Scams like these

Re: Federal Govt restitution department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Cheq

It must be my lucky day.

Did you know the Federal Govt has settled out of court with all the evil utility companies like electricity, gas, telephone and water?

Steve Brown told me so!

It seems they have been over-charging many, many people - those %^*#^^%$!

If it wasn't for the hard work of the Federal Government Restitution Department (recently set up by new PM so no web site yet but it will be coming shortly). I would have been over-charged by $6,325.00 but I couldn't help myself.

"Was it exactly $6,325.00, seems odd as all my bills always have some cents involved?"
...."No, actually you're right but as a further penalty the amount is rounded up to the next dollar."
"You guys think of everything. Thanks for your hard work!"
..."That's fine, this is what we're paid to do."

..."Now how would you like to receive this money?"
"By bank cheque thanks."
..."Ok, we'll send out a Commonwealth Bank Bank Cheque for the amount of $6,325.00 to Z FRFHHYJN of XDS xx_X St, Postcode 2XCD. Can you confirm those details please?"
"Yes, that's right."
..."Now please note down this reference number in case you have any issues. Reference number B for Bob, S for Sam 2 5. Let me repeat that, B for Bob, S for Sam 2 5. Did you get that?"

I admit, I nearly cracked up at this stage, as I kept thinking BS, BS that's B for %^&* and S for &*&^ 2 5. With extreme effort I managed to stay on target.

"Yes thank you. How long do you think it will be before I receive that in the mail (hell freezes over time frame or longer)?"
..."Before we can proceed and issue the bank cheque we need to confirm some personal details to ensure that I have been speaking with the correct individual."

So he got me to confirm the address that he had just read out previously. No problem confirming that. Then my name - fine. Then new information - date of birth...

..."Please tell me your date of birth."

I am so forgetful, that must've been the date of the first moon landing by mistake dear me.

..."Yes, that is correct. My manager's name is Norma Stuart (spelt out 2x) and Max Lewis (spelt out 2x) have you got that?"
"Yes, thanks. Why do I need to know that? You've been so efficient I'm sure I won't need to call them?"
..."To ensure that you are secure. Please call 02 8091 7333 and ask to speak to either of my managers to confirm that I have correctly identified you and advised you correctly. Please quote your reference number and ask to speak to either of them so we can progress to the next stage of issuing your cheque."
"Right so you want me to call back is that right?"
..."Yes. Please call back so we can progress your claim being processed and get the cheque out to you quickly."
"Right. I'd better put the phone down now. Goodbye and thank you for all your efforts."

I am just so forgetful.

I've forget to ring them back.

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

Apart from the Indian/Bangladeshi call centre and my date of birth being a moon rocket - I was (not) totally convinced - I was going to have some fun and waste their time and not get a Bank Cheque.

Haven't bothered with the phone number - spent too much time typing this up....

Thanks for all your help Steve Brown!

Hey thats the same as my refund !!!! - same amount, same Managers, same phone number. What an amazing coincidence!!! And even more amazing when I googled that phone number I found hundreds of other people with the same exact story. What a wonderful public service we have.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Ring Ring...... Ring Ring..... Ring Ring

"Hello."
"Hello, this is Suresh from Telstra. How are you feeling to be on this wonderful morning?"
"um, ok"

"I am pleased to be speaking with mr coriander of spicy town (he got that right!)"
"um yes"

"I am ringing you about the mobile deal now that your contract is over (true)"

... insert couple lines small talk... then, being a bit of a smart-alec, I ask

"And what's the weather like in Mumbai this morning?"
"Oooh, I don't know about Mumbai, mr coriander, but here in Clayton South it is a wonderful very warm sunny morning!"

ROF,L - he had me there! And it turned out to be a genuine call after all.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Ring Ring...... Ring Ring..... Ring Ring

"Hello."
"Hello, this is Suresh from Telstra. How are you feeling to be on this wonderful morning?"
"um, ok"

"I am pleased to be speaking with mr coriander of spicy town (he got that right!)"
"um yes"

"I am ringing you about the mobile deal now that your contract is over (true)"

... insert couple lines small talk... then, being a bit of a smart-alec, I ask

"And what's the weather like in Mumbai this morning?"
"Oooh, I don't know about Mumbai, mr coriander, but here in Clayton South it is a wonderful very warm sunny morning!"

ROF,L - he had me there! And it turned out to be a genuine call after all.

I hope so for your account!

A piece in the NY Times last year detailed how at the start of each 'shift' the scam crew get a 1 page printout of weather, sports results, news for the major local paper so they are able to sound genuine. I had fun with one scammer - telling him that your postcode is wrong (always a good question to ask as it sorts out the low-grade scammers from the pros). He said something like 3043 after I asked where the CC was and he named a suburb. I replied "Don't you mean 3034 Or are you a scammer who's made a mistake?"

The sharp intake of breath was audible.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

I hope so for your account!

He had my account number and mobile phone number (called me on my business landline but knew my silent mobile number, able to tell me amount of last account on mobile account), so yes seemed quite genuine.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Don't get scams that often but this looks to be a good one?

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You are receiving this email from MÃdias MÃdian because you are subscribed to our distribution list. You can unsubscribe here or by sending a self-addressed letter to:

50, Chemin du Pré neuf
Suite CDV 14361
38350 LA MUREhttp://www.raidglide.com/a.html?tp=...uY29tL2FmZl9jP29mZmVyX2lkPTIzOSZhZmZfaWQ9NQ..

