Scams like these

[Hvr]

<snip>

I've been here two dozen times and never had such a poor run with taxi drivers and it definitely is leaving a sour taste to my mouth, so that I have decided that next time I will be staying at a hotel that is adjacent to the BTS so that I can access the airport and get around the city without any reliance on taxi drivers.

A simple way to beat the driver when they scam you. When you get to your hotel get all of your luggage out and ask the hotel person for assistance because the taxi driver is trying to scam you. Tell them to call the tourist police immediately on 1155.

Once they hear this they will do one of two things, either call the tourist police, or intervene and ask what the problem is and can they fix it.

Tell them what happened in a calm way and what you believe is the correct fare and offer to pay that immediately. Usually the driver knows they've been caught and will accept the money offered.

If there is no quick resolution again insist on the tourist police being called. The matter will be resolved. As always in Thailand remain calm and polite, do not scream or be abusive and you will win.

Been there done that and paid the appropriate fare. Trust me the hotel doesn't want the tourist police to attend and neither does the driver.

 

[Alanslegal]

A simple way to beat the driver when they scam you. When you get to your hotel get all of your luggage out and ask the hotel person for assistance because the taxi driver is trying to scam you. Tell them to call the tourist police immediately on 1155.

I know that one can get the hotel to assist upon arrival (and help call the tourist police line) but last night the driver deliberately drove past our hotel, told us to pay the inflated meter and get out.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Good strategy Pablo.

My only regret is that they managed to get my bank account details - just bsb and account number!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr........

Um. Why did you do this? (ever).

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Remember this (now closed) thread?

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....anyone-heard-of-getaway-escapes-25921-10.html

A Current Affair had a story tonight (Fri 03 Apr 2015) regarding the above company which has now been deregistered by ASIC however former Gold Coast based directors Scott Durant and Joanne Day are apparently still dabbling in the travel industry so buyer beware.

There's another recent story from ABC last month with a few more details also.

Closure of booking agencies Getaway Escapes and Aus Flights prompts warning to travellers - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Closure of booking agencies Getaway Escapes and Aus Flights prompts warning to travellers

By Bridget Judd
Posted 6 Mar 2015, 11:14am
MAP: Southport 4215

The Office of Fair Trading is urging travellers to double check their bookings, after two booking agencies were yesterday placed into voluntary administration.
Customers of Gold Coast-based companies Getaway Escapes and Aus Flights are being warned their travel arrangements are not guaranteed.
Tim Perry from the Office of Fair Trading said consumers should contact airlines and hotels directly to confirm their bookings.
"If they already have the confirmation, it would go to the airlines," he said.
"If they have that level of confirmation then by all means, there's no issue there, it's just the consumers that have made those bookings and paid money for them who haven't received any confirmation yet that are obviously of concern.
He said customers without a booking confirmation had limited legal options.
"You'd like to think that when payment was made, the booking would be made as soon as practical but unfortunately that's not always the case and obviously we've got an investigation ongoing, so we'll have to explore those issues and basically delve a little bit deeper and see what evidence is there," he said.

 

[whatmeworry]

This Gina person, seems really trustworthy.

 

[UP4014]

This Gina person, seems really trustworthy.

Fairly accurate except where is the other $5.8 billion.


Matt

 

[Cossie]

Does anyone know how this one works? No attachments nor anything seemingly malicious with email. I've deleted the seemingling valid email addresses.

From

Congratulations Winner,Your Winning Code as SKYPELOTTER2014/028/

Congratulation!!!
Congratulations Winner.

This is to Notify you on behalf of Skype 2015 Lottery Team that your email has been Officially selected among few other Valid Emails that was selected in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America and United States of American but %75 of this years winners are majorly Skype users so we also use this medium to implore you to get skyping and many benefits free video, audio calls and unlimited access to make calls as low as ever globally.

The Skype Lottery is an annual Roll Over Ballot Programme held in London
- United Kingdom to promote global patronage of Skype users.

This program is approved by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).
The selection process of prize winners was carried out through random selection
run with a computer based email selection system (ESS) from a database of over 250,000
email addresses drawn from all various continents of the world, and your email address
was selected by the ESS Computer program qualifying you for the prize.

