Alert fellow AT-ers!!! Beware of Scam Operation

View Full Version : Alert fellow AT-ers!!! Beware of Scam Operation

sacredashes

14-12-2010, 13:09

Dear Mods,

Please move thread if its in the wrong board.

I received an email a few days ago that said:

My name is miss Veronica Conte i saw your profile today AT tarotforum.net and i wish to request for your true friendship.I have an important reason of contacting you and i hope we can share great experiences together beyond here. Write to me direct to my e-mail inbox: .... , and i will send you my picture for you to know whom i am, thanks for your understanding. I wish to hear from you soon, God bless you.

Yours love,
veronica.

Thinking it was someone who needed help with a reading, I replied.

This was the email I received today:

Hi dear,

Thanks for your reply email, I'm glad you wrote back. Honestly, I must first ask for apology to burden your respected life and for the surprise this letter may be seen to you because we have not been in much communication. But I want you to bear with me that it is because of the ugly situation one fine herself into which lead me to open up to you. How is life over there with you?, believing it's alright. I will like to tell you more about myself,family and the important reason why i have contacted you. I am Miss Veronica Lansana Conté, 25years and the only daughter to Late President Lansana Conté, who was the former President of Guinea Conakry before his death on 22 December 2008. The death of my Father open ways for Military Coup in Guinea, lead by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. Captain Moussa Dadis Camara emerged as the leader of the group of army officers who seized power in a bloodless coup after the death of my late Father President Lansana Conte on 22 December 2008. The seized of power by Camara lead to the arrest of my two brothers to jail by Captain Camara Military Men. Captain Moussa Dadis Camara accuse my two senior brother of drug trafficking, leading to my escape to a near-by country Senegal for safety of my life and the inherit with me.

I am alone in this world as it is now, I do not have any onward relationship. I do not know the way about of my senior brothers,if death or alive. I was save and assisted by my late father's soldier friends,who took me out for hid immediately the news of my late father death came from the Military officers. So from there I took the portfolio box of my late father with me to the near by country Senegal.This site will explain more to you about my late father's history: .....

Considering myself to be save,i seek asylum under the United Nations High Commission as a Refugee here in Dakar Senegal. I am seeking for your trusted assistance to relocate out from this dangerous situation of place. My expressions may sound unbelievable because of many happenings all over the global.I need a trusted partnership with you because i have intention to relocate out from the near-by country Senegal because of the incumbent Military dictatorship Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. Please fine it urgent to response to my aids as i have it at the back of my mind to reveal to you more details about my family, seeking for your honest assistance. If possible,you can reach me through the phone number of Rev.Father Mark,+221768593783,when you call tell him you want to speak with Ms Veronica Lansana Conté from Guinea Conakry. You can see the reasons that lead me to search for a true one for freedom. After you might have gone through my letter, I think you will decide within yourself any possible way you can take me in your life to help me out. I am not going be a burden to you but i assure you of my true self.

To bring you more closer to who is writing or speaking to you, I have an original documents proof that cover the sum worth US$3.6million dollars. I saw this documents in the portfolio box of my late father. The contents in the portfolio box is so many documents of my late father's properties and values. The money US$3.6million dollars was the one written in my name as the next of kin, it was a surprise to me because I never knew of such documents exist since the life time of my father. This is another most reasons why I seek asylum under the United Nations High Commission for safety of my life and the documents, knowing that one good day, someone will help me out to claims what belong to me, despite the fact that I'm a woman. This is another reason why I say, I will not be a burden to you but be submissive to you in all areas of life. So only what am seeking for is that true, trust and honest partnership to lead me through out from this darkness condition of life here in the refugee camp Senegal.

Please i need your response interest and your capacity to stand for me as my appointed trustee for the claims/release of the money US$3.6million dollars in your position.Immediately i received your reply and your ability to help me out for the transfer, i will send to you the contact information of the Bank where the fund was deposited by my late father in my names as the next of kin. I want you to contact the Bank as my appointed trustee for the transfer of the fund to your account. I have the intention to relocate and meet you over there after the fund has been transfer into your account in your country. Could you please send to me your photos, more details about yourself and families. Hope to hear from you as soon as possible, wishing you God blessings.

