Simon warns of a holiday scam

CHW said :

So…. When this:

You are a winner in the Google 10th Anniversary Promotions
From: Google Online Promo ? 2008 (googlegiveawayspromo2008@mchsi.com)
Sent:Saturday, 23 August 2008 10:38:11 AM

[snip]

turned up in my Junkmail I instantly assumed it was a scam… I contacted Google via their Feedback address; haven’t heard back from them yet, either.

Anyone else got one??

Before you forward anything, or if something smells fishy … check here first. Many things might seem pretty harmless – many of them are. But even those things that are just hoaxes or fake ‘news’ stories, they clog people’s inboxes and spread misinformation.

L

Lucky you deleted those important numbers

So…. When this:

You are a winner in the Google 10th Anniversary Promotions
From: Google Online Promo ? 2008 (googlegiveawayspromo2008@mchsi.com)
Sent:Saturday, 23 August 2008 10:38:11 AM

You won ?500,000.00 GBP in Google Online Give-away promotion. Contact Mr FrancisHenson with the following details below through this email:mrf.henson000@googlemail.com. YOUR WINNING DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOW:ComputerGenerated Profile Numbers (CGPN):(deleted by me),Ticketnumber:(deleted by me),Serial numbers:(deleted by me), Luckynumbers:(deleted by me)

turned up in my Junkmail I instantly assumed it was a scam… I contacted Google via their Feedback address; haven’t heard back from them yet, either.

Anyone else got one??

It’s actually quite easy to get your bank to do a chargeback on unauthorised credit card charges. The transaction is reversed, the bank looks into it, and if the merchant can’t produce the signed docket, no deal.

Spitfire3 said :

Man! If even THAT effort’s not gonna work, what’s a guy gotta do to get a date?

LOL. I wouldn’t suggest asking a chick for credit card details is a good pick up line, not unless you are a male escort.

Man! If even THAT effort’s not gonna work, what’s a guy gotta do to get a date?

Whatsup said :

They rang my place the other night.

I asked the caller where they got my details from and he said “the bank gave it to us”. I asked them “Which bank was that?” At that point they started asking if I had a credit card and I asked them what kind of fraud they were planning to commit. The caller changed tone then and started chatting me up and inviting me to go and have dinner. I politely declined their offer and hung up.

which bank, eh? must’ve been pretty young, then. best opening line ever.

They rang my place the other night. I asked the caller where they got my details from and he said “the bank gave it to us”. I asked them “Which bank was that?” At that point they started asking if I had a credit card and I asked them what kind of fraud they were planning to commit. The caller changed tone then and started chatting me up and inviting me to go and have dinner. I politely declined their offer and hung up.

what, you mean i didn’t win?? 🙂

A lot of people don’t quite know what that little three-digit number on the back of their credit card is for. Lack of knowledge leads to suggestibility. You’d think credit card companies, in their own interests, would do more to ensure it’s black and white for those people.

But we all know credit card companies would rather pay off the scammers than risk security paranoia in their less-well-informed customers.