We congratulate you for winning the sum of ?500,000.00 ( Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling's.) in this years Skype Lottery which is our way of appreciating and giving back to the Society in our own little way.

You are to contact the processing and claims Officer for further directives : DR ADAMS K. SMITH with Winning Code as SKYPELOTTER2014/028/ ( ,you can call him directly: 24 hours Phone Line: +2348175155643 )

Congratulation's once more.


Mrs Janet Boring Brian
Kind Regards,
For Skype 2015 Lottery
London - United Kingdom

 

[OATEK]

Does anyone know how this one works? No attachments nor anything seemingly malicious with email. I've deleted the seemingling valid email addresses.

From

Congratulations Winner,Your Winning Code as SKYPELOTTER2014/028/

Congratulation!!!
Congratulations Winner.

This is to Notify you on behalf of Skype 2015 Lottery Team that your email has been Officially selected among few other Valid Emails that was selected in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America and United States of American but %75 of this years winners are majorly Skype users so we also use this medium to implore you to get skyping and many benefits free video, audio calls and unlimited access to make calls as low as ever globally.

The Skype Lottery is an annual Roll Over Ballot Programme held in London
- United Kingdom to promote global patronage of Skype users.

This program is approved by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).
The selection process of prize winners was carried out through random selection
run with a computer based email selection system (ESS) from a database of over 250,000
email addresses drawn from all various continents of the world, and your email address
was selected by the ESS Computer program qualifying you for the prize.

We congratulate you for winning the sum of ?500,000.00 ( Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling's.) in this years Skype Lottery which is our way of appreciating and giving back to the Society in our own little way.

You are to contact the processing and claims Officer for further directives : DR ADAMS K. SMITH with Winning Code as SKYPELOTTER2014/028/ ( ,you can call him directly: 24 hours Phone Line: +2348175155643 )

Congratulation's once more.


Mrs Janet Boring Brian
Kind Regards,
For Skype 2015 Lottery
London - United Kingdom

If you reply, they will usually advise of some sort of fee or payment required to get the ball rolling.

 

[JohnK]

Good strategy Pablo.

My only regret is that they managed to get my bank account details - just bsb and account number!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr........

I'm not sure I understand the issue. I can't do much with my account number without password to get in to online banking and then activation codes if I want to BPay online.

Are there websites out there where someone can just enter a BSB and account number and purchase goods/services without authority to account ? Very poor if that's the case and anyone can just enter BSB and account numbers randomly.

 

[yohy?!]

Got scammed in Bangkok last night, in the end the taxi fare costed me $4 instead of $6 but it was the principle that it happened. The driver wanted a fixed fee of 200BHT (~AU$8). We said no and asked for meter which he agreed. The meter appeared to run normally, then the meter started to run 'fast'. Our 7km fare turned into a 21km fare!! I pointedat his meter and I told him he had a fast meter but he was pretending to know. We cursed him a few times and told him karma will get him.

I'm having a bad run in Bangkok with scams/tricks this visit. A couple of days earlier when we caught a cab at the airport, the driver wanted to charge me a fixed rate 800BHT(~AU$32) to the City, when regular metered fares are usually closer to 300BHT (~AU$12). He was tempted to offload me and my luggage outside of the airport and on the highway - no joke. In the end he used the meter however as we were stuck in traffic alot, and it took almost two hours for the trip, the fare ended up at 320BHT + 50BHT airport fee.

I've been here two dozen times and never had such a poor run with taxi drivers and it definitely is leaving a sour taste to my mouth, so that I have decided that next time I will be staying at a hotel that is adjacent to the BTS so that I can access the airport and get around the city without any reliance on taxi drivers.

That's a shame the downturn must be biting hard to have all the old chestnuts come out again. BTS is probably the way to go I was looking at the Pullman King Power for good proximity to the airport line on my next trip.

 

[SpoonZ]

Double the price of your car and see if they agree.

Hi Pablo,
Many thanks for posting about this scam. I'm selling a car on carsales and "Roslyn" contracted me yesterday using the same MO..

