express.

Titled: Account Conern: Verify request

They spelled Concern wrong, and used some fake random account number.
Wanted me to click on a link for a google docs form (I didn't).

First one I've ever seen to pretend to be from Amex.

 

[gauss]

PSA/On

Folks - Don't respond to "organizations" cold calling or cold emailing you with purpoted problems with your accounts.

Call them back at the published number of the organization or log into your online account.

Any real problems should be visible by using these "trusted" channels.

I know that in the heat of the moment this can be tough to remember, but realize that the scammers know how to manufacture a crisis to get your emotions running high for just this purpose.

-gauss

 

[FrankiesGirl]

My father was of the old school. He could not fathom screening calls - if the phone rang, it was impolite to not answer if you were home.


I could not get it across to him that if they were even basic cold callers, he did not have to spend time talking to them; listen long enough to figure out if this was a person he knew/wanted to talk to or tell them "no thanks" and hang up otherwise. He would spend 30 minutes trying to reason with the scammers about how he didn't want to buy what they were "selling" and end up frustrated and flustered.


I had to explain in this day and age, his information was easy to find on the internet. His address, name, age and phone number were all out there in public, google maps could show images of his house and even make/model of car and what he has in his backyard. family relationships were also easy to find - names and ages of his kids and wife without any trouble at all. much much more besides.



And there is absolutely no way you can depend on caller ID at all. There is no regulation to how phone callers are allowed to use caller ID, so scammers are able to "spoof" (lie) about their number, the name used and it can be changed easily with very basic technology. You can't trust it. If you are expecting a phone call, let it go to the voicemail and listen to see if that is the actual person you were expecting/recognize and THEN answer. Let friends/family know to LEAVE A MESSAGE because you screen your calls so if you are home, you'll pick up and talk to them, but otherwise you'll call them back. Scammers won't waste as much time if all they EVER get is voicemail. They want live people because they always believe they can wear you down if you are (they think) dumb enough to talk to them. And they mark down that phone number as a good one and resell it on lists all over the dark web.



One scammer called DAILY and started telling my dad they were going to come burn down his house and hurt him and then described what his house looked like - if he didn't pay them money. While my dad wast pretty sure this was not a real threat, he just couldn't stop trying to convince the scammer to stop calling him.



I had to explain that they already know he's elderly based on his voice and google info, and believe that he is a worthy target just based on that alone - and they will not stop calling him because they always figure if you talk to them, it's just a matter of wearing him down. No amount of talking/reasoning or explaining on his part was going to make them stop. and just because someone threatened him didn't mean they lived in the same town. The scammer I heard while visiting had a very thick Jamaican accent and the various times I saw the caller id it was from all over the world... I had to tell my dad he was likely not even in the state let alone same country and to just stop picking up the phone unless he knew and was expecting the call, and hang up the instant this guy (or any scammer) started going through the threats.

 

[frayne]

I get these type of scam emails almost daily.


HSBC Bank Plc
Financial services company
Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 751 050 7374

Attention:

I wish to inform you that henceforth your transaction will be handled by HSBC Bank UK $2.500,000.00 US Dollars as the IMF directed.

This latest development is to ensure the safety of the funds because the IMF is already aware of the delay on your payment of $2.500,000 US Dollars, they have sent us emails which and we gave several reasons on your behalf which is against our banking policy. So for security reasons we had to handle your transfer here in the UK.

Re-confirm your full information to this email address:: wfbank057@gmail.com

Your full Name. . . . . . .
Your home address. . . .
Your cell number. . .

Kindly oblige HSBC Bank UK

Yours faithfully,
CEO: James Emmett
HSBC Bank Plc Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

 

[CardsFan]

Got one today from "Walmart". DW has been "selected" to participate in a survey for a $90 gift card.

Given the email address is: zdglopi-aJ9UTQ21z8u-no...@qpoan.retrospun.com via boxyenews.com

I think I will pass.

Usually, these go to the spam folder, but this one made it through.

 

[Nick12]

Funniest one I've seen in a while was a neighbor who put a washing machine out by the road with a sign "Works perfectly -- FREE".

It sat there for a week. Then he changed the sign to "$50" and it was stolen that night.

That's awesome. I'm going to try that approach.

 

[Happyras]

Thanks for the warning.

You might consider handing the check and letters off to the Post Office. Using the mail to defraud people is a crime.

Do they still have postal inspectors?

Well, I went through the whole reporting process to both the post office and the Fed's, in the end of each report (on-line) they said they would review for for insight into current cases, but would not be following up to do anything specific. In other words, a waste of time.

Apparently, this is why there are so many scammers out there, there is no official follow up to any complaint. We have no protection under the law it seems.

 

[scrabbler1]

Got one today from "Walmart". DW has been "selected" to participate in a survey for a $90 gift card.

Given the email address is: zdglopi-aJ9UTQ21z8u-no...@qpoan.retrospun.com via boxyenews.com

I think I will pass.

Usually, these go to the spam folder, but this one made it through.

I get these a lot, too, from Walgreens, Best Buy, Costco, CVS.... They always have these gobbledygook email addresses, too, like what you wrote. And, they address me by the first part of my email address (which has no part of my name), another giveaway that it's spam.

I set my spam filter to its most strict setting, so these emails go to my spam folder, where I can add the domain name to my block list, probably worthless because they change domain names like we change our socks, and I unfortunately can't specify wild cards in the list of blocked domain names.