Saturday, May 10, 2008

the big e-gold scam!

Gold & Silver Reserve (G&SR), Inc has suspended all of Iranian accounts on 24 November 2006 without any notification. blocking the money of Iranian individuals and not to let them work and communicate with the world doesn’t help to expand democracy in Iran!
Lacking any forthcoming explanation from e-gold, I would have to say this is reason for serious concern over the security of the e-gold system.
Given the recent publicity being promulgated by the US government that appears to be laying the groundwork for more US military actions in the middle east, the explanation that comes most easily to mind is that the Federal goons who raided e-gold’s offices a few months ago have returned and demanded this action as a condition for allowing them to stay in business – or even to stay alive.

The mainstream press was noticeably silent about the ramifications of the passage last month of S. 3930, the detainee, torture, tribunal law. Most people who even noticed its passage still think it applies only to non-US-citizens, but that’s not correct. With that law, the president can now convene any group of his pals who will agree with him, call them a “tribunal”, and get them to order your “disappearance”. You would have no constitutional rights, you could be tortured and held indefinitely, and no one would ever know what happened to you. Obviously, they could also kill you, and since no one would know what happened to you they would never find your body or know you were dead.

If true, this raises two burning questions for the rest of us: (1) How long before the goons show up at my door, and what (if anything) can I do to prevent it? And (2) Why should I continue to risk my gold under storage in the e-gold system?
e-gold deletes them! Why do it without any notification?!
now May, 10, 2008 and still all Iranian accounts are blocked, dont wait for egold response anymore!
millions of dollars from thousands of Iranians scammed by e-gold!

Monday, April 28, 2008

email scams

What is a Lottery?
Unlike a sweepstakes, a lottery is a promotional device by which items of value (prizes) are
awarded to members of the public by chance, but which requires some form of payment to
participate. In other words, if you did not buy a ticket, YOU COULD NOT HAVE WON a lottery - no matter what anyone tells you!

Lotteries in the United States, Canada, Australia and Great Britain, and most developed countries, are illegal, except when conducted by states and certain exempt licensed charitable organizations. If you believe you have received a solicitation in the guise of a sweepstakes which is an illegal lottery, you should contact your local Post Office™ or state Attorney General’s consumer protection office


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How does a lottery scam work?
Victims typically are notified they have won a lottery, yet have to pay transfer fees, taxes or provide proof of their identity and/or details of their bank accounts or credit cards in order to receive the "winnings". The names of these organizations change all the time (they just make up a new name when one is exposed as a fraud), although many of the notifications use similar wording.

Click here for a step-by-step description of how the scammers work their scams.

And if you want to see examples of the scam emails, click on the links in this page.

Here are some replies from scammers after victims replied to the lottery scam emails.

A lottery is a promotional device by which items of value are awarded to members of the public by chance, but which requires some form of payment to participate. In the United States and most developed countries, lotteries are illegal except when conducted by governments (states in the US) and certain exempt charitable organizations.

Here are key points for avoiding scam lotteries:

You cannot win a legitimate lottery if you have not entered it.

In almost all cases you must purchase a ticket to enter a legitimate lottery.

You never have to pay to collect winnings from a legitimate lottery. You pay taxes AFTER you you receive the winnings. There are no other fees.

If you hold a winning lottery ticket, you notify the lottery (they do not notify you; not by email, not by phone, not by mail).

It is illegal under U.S. federal law to play ANY foreign lottery from the United States. Many other countries have similar laws. for example, you must be a Spanish resident to play the El Gordo lottery.

Since scammers simply invent new names for their fake lottery scams, it is more accurate to say that if you do not see the lottery on the list of legitimate lotteries, it is probably a scam.

If it isn't conducted by a government or government-authorized charitable organization, it can't be a legitimate lottery
If you believe you have received a solicitation in the guise of a sweepstakes which is an illegal lottery, you should contact your local post office or state Attorney General's consumer protection office.

But how did they get my name, if not through a lottery I entered?
Names and addresses of potential victims are harvested by spyware, viruses and other tools and obtained through various trade journals, business directories, magazine and newspaper advertisements, chambers of commerce, and anywhere your name appears on the internet (such as in chat rooms, forums, etc.). They could simply use a phonebook for your country, either online or the paper variety.

But it COULD be a legal lottery, right?
Legitimate lotteries do NOT use email to notify their winners. In almost ALL cases, it is up to the holder of the ticket to contact the lottery. And even if these were legitimate, these lottery solicitations violate U.S. law, which prohibits the cross-border sale or purchase of lottery tickets by phone or mail. And in the United States, if it isn't run by a state government or authorized charitable organization, it can't be a legitimate lottery!