"Hi,

I appreciate your honesty with the detailed explanation with regards to your words on the car status,am really satisfied and i also appreciate your honesty about the condition of the car as that is what i really need most as wont be able to come for inspection as am on-board.
I'm so keen to purchase,kindly send me details for payment so i can proceed as my pick up agent will ring you for pick up after you confirm to me you got the funds cleared into your account."

The next email read....

" I have a little problem with the freighting arrangement,the freighters said i will need to pay for the freighting fees before they can schedule pre-shipping/ pickup date,they charged $1,100 for the pick up and delivery with some papers they need to sort out for the transport, but the problem is they only accept western union money transfer as form of payment which is sent to their Head Quarters where they confirm all Commission Payment schedule for suitable Pick Up Date. ,as you what you are well aware of, I am away at sea and do not have access to western union money transfer,I tried to pay online but i will need a credit card which i didn't bring along,you can make the western union transfer from any post office nearest to you or online at (western union money transfer link removed) ,they usually have western union section there, you should have one around you,will it be ok with you if I add the $1,100 to the amount I am transferring? and as soon as the money goes through you can help me make the transfer of the freighting fees through western union money transfer? You are not obliged to help me, but i will indeed appreciate your help as I am a little incapacitated here ."

It appears that the scammer is using different named agents but they are all at the same address.

Address:32,Tian Yao Road
City:Qingpu
State: Shanghai
Country:China

I've just had the "PayPal transfer email"
Which I forwarded on to spoof(at)paypal.com

They have been reported to carsales.com.au

I have asked Roslyn to send a scan of their driving licence and a residential address, as WA department of transport need it for the vehicle transfer. I've also asked Roslyn for the agents telephone number so that my solicitor can contract their "agent" directly to arrange payment.

Pablo. How did this scam end up playing out for you? I suspect that they will just give up eventually.

Thanks again for bringing it to everyone's attention.

 

[Pablo]

Hi Pablo,
Many thanks for posting about this scam. I'm selling a car on carsales and "Roslyn" contracted me yesterday using the same MO..

"Hi,

I appreciate your honesty with the detailed explanation with regards to your words on the car status,am really satisfied and i also appreciate your honesty about the condition of the car as that is what i really need most as wont be able to come for inspection as am on-board.
I'm so keen to purchase,kindly send me details for payment so i can proceed as my pick up agent will ring you for pick up after you confirm to me you got the funds cleared into your account."

The next email read....

" I have a little problem with the freighting arrangement,the freighters said i will need to pay for the freighting fees before they can schedule pre-shipping/ pickup date,they charged $1,100 for the pick up and delivery with some papers they need to sort out for the transport, but the problem is they only accept western union money transfer as form of payment which is sent to their Head Quarters where they confirm all Commission Payment schedule for suitable Pick Up Date. ,as you what you are well aware of, I am away at sea and do not have access to western union money transfer,I tried to pay online but i will need a credit card which i didn't bring along,you can make the western union transfer from any post office nearest to you or online at (western union money transfer link removed) ,they usually have western union section there, you should have one around you,will it be ok with you if I add the $1,100 to the amount I am transferring? and as soon as the money goes through you can help me make the transfer of the freighting fees through western union money transfer? You are not obliged to help me, but i will indeed appreciate your help as I am a little incapacitated here ."

It appears that the scammer is using different named agents but they are all at the same address.

Address:32,Tian Yao Road
City:Qingpu
State: Shanghai
Country:China

I've just had the "PayPal transfer email"
Which I forwarded on to spoof(at)paypal.com

They have been reported to carsales.com.au

I have asked Roslyn to send a scan of their driving licence and a residential address, as WA department of transport need it for the vehicle transfer. I've also asked Roslyn for the agents telephone number so that my solicitor can contract their "agent" directly to arrange payment.

Pablo. How did this scam end up playing out for you? I suspect that they will just give up eventually.

Thanks again for bringing it to everyone's attention.

It's quite remarkable hey - it would be a significant amount of time they need to put in.

