scam - Dave's Blog

Search
My timeline on Mastodon

Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria? - Microsoft Research

2014 Aug 26, 3:53

Mass mailing Internet scams intentionally use poor spelling, grammar etc to filter down to target ignorant audience .

PermalinkCommentstechnical security statistics

theatlantic: Victorian Trolling: How Con Artists Spammed in a...

2013 Oct 29, 7:42


theatlantic:

Victorian Trolling: How Con Artists Spammed in a Time Before Email

The main difference between 21st-century scams and those of centuries past is one of delivery method.

Read more. [Image: Wikimedia Commons/Benjamin Breen]

PermalinkCommentshistory spam technical humor internet

Attention:!!!, Behold, you are reading a letter from your President Barack Obama.

2012 Sep 26, 2:43

Eric gets the most entertaining mail.

You have failed to comply with them after all the warning and instructions given to you, but since you are also among the terrorist we are facing in the country, I will personal make sure that I wipe away the crime in the state and I promise you that you will definitely pay with your life because I am here to protect the interest of my people and not to put them in shame, you suppose to support this government and not to spoil it.

PermalinkCommentshumor spam scam email eric-law

Why 'Nigerian Scammers' Say They're From Nigeria (microsoft.com)

2012 Jun 20, 5:05

Far-fetched tales ofWest African riches strike most as comical. Our analysis suggests that is an advantage to the attacker, not a disadvantage. Since his attack has a low density of victims the Nigerian scammer has an over-riding need to reduce false positives. By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor.

PermalinkCommentshumor security scam

Schneier on Security: Fraud on eBay

2009 Jun 19, 3:27You must wonder if Bruce Schneier is having trouble selling his laptop just because he's Bruce Schneier and he announced his sale on his blog. I thought his description was funny though: "But I still want to sell the computer, and I am pissed off at what is essentially a denial-of-service attack." A scam or attack to you or me is at worst a DoS to Bruce Schneier.PermalinkCommentsbruce-schneier ebay fraud security dos

Don't fall victim to the 'Free Wi-Fi' scam

2007 Jan 26, 3:20I wondered how long it would take for these to appear. Maybe you don't pay money to use your neighbors WiFi connection but you do pay in information.PermalinkCommentsarticle wifi free security windows airport

Phishing

2004 Aug 19, 2:52I received an email from verification@citibank.com the other day with the subject "Fraud Check Verification". Or at least that's what someone at the jumphk2.net domain would have me believe. The whole official looking email was very convincing at first glance. There's the Citibank logo image up in the left corner, the reassuring TrustE image in the opposite corner, and just the right amount of legal-ese on the bottom. The text requested me to follow a link in the email to update and verify my information. At closer examination however it becomes apparent that this is a scam. Little things start to catch your eye. The TrustE image is hosted on ebay and the Citibank logo is hosted at 65.108.92.50. Both images one might expect to be hosted on Citibank's site. The link in the email looks like its taking you to https://www.citibank.com/saw-cgi/citibankISAPI.dll?PlaceCCInfo but in fact its taking you to a page hosted at 65.108.92.50 again. The following sentence appears in the email:

If your account information is not updated within 48 hours then your ability to sell or bid on Citibank will become restricted.

Oh shit! My bid on Citibank might not go through! Seriously, they might have gone to a little more effort than just copying and pasting a scam letter meant for EBay. And the number one fact revealing the email for what it is -- I don't have a Citibank account. I had received an email exactly like this several months ago and just deleted it, but for some reason, perhaps I was in a foul mood, I decided to do something this time around. I emailed abuse at my domain, the ISP controlling their IP address, and Citibank. My domain told me there was nothing they could do. Citibank has yet to respond. As for their ISP, the following day I received an email from Leon at Alabanza's Abuse department informing me:

This account has been locked down and is now on schedule for deletion. If we can further assist you please let us know.

Fuck yeah! This was a lot better than anything I had expected. I anticipated no response from any of the letters I sent. The page is gone now. Leon rocks!PermalinkComments
Older Entries Creative Commons License Some rights reserved.