Online lotteries are illegal in many other countries, too: All lotteries, including foreign lotteries operating in Great Britain, are unlawful in the UK (except those provided for by the 1976 Lotteries and Amusements Act; meaning government run lotteries). See this page for information about the UK lotteries. Note: in the UK, call the hotline at 020 7211 8111 to check or report lottery scams. Some of these lottery schemes say that the Gaming Board for Great Britain has approved them, but this is not true. The Gaming Board has a list of these companies and lotteries on its website, and warns people not to take part in them. See this page for information about the legitimate Irish Lottery, which operates in a similar manner, and has also been the victim of email scams.

A lottery is a promotional device by which items of value are awarded to members of the public by chance, but which requires some form of payment to participate. Even lotteries which aren't conducted over the internet are illegal in the United States, except when conducted by states and certain exempt charitable organizations. If you believe you have received a solicitation in the guise of a sweepstakes which is an illegal lottery, you should contact your local post office or state Attorney General's consumer protection office

What are lottery and prize scams?
These are notifications that advise people that they have won a prize (often for a competition they didn't even enter).

The notification could arrive through the mail, by email or from an unsolicited telephone call.

How to spot a prize or lottery scam
Check the name of the lottery or sweepstakes against our list of scammer names - click on the blue box links at left, with the letter that corresponds to the first letter in the name of the lottery. Some of the names are links to samples of the actual scams to compare against what you received. But remember, they just make up the names, so once they see their name on our list, they will just invent a new name to use.
Keep the following warning signs in mind:
If the prize or lottery notification has any of the following elements, we strongly suggest you do not respond to it:

The information advises that you have won a prize - but you did not enter any competition run by the prize promoters.
The mail may be personally addressed to you but it has been posted using bulk mail - thousands of others around the world may have received the exact same notification.
You are often asked for money up front to release your 'win'.
The prize promoters ask for a fee (for administration or "processing") to be paid in advance.
You are asked for your bank account, credit card details or other confidential information
The caller is more excited than you or the stranger who phones wants to be your best friend
You are told you must reply straight away or the money will be given to someone else.
Other schemes pretend to be legitimate lotteries, or offer you the opportunity to buy shares in a fund that purports to purchase tickets in legitimate overseas lotteries.
The scheme offers bait prizes that, if they are real, are often substandard, over-priced, or falsely represented. Or, as part of the prize you can purchase "exclusive items" which may also be over-priced or substandard.
To get your prize might require travel overseas at your own cost to receive it.
Click here to see examples of real scam emails
See this page for a list of names that the scammers have used.
This page has miscellaneous reports of Lottery, Sweepstakes and Promotions Scams from Consumers and Victims

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A Talk With A Scammer
What will the scammer say when you call their phone number. Click here to read a transcript of an actual call to a scammer, as we pose as one of the "winners" he's notified by email


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Key Tips:
You can't win a prize in a lottery you haven't bought or been given a ticket for.
Legitimate lotteries don't ask for funds in advance of paying out prize money.
Never provide personal identity information to a company or person you do not know.
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What Happens If I Contact Them?
Ok, we've just told you that there's NO SUCH THING as a legitimate lottery that "selected your email from a database" or a "computer ballot system"; which means these people are criminals working a con. And you still want to contact them? So, we know you probably also believe in UFO's, psychics, and the tooth fairy.

The Bottom Line: What to Know
If you receive a "prize notification" from a lottery:

don't respond to the emails
don't EVER pay any money in advance to collect a prize
don't reveal your full identity
don't reveal any financial or personal information, such as your bank account number or credit card details

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/lotteries.php

lottery scams, make them fat!

From: eeeplay@telus.net
Subject: CONTACT YOUR PAYMENT OFFICER
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 06:12:43 -0800
CONTACT YOUR PAYMENT OFFICER

Lucky Winner,

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
POWERBALL EURO E-MAIL INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT

BATCH NO: PBL/67189098011/245679/1109
REF. NO: PBL/11278998789/908796//1109

Dear Winner,

This is to inform you of the release of the E-MAIL LOTTERY BALLOT INTERNATIONAL/WORLD GAMING BOARD. Your name attached to ticket number 219028657434 with Serial number 918735625 drew the lucky numbers of 21-70-81-82-99, which consequently won the lottery in the 1st category.

