The Top Five E-Mail Scams
Usually, scammers attempt to trick you into filling out forms on rogue sites. Rogue sites usually look legitimate (some are even replicas of legitimate sites you trust), but they are set up to spread a virus, collect names for spammers or grab your personal information. Other scams try to get you to reply to e-mails requesting your personal data like passwords and bank account numbers. Once you've given up the info, criminals can siphon your cash, make purchases and get out before you even have a chance to track them down.
To get you the best advice possible on each scam, we talked to Carol McKay of the National Consumers League. She offers up some tips you literally can't afford to miss.
Scam #1: Investment Pump & Dump
The Come-On
Everyone wants to be in on the ground floor when it comes to investing, so it's no surprise that millions of people go for this one: You receive an e-mail from someone claiming to be a power broker containing a hot tip on a penny stock that promises to double, even triple, in short time. So you go for it, only to see it tumble within hours. One such e-mail we received just this week looks like this:
Subject: Your 221.43% - breaking results
DarkLord: DWPI Hits The Street, Price Climbs 221.43%
Distributed Power Inc.
Symbol: DPWI Price: $0.40 (+0.31)
News hits the streets!!! DPWI acquires huge oil reserves, drills deeper on current wells increasing production, and now opens Asian division. Investors go nuts today and price rockets 221.43%. Act fast, read the news and get on DPWI first thing Tuesday!
The Scam
Turns out the people who send you the e-mail in the first place are waiting for a few people like you to get the stock up so they can get out before you even have a chance.
What You Can Do
Carol says: "Legitimate investments are risky, and legitimate brokers will admit that to customers. Be especially wary of offers that arrive via e-mail, offshore investments or commodities, and high-pressure sales tactics. And, if you can't afford to lose all your money, don't invest any of it."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
John Huckleberry @ Apr 26th 2007 7:13AM
Right now I have an email scammer-spammer-hacker sending out my name and address in the subject matter in bulk emails. I tracked him and his wife down after going thru a few web domain whois look ups to finally find he has an AOL email address for the master reseller account he works his scams thru. I contacted them (the hacker-spammer) thinking I'll get a reply stating they were hacked. BUT NO, He stated he had every right to be using anyones name and address in his bulk email scams. I informed AOL by forwarding his statements made on a AOL email account, proof he owns the domains sending them and he STILL has an AOL. If AOL really cared about members they would close his account which would make his Whois information invalid. Closing down his scams. Yet AOL doesn't close his account... AOL shut down account Kylerrk. Or at least send him a email pretending to be another member he is hacking-spamming and watch his replies. Protect your members AOL before you're a ghost town on the net. mho.
Mike @ Apr 26th 2007 7:21AM
Agreed,
No doubt about it, most people have been primed over the years to think that there are people with inside stock tips, and the email blasts utilizing greed motivation is no different than the tip from the stranger on the street. There are always people who will believe anything, and the success of this scheme proves that greedy people still will bite on these scams, especially with the ease in which one can trade online these days.
Never trade on any tip, period, even one from your broter in law and you will save your time money and the disappointment of loss. As to the article indicating offshore investments as a scam, this I take point on. Offshore investments are just as legitimate as any other countries investment opportunities, just do your own due diligence, but don't label offshore as a scam, only people are scammers, not countries.
www.Iraqi-Investments.com
DAVID WELLS @ Apr 26th 2007 7:59AM
JUST CURIOUS
gary @ Apr 26th 2007 8:25AM
Some call in naive, I call it stupid. If you believe that there are people out there spending their precious time and money for your benefit without never seeing you, you deserve to be scammed. How many our close relatives or friends just give you a $50000 out of the goodness of their heart? And you expect a stranger do it? Same yourself time - delete button or trash can is the only destunations for such scams. I read them once in a while for entertainment, but this is about it.
aol person @ Apr 26th 2007 8:28AM
It would be nice if AOL would do something about the beg-for-cash scammers, like the cyber beggars with their sob stories. These are the guys that nickel and dime many people at one time, and they NEVER repay what they owe. I know of an on-going situation with an individual that has over several years bilked money from an certain online community with his tales of woe and tantrums for money. When pressed to repay, he flies into rages; threatening, harassing, and intimidating. All the while, this non-human lives comfortably with it's parents.
sarabrb7 @ Apr 26th 2007 8:29AM
I totally agree with Gary.
