New twist on Old Scam

mickeyd

mickeyd

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Joined
Apr 8, 2004
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Received this as part of a recent internet "offer". Looks like the fellas in Nigeria have broadened their search for benefactors. Other than the obvious misspellings and poor use of the language it still is crazy that anyone would fall for this.

Has anyone else seen this before?

I'm U.S. Army General by name (Gen. John F. Campbell). I am currently
saving as the Commander, International Security Assistance Force and
United States Forces in Afghanistan on August 26, 2014. However, I
really want to establish a true relationship that may lead into a
business partner after resigned from my job. I saw your email through
my searching from internet and I pick interest to know you better for
mutual interest, please let continue our conversation through my
private email box or you can also Click the link below to know more about me.
Click to expand...
 
Tip off: Really bad English...even for a General :LOL:
 
Yes, this isn't the first General who has been picked for these scams. Luckily everybody who knows them knows not to fall for this!


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
 
I had a friend who sent an e-mail to all his contacts explaining that he'd be out of touch in the near future because he was going to be doing contract work in the middle East, and he was very happy because he hadn't had much work recently. A few days later he told us it had turned out to be a scam. Fortunately he hadn't sent them money or enough personal information to do any damage, but he must have been pretty embarrassed.
 
Got a scam phonecall the other day. A guy with a thick accent told me he was calling from the Dept. of Legal Affairs at the US Treasury. He told me I was being investigated and gave me the name and number of a guy to contact. He wouldn't tell me what I was being investigated for - kept telling me I should have received info in the mail.

The whole thing was sketchy and my spidey senses were in overload that this was a scam. (I'm not the type to run afoul of the Dept. of Treasury... I pay my taxes etc... and when the guy wouldn't tell me what it was about....)

I googled afte rward and found out this is a new form of scam - they do these calls repeatedly if the person is nervous when they call... they get the target worried/nervous/panicked... then offer to "settle" for a smaller amount. Obviously the money doesn't go to the government.

I can totally see people falling for this though.
 
When I was still working I belonged to a computer and network security professional organization that had a lot of feds and local LEOs as members. I was at a conference one time and sat in while one of the FBI guys was telling about a high end DC lawyer who got sucked into a 419 scam (Nigerian). This guy was bright as hell, but must have been one greedy SOB. He sent money, then kept sending money, and ended up being out several hundred thousand dollars. I couldn't believe it! I didn't think anybody actually fell for these scams, but the FBI guy said they got reports of it all the time.

This was a decade or so ago, so hopefully everybody knows not to buy in these days. But still...just another example of pigs getting slaughtered, I guess.
 
rodi said:
Got a scam phonecall the other day. A guy with a thick accent told me he was calling from the Dept. of Legal Affairs at the US Treasury. ...

I can totally see people falling for this though.
Click to expand...

Apparently, people do fall for it, or the bad guys wouldn't bother. Though they don't need a very high hit rate - a few suckers out of hundreds/thousands of hang ups is probably enough to keep them profitable.

But I think it's scary that anybody would fall for it. The rule I live by is ignore any sort of cold call. If I didn't go looking, I don't need it. The IRS has official ways to contact people, and it is not by phone call.

I once got a call about suspected fraud on my CC. Even though it turned out to be legit, no way was I going to pick up, or call the number they left. I call the number on my card or statement, or go directly to the web site.

If everyone did that (and that's not rocket science, just common sense), these people would stop.

-ERD50
 
harley said:
When I was still working I belonged to a computer and network security professional organization that had a lot of feds and local LEOs as members. I was at a conference one time and sat in while one of the FBI guys was telling about a high end DC lawyer who got sucked into a 419 scam (Nigerian). This guy was bright as hell, but must have been one greedy SOB. He sent money, then kept sending money, and ended up being out several hundred thousand dollars. I couldn't believe it! I didn't think anybody actually fell for these scams, but the FBI guy said they got reports of it all the time.
Click to expand...

When I was doing fraud and computer crime investigations we ran into that sometimes. I worked for a local govt. agency so what we saw was more limited. Nevertheless it confirmed that P.T. Barnum was right.

After reading a bunch of books on neuroeconomics I suppose it's akin to a gambling addiction or taking Jim Cramer's advice.
 
There was a story not long ago on the morning news about this member is church who got one of these IRS calls. He was terrified that trouble would ruin his reputation so ended up losing thousands by buying money cards and coughing up money that way. Some people have no shame.
 
easysurfer said:
There was a story not long ago on the morning news about this member is church who got one of these IRS calls. He was terrified that trouble would ruin his reputation so ended up losing thousands by buying money cards and coughing up money that way. Some people have no [-]shame[/-] sense.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to be mean, but I have to assume that anyone who would fall for the money card part of the scam shouldn't be managing their own affairs anyway. That's such an incredible giveaway. The US Gov't won't accept their own printed money as payment?
 
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