You have just won yourself the sum of ONE MILLION EUROS in the satellite software email lottery conducted by POWERBALL EURO E-MAIL INTERNATIONAL, In which e-mail addresses are picked randomly by software powered by the Internet. Your email address was amongst those chosen in this quarter and you are to contact our CLAIMS OFFICER with the information’s below for Clearance.

CONTACT NAME: PETER RAYMUND CITY/ COUNTRY: LONDON, ENGLAND. TELEPHONE: + 4470 1112 1986 FAX: 44-87-1715-2472 EMAIL: officer_powerball25@yahoo.gr

Sincerely,

Margaret Ferguson

NB: PLEASE SEE THAT YOU QUOTE YOUR REF AND BATCH NUMBERS IN YOUR CORRESPONDENCE TO YOUR CLAIMS AGENT.
Ah, another "computer ballot system" lottery scam. If you haven't figured it out by now, we'll repeat; there is NO SUCH THING as a lottery "in which e-mail addresses are picked randomly by software powered by the Internet" to select winners. It ONLY exists in the minds of scammers and pathetic losers who want to believe that an email fairy bestowed millions upon them. Ask yourself why would anyone give money away to strangers based on their email address. You'd have to be begging to be a victim to believe this one.

Notice the gibberish writing, excessive use of CAPITAL letters, etc. Note the other clues to an obvious fraud that we have highlighted in the letter; keep confidential, selected by a random computer lottery of email addresses, use of free hotmail/yahoo email accounts, etc.
Here is another version of the same scam email:
From: power ball [mailto:infoservice51@cityweb.de]

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 5:25 AM

To: info@powerball.com

Subject: NOTICE...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!



NOTICE...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Lucky Winner,

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

POWERBALL EURO E-MAIL INTERNATIONAL

PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT

BATCH NO: PBL/67189098011/245679/1109

REF. NO: PBL/11278998789/908796//1109

Dear Winner,

This is to inform you of the release of the E-MAIL LOTTERY BALLOT

INTERNATIONAL/WORLD GAMING BOARD. Your name attached to ticket number

219028657434 with Serial number

918735625 drew the lucky numbers of 21-70-81-82-99, which consequently

won the lottery in the 1st category.

You have just won yourself the sum of 'ONE MILLION EUROS the satellite

software email lottery conducted by POWERBALL EURO E-MAIL INTERNATIONAL

In which e-mail addresses are picked randomly by software powered by

the Internet. Your email address was amongst those chosen in this

quarter and you are to contact our CLAIMS OFFICER with the informations

below for Clearance.

CONTACT NAME: PETER RAYMUND

CITY/ COUNTRY: LONDON, ENGLAND.

EMAIL: powerballagent5@yahoo.gr

TELEPHONE: +447045713104


(1) Being one of the lucky winners, you constitute entrant's full and

unconditional agreement to and acceptance of our terms and conditions

of claims to avoid any discrepancy in the cause of payment of your

prize

awards winning.

(2) To avoid double claims, you are advised to keep your winning details very confidential, as any discrepancies resulting from a breach

of this confidentiality on the part of the winners will be covered

solely by such winner as our staffs are bound by the oath of secrecy

taken on employment.

Sincerely,

Margaret Ferguson

C2007

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

make me fat!

A HYIP or High-Yield Investment Program sites are Ponzi scammers and they are all about scam!
A ponzi scheme is a system by which investors are lured to invest in a program by promises of very high returns on the investment. Early investors are paid using the money that later investors invest in the scheme. Things go well until new investors stop joining the system and the money runs out.
Those HYIPs that are not ponzi schemes are frequently outright scams. Investors not only are never paid any interest yield, they also never see their original investment in the HYIP again either. If the returns sound too good to be true, the HYIP is likely too good to be true. Claims of secret banking systems and alternative financial networks are simply false. In fact, the problem became common enough to cause the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to issue warnings about being taken in by the claims made in these fraudulent programs. You are probably best off if you heed their warnings.
High yield income programs are not just a network phenomenon. This term refers to any investment bringing income more than the deposit account with the standard rates of 4–5% per year.
There are many off-line HYIP, they are all managed by registered companies and bring stable high income. However, the entrance limit, the minimal investment to participate in the project, as a rule, makes up the sum starting 500000$ and up to tenth millions. Surely, the private investor not having big savings is isolated from participation in the off-line high yield programs. For ordinary people the only way out is on-line HYIP. On-line HYIP rarely give true information about its commercial activity that is why the income sources may be very different; it is often impossible to check the information.