UKC

Just had a message from someone asking for my address so they can send me a cheque.
They say they want to use my photograph for a Coca Cola advert in Dublin Airport. Told them I was not stupid enough to give out private details over the internet.
Is there anywhere these people can be reported to?

In reply to martin heywood: Do you report people (usually over enthusiastic students) who walk up to you on the high street asking for your name, address and bank account details on the pretext that they will set up a direct debit to a charity to the police? I think in this instant, you just need to walk on by. Asking for your address is not a criminal offense. Perhaps it should be?

In reply to EeeByGum:

No, i don't think that asking for someone's address should be a criminal offence. I was referring to the attempt to steal money from someone's bank (presumably)
I was really wondering if you are as powerless as it seems to do anything about this kind of incident.

In reply to martin heywood:

just ignore. There's far too many people sending scams out for any organised body to keep up with.

In reply to martin heywood: These things are usually sent out in their thousands (millions?) from anonymous accounts that are quickly shut down (despite where it looks like it's come from). It's almost impossible to track them down and actually do something about it. The best that can be done is for spam filters to pick them up quickly so that they don't get delivered. Responding to something, even in the negative, confirms that that email account is active and monitored, so goes on a list to get even more spam later

In reply to martin heywood:

http://mrjpcool.xanga.com/638143105/scam-watch---agency-ghost-inc/

Quite bad English in there - "hads"? which should be a clue.

There's a site where folk string these scammers along and write about getting back at them, can't remember the URL though.

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber:

http://www.419eater.com/index.php

This one's my favourite:

http://www.419eater.com/html/bigman.htm

In reply to a lakeland climber:

Thanks everyone.

In reply to martin heywood:

Googlemail account. Their spam filters are (almost) perfect.

Will

In reply to martin heywood:

you should worry about phone scammers too, Recently my bank phoned because they canceled my credit card, before I gave them any details to confirm my identity I asked "How do I know that this is really my bank calling and not just some scam artist?" the reply I got was "Well, you will just have to trust us" - that hardly inspires me

In reply to martin heywood: Dear Martin,

I can endure that these rascals will be dealt with, post haste!

Please forward me your:

Full Address
Occupation
Business Address
Telephone Number
Bank Account Details

Trust me, this matter will be treated with the care it deserves.

In reply to captainH:

did you actually tell them?
Few times i have had banks call me the conversation tends to end in deadlock since there isnt a chance i would give details to someone calling me without knowing who they are first.

Fortunately most of them are just them trying to sell me something. The one that was actually useful, an anti fraud one, was nicely designed to require sod all useful info from me and not giving any away either.

In reply to dissonance:

I was half expecting a phone call from them because I had just been booking ferries and hotels in europe online for a holiday later this year, which is maybe slightly unusual activity - well they decided to decline everything and cancelled my card. I was starting to get emails suggesting a problem with my card. for the bank to confirm my identity all i had to give them was the second half of my postcode - which quite shocked me.

In reply to captainH:

This is very annoying.
I have had many a phone call from my bank were I have refused to tell them anything because they refused to tell me anything before I told them stuff to prove who I was.

It always ends with me hanging up the phone and calling my bank or credit card company and spending ages in a que only to be have someone on the other end finally say "ahh yes Mr xxxxx we were trying to contact you. Would you like to talk to us about credit management and how best to utilize your savings"

Bloody annoying because I don't have any credit and my savings are in the highest yield interest account that they offer.

In reply to Dax H:

I had a phone call from my bank, they asked for 2 letters from my password, which i duly gave them, then they asked what my overdraft was, I pointed out that I wasn't going to give any financial information over the phone and they refused to tell me what they were calling for.

I asked for the lads name, which he refused to give, and told him I was going to report this as a nuisence call, not that he was bothered in the slightest.

Honest, password I can vaugly understand, but why the hell do they think I'm going to give financial information out over the phone?

In reply to Tiberius:

Unless you recognise the voice of the caller as being someone at your local branch, I would always ask for a number and extension that you can call them back on. If they won't provide a name, then tell that that you are reporting the call to the police.

Even if the number is with-held from you there will be a record of it, which the police can trace.

||-)

In reply to Dominion:

Last time the bank phoned me in similar circumstances I asked for a number on which I could call them back on. Then I looked on their website/recent correspondence didnt show this number so phoned the other alternative number. Even though I questioned their genuine call they were very understanding.

I would have thought given the cost to the banks of all such scamming activity they would prefer their customers to act on the side of caution.

always better to be safe than sorry particularly as I nearly got caught out by a phishing email yesterday and usually I am so cautious ... AVG put a block on it when I clicked the link and then I realised it wasnt from my ISP. Oops.

In reply to martin heywood:

Not read thread in detail, but I've always found this way of responding to be funny, cruel and very, very satisfying

http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

In reply to martin heywood:



Well such spam is usually sent out by hijacking innocent people's computers and sending from there. So you'll never know who actually sent you the e-mail.

You can't do anything directly but you're not completely powerless. Never reply to the e-mails. Never visit sites promoted by SPAM, even legit ones. Make sure your own computer is not compromised and sending stuff out unknown to you. Regular virus/malware checks etc.

I'm amazed there are so many suckers who fall for these kinds of e-mails but there must be otherwise they wouldn't keep sending them out. I guess more and more new people connect to the internet every day.

In reply to Greenbanks:

Some of that stuff is hilarious. That guy has a lot of stamina to keep it going for so long though. Great!

In reply to martin heywood:

Dont ever reply to a scam advert. All you are doing is confirming that your address is active and you earn yourself a place on the 'spammers/scammers' hotlist!

In reply to Greenbanks:

That is excellent! Must have a lot of time on his hands. Check out the picture of the fella bottom right...Mr. Iama Pina Seater, classic

In reply to martin heywood:

from another interesting looking site:

"You may be wondering what you should do if you receive an advance fee fraud email? First of all, do not believe it. Second, do not respond to it. Third, delete it. If you feel like causing the scammer some difficulty, you can always forward the email onto the abuse department of the scammer’s internet service provider, for example [email protected] or [email protected]. ISPs are not keen to have their services abused by scammers, and will often do what they can to shut down email accounts that are used in this way."

http://www.scambuster419.co.uk/introduction.htm

In reply to EeeByGum:

I'm sure it could be made one under "anti-terror laws"!