 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

38350 LA MURE


Why not? La Mure is a beautiful little city. Had the pleasure a few years ago. Sure the Aldi there is awesome!
;)
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Another email from NAB !!! Complete the customer satisfaction survey and $75AUD will be credited to my account. More than likely that would amount plus more would disappear from my account.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Our NAB suvey invites have increased to $125 for answering 4 easy questions!! obviously a couple of NAB emails doing the circuit
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Our NAB suvey invites have increased to $125 for answering 4 easy questions!! obviously a couple of NAB emails doing the circuit

Some common themes on banking spam:

ANZspam.jpgCommbankSpam.jpg

Must use the same designers! :D
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

My newest spam mail:

From: Gene | Travstar [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, 22 October 2015 1:32 PM
To: QF WP <QF WP email address @mycompany.com.au>
Subject: Welcome Home QF WP - Travstar.com Feedback

Hello QF WP
Thanks for booking with us. We hope you had a fantastic time and would love to hear any feedback.

Your It only takes a few seconds. Just click on the ratings and your done.
Any comments you can offer about your experience would also be very much appreciated.

Best regards,
The Travstar Team
www.travstar.com

Never heard of them, never booked anything through them to my knowledge and their grammar is atrocious. Not going anywhere near it.

Hmmm, they might be a third party supplier to Green Island perhaps. Poor email information though
 
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Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

weird QF WP. not sure how they hope to get enough data/info re identity fraud/ raid the credit card etc
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

I received this email yesterday from "[email protected]" which is easy for scammers to fake but easy for people to fall for thinking it's from a genuine QF email address. I called QFF who confirmed that it was a phishing email and that they never send out emails with a generic salution such as the fake one below "Dear Client" it would always have Dear first name & last name.

I wonder if the people whose accounts got hacked for itunes purchases also received such emails?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Client,

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR QANTAS ACCOUNT INFORMATION.

We're writing to inform you that our system recorded a failed attempt with your user ID from another location,
we suspect that it may have been attempted in order to gain access to your online account.
Therefore, immediate Profile Update of your account is required for pending security measures to be completed.

Please update profile immediately by following this link.

https: // w w.qantas.com/acc.index.jsp? (I deleted the real hyperlink & inserted spaces so nobody would accidentally click on it)




Kind regards,
Qantas Club and Frequent Flyer Service Centre


******************* Confidentiality and Privilege Notice *******************
Qantas Airways Limited ABN 16 009 661 901
Visit Qantas online at Qantas - flights to Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Asia. Book airfares at qantas.com.
****************************************************************************
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

I wonder if the people whose accounts got hacked for itunes purchases also received such emails?
No emails like that. Still remains a mystery. The points were returned yesterday.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Has anyone head of "raidglide.com"? Wonder how I have started receiving their spam for free vouchers for Woolworths, 7Eleven etc.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

I maintain a set of email addresses. Every once in a while I use one to register for a "semi-interesting" web site.
About two months ago, one of the addresses started receiving a lot (30 / day or so) of "free offers". Alas I don't remember the site which caused me to use this specific address. And yes, I don't think the return address on the incoming emails have ever been the same (ie more than once).

So we have a new "spam generator" active in the last couple of months. At least in my case, a "rule" in the email application directs all mail to this "user" to the Trash folder automagically.

Happy wandering

Fred
 
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Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

I maintain a set of email addresses. Every once in a while I use one to register for a "semi-interesting" web site.
About two months ago, one of the addresses started receiving a lot (30 / day or so) of "free offers". Alas I don't remember the site which caused me to use this specific address. And yes, I don't think the return address on the incoming emails have ever been the same (ie more than once).

So we have a new "spam generator" active in the last couple of months. At least in my case, a "rule" in the email application directs all mail to this "user" to the Trash folder automagically.

Happy wandering

Fred

Interesting approach.

One thing I've considered doing is to register a domain to use for email use only, cheap as chips these days, with plenty of available email accounts.

Then setting up unique email addresses for each website I want to register for, so I might have [email protected] and [email protected], using this you would be able to identify who is passing on your details.


Of course the above is way too much effort for the time I don't have to spend on it..
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

SeatBackForward - Great minds run along similar paths. :cool: I've had the domain for almost 15 years. Now to remember which user account was used for which "flaky" website registration. :oops:

In the meanwhile, somebody figured out that AusPost is a "trusted" organization. A bit of a pain that the return URLs were all for "hzppfw" and variations...

Happy wandering

Fred
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Interesting approach.

One thing I've considered doing is to register a domain to use for email use only, cheap as chips these days, with plenty of available email accounts.

Then setting up unique email addresses for each website I want to register for, so I might have [email protected] and [email protected], using this you would be able to identify who is passing on your details.


Of course the above is way too much effort for the time I don't have to spend on it..

My brother has been doing that for years. His solution to remembering which email account went to which web site is so obvious in hindsight. Combine it with a notebook where you write down the date you created the new email account and it becomes a pwoerful tool.

He names the email WoW@xx_XX.org, Coles@xx_XX.org, etc.

Some very interesting results:

  • who obviously sells the email addresses they acquire
  • who takes a while (up to weeks) to find out/admit they were hacked)
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Another option is to use/set up a gmail account and use "+website" to your user name - e.g. username[email protected], username[email protected].

Gmail will ignore everything after the "+" and deliver it to your inbox, but you can see the full address.
 
Re: Federal Govt restitutioin department want to send me a Commonwealth Bank Bank Che

Earlier today I had updated the software on my Samsung Galaxy S5 using the wifi the Virgin lounge. I installed those changes later on when I arrived in Brisbane. Not long after I received an email to my Gmail in Chinese.

兔展|微信H5页é¢_微场景制作工具|移动微æ‚å¿—_电å­é‚€è¯·å‡½åˆ›ä½œå¹³å°

I have translated the page but still have no idea why I would receive an unsolicited email to an email address I use on the phone. Anyone received anything similar?
 

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