Sincerely Yours,
Veronica.

Well... Have been spamming these emails for years BUT to use AT as a reference point... that's the first. I figured there are people out there cruising this forum to get response when normally, emails that that would get spammed in a heartbeat.

}) Btw, the email also came asking for information about my family and pictures and stuff... :confused: So I googled (http://www.topix.com/forum/world/senegal/TNLKKBE0MEIOF9CEM/p6) :D Here is another site (http://419.bittenus.com/10/4/VeronicaLansanaConte.html).

:heart:

Stormdancer

14-12-2010, 13:18

.

BUT to use AT as a reference point... that's the first. I figured there are people out there cruising this forum to get response when normally, emails that that would get spammed in a heartbeat.:heart:
Thanks for sharing this. I agree that the AT angle is new, and disturbing. Awareness keeps alert. Thanks for the heads up!!

:love:

sacredashes

14-12-2010, 14:42

yes. I thought so too. Don't know if they are coming into the forum sending out emails through the members' profiles.

:heart:

Alta

14-12-2010, 21:06

They must be registered, rats, apparently one got through. If anyone gets one of these, please post the originating email address.

sacredashes

15-12-2010, 00:36

Hi Alta,

I emailed you the original spam mails. It will be hard to stop people from registering as a member and then using that access to their advantage.

But its not really hard to spot a scam mail.

:heart:

Alta

15-12-2010, 02:17

Agreed on both counts. :(

Dancing Bear

15-12-2010, 10:01

Thanks for the heads up Sacred Ashes..

cronegoddess54

15-12-2010, 10:23

Wow! What a bunch of hogwash...jeesh the nerve of some people to try and scam a person of their money or identity. Thank you for sharing this.

MsRubyRain

15-12-2010, 10:41

Thanks for the warning Ash.

greatdane

15-12-2010, 11:00

For awhile, years ago, before they started getting caught as spam, I got about five in one month. Not exactly like this, but claiming to be a dying old woman who wanted to leave me all her money just because I'm so special
;-). They all came from different emails. I started responding back thank you, but as I had "inherited" from three other dying old women that month, all wishing to leave me all their money, that I would feel greedy accepting, so must decline their most generous offer......

Now they get caught in spam, but I see they are figuring out ways around it.

Thanks, Ash.

sacredashes

15-12-2010, 12:28

Don't mention it, :) We look out for each other here, you know? :heart:

Solandia

15-12-2010, 14:46

sacredashes

15-12-2010, 15:25

Hi sacredashes, I see you've received a copy of the classic Nigerian scam.

Did that first email you received appear to be sent from the forum - ie, the text of the email started with "This is a message from membername at Aeclectic Tarot Forum"?

~ Solandia

The email wasn't sent through AT forum. Its started like this:

My name is miss Veronica Conte i saw your profile today AT tarotforum.net and i wish to request for your true friendship.I have an important reason of contacting you and i hope we can share great experiences together beyond here. Write to me direct to my e-mail inbox: .... , and i will send you my picture for you to know whom i am, thanks for your understanding. I wish to hear from you soon, God bless you.

Yours love,
veronica.

I normally spam emails from addresses I am not familiar with and would have done the same with this one had she not mention seeing my profile from AT.

I suspect they go into the member's profile, click on the send email option; then cut and paste the member's email address to their own personal email account so Mods here can't trace which User ID they are using to access member's email info... Hope that makes sense.

I'm a Virgoen so I sort of worked out the route they would go to avoid detection.

Btw, I replied to their last email telling Miss Comte I will be spamming her and that I WILL be blowing their operation at the forum })

:heart:

Solandia

15-12-2010, 15:57

sacredashes

15-12-2010, 20:57

Hi sacredashes, member profiles aren't visible to non-members. And when a member emails another member through the forum, the recipient's email address isn't shown until they reply back. Is it possible you posted your email address in a regular post somewhere on the forum?

~ Solandia

No, I've never posted my email in the forum and just did a search of it to make sure.