Ray Sutton @ Apr 26th 2007 8:36AM
You forgot to mention one other really bad scam. The one where they offer you a part time job to collect funds from their clients and cash the bogus checks and money orders and send them the cash via Western Union. This one is particularly dirty and can get you into a lot of trouble with the law and the banks and the postal service.
gary @ Apr 26th 2007 8:39AM
Complain to FCC and , if this does not work, to your congressman or senator.
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html
FCC regulates companies like AOL. AOL will have to respond, then you will know if this is legal or not. If this is really legal, which I doubt, complain to congressman. This is why we pay taxes.
Dave Egeland @ Apr 26th 2007 8:43AM
I,too, sometimes read these scams for informative/entertainment(?) purposes. But AOL is actually in violation of its own rules, local, state, federal, and international laws by FASCILITATING these audacious endeavors against our citizens and AOL members around the world. What, do we have to sue them in federal court, thus smearing AOL's name and causing them harm, or will one--JUST ONE--of their employees actually read this, investigate the matter and what can be done, and then correct this long-running problem??? Come on AOL, get a freakin' clue. You get so much right that it boggles the mind how badly you are disrespecting your power base--your only means of support--with no end in sight! Disgusted in central Missouri, SHOW ME, DAMN IT! Dave Egeland (choicerelics@aol.com)
tanya @ Apr 26th 2007 8:48AM
i think when these people are cought sending things to steal money from you or what have you , time to cut off there hand and start teaching scamers a lesson and others before they think of pulling something like this !
Dave Egeland @ Apr 26th 2007 8:51AM
Here's a NEW scam we can run! Let's send-out e-mails to THE ENTIRE WORLD, saying we are in a position of power to end the Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan/Palestininian/N.Korean/Columbian and all other international conflicts by next week. All we need is $1 from EVERYBODY online to buy these people out of power and put our own people in. I'll bet we get not one red freakin' cent. Why? 'Cause folks really don't give a damn unless it affects their daily routine. Folks care, but not to the extent that it COSTS money. Why do we have churches anymore, if this is the case???
Jenny @ Apr 26th 2007 8:54AM
You can usually see these scam coming. Just use common sense and know that "If it sounds to good to be true, it usually is!" And don't let greed get you in trouble!
Jenny
Ted @ Apr 26th 2007 9:00AM
Yep they even send checks that look real, buit don't deposit it!! it will bounce,and you will be left with the over draft fee's, and out the money the want you to send them so you can pay your so called tax on your winning lotto tickect you never even knew you had. lol more scams coming to your email soon.
Bob @ Apr 26th 2007 9:12AM
I know these scammers and phisers are annoying and I try tokeep up with them useing adware eliminators and various cleaners. But I also know it's very hard for AOL to clean up these sites. Sure AOl can shut them down, then there back up under another name and site going through different routers within 5 mins. after being shut down. I just use the assumption that if it sounds to good to be true
it probely isn't, and nothin is for free.