In the end they dropped off communicating. I'm not sure if it's when PayPal or Carsales got hold of it but the thing that was scary was that they sent me a copy of a drivers licence of a lady in Adelaide. Legit photo etc.

not sure that they can be stopped at all.

 

[SpoonZ]

It's quite remarkable hey - it would be a significant amount of time they need to put in.

In the end they dropped off communicating. I'm not sure if it's when PayPal or Carsales got hold of it but the thing that was scary was that they sent me a copy of a drivers licence of a lady in Adelaide. Legit photo etc.

not sure that they can be stopped at all.

I've had a copy of the driver's license too. Some poor lady has had her details stolen!
I'm still stringing the scammer along... they are so desperate for me to transfer the money above all else. I've just sent them the Change of Ownership paperwork, that I've partially completed with my false details. My home address is Rockingham Police Station and it's signed Mickey Mouse. If they are dumb enough to send those back to me I'll tell them that THEIR car got impounded for speeding on the way to process the Western Union Fund Transfer for their agent. I'll need them to send me some money to get the car out of impound

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Carsales.com.au seems to be rife with scammers. SO was looking to buy a car from someone in SA but smelled a rat when the guy claimed he was in the British RAF training in Australia before being deployed to Afghanistan.

Unfortunately for the seller/scammer, SO had served in the RAAF so a few things rang alarm bells such as poor spelling and grammar, the fact that the guy had cut and pasted the RAAF ensign logo under his name for a hotmail account which only a nob would do.

So he asked the 'seller' a couple of questions like when his deployment date was (which no legitimate serving member would disclose) & received an actual date. The guy wanted cash to be deposited into his bank account ahead of time (ah, not going to happen without the keys or car ownership transfer papers in person).

What seemed odd to me was that the guy's first name was Adolf and I seriously couldn't believe anyone in the RAF would have Adolf as a first name.

 

[medhead]

ATO going to hand out money. Gotta be a scam
View attachment 45439

 

[RAM]

ATO going to hand out money. Gotta be a scam
View attachment 45439

If any doubt call the ATO (while you have a giant pile of material to read through while waiting on the phone for 45 minutes or so).

NEVER click.

From NSW Police:

There are several currently doing the rounds supposedly from the Office of State Revenue - a land tax scam & a payroll tax scam. This scam involves a cheque worth $,000s from the Department of Finance for an overpayment.



They try to trick you into paying money or giving out personal & banking information such as bank account numbers, passwords & credit card numbers.



Another is fake speeding fines to drivers. The NSW Office of State Revenue does not issue fines by email. There is also a phone scam demanding an upfront payment of $400 & the client's date of birth before a cheque will be issued. Have a look at www.scamwatch.gov.au.

 

[QF WP]

Particularly if one is a payer of tax once one lodges ones tax return.

My refunds are always much larger than that (and my accountant tells me how much to expect), so my spider senses would be tingling

 

[Archphoto]

It's quite remarkable hey - it would be a significant amount of time they need to put in.

In the end they dropped off communicating. I'm not sure if it's when PayPal or Carsales got hold of it but the thing that was scary was that they sent me a copy of a drivers licence of a lady in Adelaide. Legit photo etc.

not sure that they can be stopped at all.

Hope it's not my licence - lost mine last time I was an ADL (after renewing the darn thing!!!) and can't for the life of me think of where I could have possibly left it/lost it. Notified the relevant departments and paid another $15 for a new one - but yeah, definitely not great when they can use a (seemingly) legit one.

On the other hand, maybe they visited Khao San Rd here in BKK and had a nice one made up for scamming.

 

[medhead]

If any doubt call the ATO (while you have a giant pile of material to read through while waiting on the phone for 45 minutes or so).

NEVER click.

There is no doubt. Hence why I put the scam here. But thanks for <the advice>.

 

[Groundhog]

Just received this one in the inbox, very amatuer


Dear,
We've tried to contact you several times and to this date,
have not heard back from you.
If we do not hear back from you within 24 hours.
Your account will be disable.

(fraudulent hyperlink was here removed by me just in case someone clicked)

thank you for your time and expect a letter from us in your mail box soon
regards,
Barclays Bank customer support