Don't be a victim of email scams!
Just about everyone who uses the internet gets emails from fraudsters who are trying to separate them from their money.
Most of the scams are obvious and easy to avoid, but there's a worrying trend because some of them are now much more sophisticated and more likely to catch the unwary.
First of all, the obvious ones…
An email from someone who claims that he/his son/daughter/cousin is getting married and wants you to photograph the wedding - how much will you charge?
If you reply, the scammer will accept your quote (whatever the amount) and will then send you a Cashiers cheque or Bankers draft for the full amount PLUS an extra amount, with a request that you send the extra amount to someone else - often a videographer or wedding planner.
If you pay the cheque into your account it will clear, because the funds are available to meet the cheque - but the cheque itself will be stolen, so the cheque will (eventually) bounce, leaving you out of pocket to the value of the 'change' that you've paid to the third party.
You'd be surprised at how many people fall for this scam!
The reason that so many people are conned in this way is that the fraudsters take care to use poor English and to include spelling mistakes - this makes victims feel that they are superior to the 'customer' and because of this they don't suspect a fraud.
There are many variations on this scam, for example you may advertise an unwanted camera and someone offers to buy it - but they all have two things in common - the fraudster offers to pay more than the asking price, asking you to send the 'change' on to someone else, and they pay with a stolen cashiers cheque.
And then there are the Phishing emails
Phishing emails are emails that appear to come from someone else - usually Ebay, PayPal, a bank or a building society. They normally include all the real logos and look genuine. They normally say that there is something wrong with your account and that you need to log in to your account to verify the details. Of course, if you fall for it then you will have given the fraudster access to your bank account, your PayPal account (and the credit card or bank account behind the PayPal account) as well as to details of all your financial transactions. And of course they'll steal your identity too.
Other common 'Ebay' scams include an official looking 'Question from seller' asking you why you haven't paid for an item you bought and threatening to leave negative feedback - hoping of course that you'll click on the link and sign in to what you believe to be your Ebay account to explain that you didn't buy the item.
And then there's the 'Question from buyer' asking how much it will cost to ship your item to West Virgina (for example) or the one apparently from Ebay telling you about an unpaid item dispute, or telling you that you now qualify for Powerseller status, just click this link…
Until recently, most of these phishing emails were easy to spot - they would start off with 'Dear Ebay member' or 'Dear customer' or similar and there would be no details about the alleged problem, just an insistence that you click on a link to resolve the problem and that you do it now, otherwise your account will be suspended.
But eventually the banks, Ebay and PayPal recognised the problem and took some action, including addressing any genuine emails to the name of the account holder. This means that genuine emails will start off 'Dear John Smith' not 'Dear customer'
But does this stop the fraudsters? No, of course not!
Their fraudulent emails are sent out by the thousand (possibly by the million) so it suits then to send out a standard, non- specific email, but some of them are now addressed specifically to the victim, so don't be surprised if you get an email addressed to you personally.
This short article has been prompted by a new phishing email I've received - I didn't fall for it but these frauds have reached a new level of sophistication and I could easily have become a victim. Here is the email:
Dear Garry Edwards,
It has come to our attention that you may be the recipient of potentially unauthorised funds. We have initiated an investigation into this event. In the meantime, we have placed a temporary hold on the funds in question until the investigation is complete. This temporary hold will show as a deduction in your available balance. In the meantime, you are free to continue transacting using your PayPal account.
Transaction Date: 11 may 2006 00:32:25 CEST
Transaction Amount: £19,95 GBP
Payer's Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
If you have not delivered the goods or services related to this transaction, we ask that you delay or stop delivery until our investigation is complete, as you may be liable for the amount in question.
To assist us in our investigation, please send an email to pending_reversal@paypal.co.uk with the following information:
1. The item, service or purpose of the purchase, and the associated value.
2. The name and address given to you by the sender (if an item was purchased);
3. If posted, the company used for postage, date of postage, and tracking number for the delivery.
4. Details of any other transactions related to the transaction(s) in question;
5. A phone number where you can be reached during the day and evening; and
6. Insurance information, if applicable.
Any additional information you have regarding this transaction, such as email correspondence, will further help us to expedite our investigation. Solving these cases helps us continue to offer PayPal as a secure and cost-effective payment service. We appreciate your cooperation and assistance.
Yours sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Team
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PayPal (Europe) Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom as an electronic money institution.
PayPal Email ID PP231
PayPal subsequently confirmed that the email is a fake.
How did I know it was a fake? Easy, it asked me to send an email with info - PayPal would never do that, they would ask me to log into their secure website, where I would find details of any genuine problem or query. Also, although the fraudster used my name, PayPal address me by my trading name, not my actual name.
So, having received that email, it looked to me that the fraudster had bought something from me just so he would have details of the transaction and my name - but this isn't what actually happened.
It seems that he received a phishing email, fell for it and gave the fraudster his login info and password. Of course, the fraudster then emptied his PayPal account and, as the PayPal account is funded by his bank account, they emptied that too. And because he has an agreed overdraft limit, they left him with an overdraft too. And, not satisfied with that, they clearly looked at all his recent transactions as well, which is where they got details of his purchase from me. No doubt his other customers and sellers have been contacted by the fraudster too.
So how can you identify this type of email as a fraud?
Well, some are easier than others but they all have one thing in common - they either ask you to click on a link in the email or ask you to email them, and emails from genuine banks etc never do that - they ask you to log into their secure website, where you'll find details of the query or problem. With Ebay, when you log in you'll find it in 'My messages' and with PayPal you'll find it in the 'Resolution Center'. So my advice is to never click on any link contained in an email and never reply to the email.
What should you do about these scam emails?
Well, the first and obvious thing to do is to ignore them. If you reply to a scammer who wants you to photograph a wedding for example, you'll be confirming that you're a photographer and that your email address is working - and you'll get a lot more scam emails.
And the same thing goes for the emails apparently from banks, Ebay and PayPal too. Never click on a link or reply to the email. If you're in any doubt just forward the email to your bank, Ebay or PayPal (spoof@ebay.co.uk or spoof@paypal.com)
What if you fall for the scam?
Well, the first thing to do is to log into your account and change your password - but you'll have to be quick because you'll be in a race with the fraudster, who will change your password as soon as he can. Then notify the bank, credit card supplier, PayPal, Ebay or whoever and ask their advice. If necessary, stop your credit and debit cards. Once you've notified a bank of possible identity theft the responsibility becomes theirs, it's just the same as telling them that your credit card has been stolen.
I'm not going to comment on the apparent attitude of Ebay or PayPal towards these fraudsters, but it does seem strange to me that they describe these emails as spoof or phishing - these fraudsters are criminals who steal from honest people and they should be regarded as such.
One of my neighbours has a sign up on his entrance gates "Warning: My Rottweilers hate thieves. Survivors will be shot" But the email thieves don't risk being either savaged by dogs or being shot, and there's virtually no risk of being caught either, so I don't see any prospect of these emails going away any time soon. You just need to be vigilant, and to remember that one in every hundred people fall for these scams.
This article was written by Garry Edwards. Garry has written a number of informative guides to photography. They are available from www.photolearn.co.uk.
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