wterrietw0000 @ Apr 26th 2007 9:27AM
i know how it feels to be done that way. last summer i went to sign on to aol and got informed that my account had been suspended for sending out gambling and porn related bulk email. i had not even been on line for three days.when i finally got someone on line they beleived me and agreed to un freeze my account. they said change your password and keep it private. well i am the only one with it and i never even wrote it down. so i did as they suggested and changed it on all of my accounts, but it did not stop there.a couple of nites later i was on line and my husbands aim poped up on my list that he had just signed on. he was sitting beside me and was not on line at all. i ran it down to a chat room an adult chat room. when i contacted the person using his handle they immediatly signed off. so we changed his passwords also.i have even had alerts pop up and tell me i am signed on in several remote locations all at once. i have since deleated all screen names and had to open brand new accounts for my aol service. my husband works for a large company and their system is private i can send him mail but to gain access to his account at work you have to use an employees password to sign in i do not have this nor have i ever asked him for it. just last night i went to mail him at work and i acceidently clicked on the address he had sent me mail from earlier at work and it brought up a aol member profile page. his mail at work is in no way related to aol or our internet service. so now his email address is on the net and we cant access it to delete it. a few months ago he got informed at work that his address at work had sent out a very racialy inapropriate email to everyone in the plant where he works in fact this almost led to a phiscal fight before the day was over. after several days of internal investigation by the company they chose to beleive him when he said he didnt do it. they were ready to fire him for this. he is going to report the profile we found on line to the appropriate people at work to day and hopefuly this is how some one used his address and name to send out the emails. we are not sure but i would suggest that anyone out there who has delt with any issues like this do an internet search on them selves. i have found my name and email address used on numerious adult and non adult related sites. its a scary thing and can cause a world of hurt. thank god my husband beleived we when i told him i had not registered with these gross and disgusting sites!
Paul Cullen @ Apr 26th 2007 9:29AM
Occasionally I will read one of these bogus scams. They ARE entertaining. I also can be a bit naughty. The best retaliation I have is the PayPal scam confirming the receipt of payment, and verification of the transaction. It is really designed to get you to "dispute this transaction" where once you read the information, a simple click on the "dispute" link (I assume, 'cause I never go this far) will take you to where you can cancel the transaction. I write back to the scammer that all is correct, but the "ship to" address is incorrect. "Please ship this to blah, blah, blah"
Never hear back from them, but occasionally, I will send a few follow up e-mails... THE MOST INSECURE SITE IS eBay. I will not give my personal info for an accoint again. I have had my account compromised 4 times in the last 6 months. I once updated the information on eBay and PayPal, and had the account invaded within an hour of the submit of the corrected information. It is ALMOST like they have NO SECURITY at all. AOL is about the same in my humble opinion...Thx for reading my rambles
basbleu @ Apr 26th 2007 9:30AM
Put the stuff in the spam department and relax. Have you ever researched how many times your name shows up when you google it? My husband had a fit when he saw how much money I contributed to political fundraisers!!!!!! Ouch!!! I know they keep a list of us suckers but gee whiz, put it on the web?
I actually enjoy reading the spam mails, some are hilarious especially when they want to sell me Viagra at rock bottom prizes. That's just what this woman needs, a good dose of Viagra.
P. C. @ Apr 26th 2007 9:38AM
I've recently received several e-mails announcing I'd won the "U.K. lottery." or some other country's lottery, and been asked to forward from $1,000.00 to $1,800.00 to the courier company for "safe" delivery of my winnings. I in turn replied to one such notification that I would "come to the U.K. and pick up my winnings personally," (LOL) was told I couldn't do that. The next time I informed the scam artists that as soon as I got confirmation frm the United States Attorney's Generals Office of the validity of their "Operation," I would consider their proposal, guess what, stopped receiving e-mails from them, and a lot of the others too.
boxley @ Apr 26th 2007 9:43AM
Folks I work for an ISP (not AOL) and we spend a lot of time and money trying to keep these emails from reaching our customers. I also know for a fact that AOL does the same. 90% plus of all email on the internet is garbage out of the 10% that actually reaches your in box about 10% of that is also scammy. If we try to ratchet up the catch rate legitimate mail also gets caught and the customers dont like that either. So, if you dont know the person who sent you the message ignore it. If you get a message from your bank or credit card, do not click any links. Use the correct web site from prior use to verify any info sent to you.
thank you
FIRSTSAI @ Apr 26th 2007 9:52AM
Supposedly, the wife in Tennessee who shot her minister-husband with a shotgun, was scammed out of $5000 in one of these schemes, and killed her husband when he confronted her about it...