I see what you mean about members' email address not coming up in the "Send Email" function as well.. which leaves one other option... that this person has written to me before through (?) the forum under another ID?

I can't say I know for sure. Have received spam like this before many, many times but never had it linked to this forum so that's what got me puzzled... as in how does the spammer know I am a member here?

:heart:

Alta

15-12-2010, 21:36

I did a search on the email yesterday, i.e. just plugged it into Google. What came back was three other other sites naming it as connected to this exact spam, and one link showed the address as having tried to scam someone on another forum.

cardlady22

16-12-2010, 00:29

Is there a possibility that an AT member's machine has been compromised? I was blocked from another forum a few years ago for my PC posting a message with a link to a virus. I knew nothing about the virus because another family member had been the only one on the computer while I was away.

misfitknits

16-12-2010, 13:15

WOW!! this is craziness!!! i mean, who hasn't gotten an email scam before? but now using forums as a way to gain entry to a person?!?! that burns my biscuits! at least we know now!! *foiled again, stupid fraud emails!!!*

and ash: i think your reply email was genius!!! at least if enough members hear about this scam here, then they will know when they get it that it's crap.

on one hand, i have never understood how people can actually send money *and TONS of money in some cases* to people they DON'T KNOW, have NEVER met, but then, i've seen some of the people who've been scammed by internet fraud, and it's really heartbreaking to hear that they wasted their entire life's savings the type of scum who perpetrate them.

sacredashes

16-12-2010, 19:41

It's nothing really :) That 2nd email really pissed me off big time and I hardly make threats so when I told them I was going to do something.. I made sure I am good for it! :P

:heart:

Cat*

16-12-2010, 20:12

Just a note: If you reply to a spam email, the sender now knows that your address is active (that is, you actually read the emails that arrive at that account vs. it's a dead account that nobody has checked in five years). They may well go on to sell it to more spam-sending companies so you get even MORE spam in the future.

So post here about being annoyed/angry but don't reply to the email. :)

sacredashes

16-12-2010, 20:26

I got spammed anyways and whoever sent it in the first place knew the account was active the moment I answered to the 1st email.

Just that the nature they sent the 1st email got a response from me because I "thought" it was from someone in the forum asking for help with readings or something. That's what pissed me off coz usually, I would spam it without replying for exactly the reason you just mentioned. ;)

That's why I put it here so you guys would know better than to walk right into it the way I did.

ETA:

}) You know what would be cool though? If I had the energy to forward all the spams I received in the last year to that email address and spam them right back!!! HEY! Shall we all do that? Gang-spam them for a change and see how they like it? :D

:heart:

greatdane

17-12-2010, 01:30

They usually change email addresses fast so they can't get caught. I found that out after I sent a reply they weren't interested in getting, like thanks, but I've already inherited 8.4 million this month from 3 other dying old women I don't know, so must decline your kind offer. I know most must go through email addresses like kleenex. There was a thing online or on tv about how they avoid getting caught.

BUT WHAT A GRAND THING if they hadn't changed their email and you could super spam them!

amethyst57

17-12-2010, 02:30

take some advice from a techie:
if you don't know the email addy or not quite sure, don't even open the message, dump and delete it...like in yer fridge, 'when in doubt throw it out'
should apply in your account....
then use the blocked addy app to keep them out of your inbox...explore your email account to see what apps you have...some have folders where you can safely send suspicious emails to, to open them there...
a lot of other sites have these things in their message accts too...

Solandia

20-12-2010, 16:42

Ash, I've finally solved this mystery - the spammer got your email address from the order contact on the Diary of a Broken Soul listing on the main Aeclectic Tarot website, not through the forum at all.

http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/diary-broken-soul/

Let me know if you'd like your email address removed from that page.

~ Solandia

sacredashes

22-12-2010, 07:32

gregory

22-12-2010, 08:18

NEVER spam someone back. It has the same effect as answering - it tells them you are a real person whose email is active.

And by the way - since this IS a spamming thread - also PLEASE when sending emails to several people - use blind copy (BCC) so that mail harvesters can't collect bulk addresses.....

greatdane

24-12-2010, 01:39

Thanks!

GD