Mrs Gaddafi calling for your help

Gawd bless us! It’s supposed to be Gaddafi’s rich missus begging for help in the latest scam email doing the rounds. Pity ‘she’ has such trouble remembering how to spell the family surname……………..

I am Mrs. Safia Farkash Gaddafi the wife of the late Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Gahdafi, I  have funds worth Million Dollars with a Bank in one of our neighbouring country whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. If you are capable of handling this funds, get back to me with your consent and I will explain in details the procedures and percentage of sharing.

Please note that honesty is the watch word in this transaction. I will require your telephone and I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good faith.

I appreciate your timely suggestion and interest over this matter

Best Regards

Mrs. Safia Farkash Gaddafi

Email:safiagaddafi71@gmail.com

Why all the fuss about an eBay scam? Ask Australia's DoD what a real scam looks like

Is that a gun in your pocket?

The Sydney Morning Herald of 20 December 2011 made me quietly smile when Asher Moses breathlessly told readers that it was an Unhappy Christmas: $1120 for an empty box through eBay with Australian eBay customers lured by ultra-bargain priced TV sets and other electronics have shelled out thousands of dollars only to receive empty boxes in the mail.

Asher may be too young to remember that during the Viet Nam War Australian Defence Force personnel (were confidently rumoured at the time) to have opened carefully packaged boxes, which were supposed to contain an advanced weaponry component - only to find that each and every box merely contained a photocopied schematic of the very expensive item.

The Commonwealth Dept. of Defence, as procurer of these mythical components, was so embarrassed that its gullibility was hidden by creative internal accounting and never saw the light of day.

Now that was a $$$$$$$ scam!

Protect your retirement savings-Australian Crime Commission Board warns

Got a hard-earned nest egg you’re husbanding towards retirement? Don’t get complacent - 2,400 Aussies have already been fleeced. Make sure those assets are protected.

AUSTRALIAN CRIME COMMISSION BOARD MEDIA RELEASE 28^th  September 2011

The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) Board today urged Australians to protect themselves against the growing threat of serious and organised fraudulent investment scams.

Chair of the ACC Board, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus, said serious and organised criminals are using the Internet to provide false legitimacy in their attempts to target the retirement savings of Australians.

“The level of superannuation and retirement savings in Australia is attractive to organised crime groups. Those people looking particularly to invest their savings should be wary of these fraudulent scams,” Commissioner Negus said.

“These scams are typically in the form of unsolicited cold calls used in association with sophisticated hoax websites to try and legitimise the scam. This type of crime is targeting the life savings of hard working people. Australian and international law enforcement partners stand committed to protecting the community from these crimes.”

To tackle this growing threat, the ACC Board established a multi-agency task force that aims to disrupt fraudulent serious and organised investment scams and harden the Australian environment against this type of organised criminality.

Led by the ACC, the task force comprises of law enforcement, regulatory and service delivery agencies across federal, state and territory government. Task force members include all ACC Board agencies, as well as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Department of Immigration and

Citizenship, Department of Human Services and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission Acting Chairman, Belinda Gibson, said these fraudulent investment scams are incredibly sophisticated and very difficult for even experienced investors to identify.

“Perpetrators of these fraudulent scams are skilled at using high-pressure sales tactics, both over the phone and via email, to persuade their victims to part with their money,” Ms Gibson said.

Based on initial indications, more than 2400 Australians have lost in excess of $93 million to these scams, but it is believed there is a high level of underreporting and the extent is far greater.

“I urge investors to be immediately wary if they are called at random by someone offering an investment opportunity overseas,” Ms Gibson said.

This Media Release is issued by the ACC Board as a Public Bulletin in accordance with Section 60 of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002.

People can protect themselves by hanging up on any suspicious calls received and by further investigating and researching any investment offer:

• Visit www.moneysmart.gov.au or call 1300 300 630 for further information.

• Alert your family and friends to this fraud, especially anyone who may have savings to invest.

• Report suspected fraud to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, via www.moneysmart.gov.au or 1300 300 630, or your local police. Any information that can be provided such as company name, location and contact details will assist with subsequent investigations and enquiries.

• Hang up on unsolicited telephone calls offering overseas investments.

• Check any company you are discussing investments with has a valid Australian Financial Services Licence at www.moneysmart.gov.au

• Always seek independent financial advice before making an investment.

For more information, see the Serious and organised fraudulent investment scam fact sheet on the Australian Crime Commission website,

http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/publications/crime-profile-series/serious-and-organisedfraudulent-investment-scams.htm.

This Media Release is issued by the ACC Board as a Public Bulletin in accordance with Section

60 of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002.

Hey, Ramsey, just post the $60,000 winner's cheque to c/- the Grafton Post Office

The big, colourful racing identity who has problems paying his bills lined up as-quick-as-a-rat-up-a-drainpipe for a TV interview immediately after a nag he part owns crossed the winning line and collected the winner's prize of sixty grand at Moonee Valley today.

And, to make matters worse for viewers who had to put up with the pathetically poor payer's big picture on their TV screens, the interviewer referred to Ramsey with an endearing "Stuey". A bloke at a local pub rang me up immediately after he saw the event and reckoned the interviewer should have called him "Chop, Chop Stew".

Another bloke has this message for the victims of StewedRam:
"To all the long-suffering, under-paid ex-employees and the current employees soon to be sacked by Stuart Ramsay Meatworks, take heart all is well in the stables, his thoroughbred won the second race on Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley! "

Credit: Image from Racing Channel TVN

Are Adarsh Jaiswal & Deepika Verma fronting a company scamming elderly pensioners on the NSW North Coast?

Snapshots taken 13 August 2011

Click on images to enlarge

Excerpt from The Daily Examiner 15 August 2011:

The South Grafton pensioner said she thought it was her internet service provider Bigpond – talking urgently in a thick Indian accent – after all, he knew her full name.

“We need to check your computer Shirley,” the voice said. “People are getting in and stealing gigabytes.”

Before she knew it, Shirley's screen was scrolling madly and the voice on the phone said, “look, they're taking stuff now”.

“I must have given him permission (to access the computer remotely) but I don't remember. He took control of the mouse.”

The man told her it would cost $159 to fix the problem and she would need two “installations” to get coverage for life.

So Shirley, desperate to stop the cyber thieves, gave her credit card number and she was billed $318.

But it dawned on Shirley that she had been scammed.

“I couldn't sleep all night and I was so ashamed I didn't want to tell anyone,” she said. “I know I've been stupid but they sounded so genuine.

“My granddaughter was so cranky that someone would rip me off, she told me to go to the police and the Examiner because these people were obviously targetting older people.”

Shirley received an invoice from E-Pro Solution via email for a 24-month platinum plan support package. The invoice said the company was based in Luton, London.

That is what happened once a man called “Chris” telephoned a 77 year old woman living in the Clarence Valley.

Now E-Pro Solutions states on its website that it has offices in the U.K. and India and that it is owned and operated by NDCL INFOSOULE.

This company sells a product with the same description as the one ‘sold’ to the pensioner and its published price is equivalent to the amount of money paid by credit card for said product.

There is a company called NDCL INFOSOUL which can be called up with a simple Internet search. It happens to currently share the same physical address in India with E-Pro Solutions, as well as the identical main landline telephone number.

The very dodgy method used to sell product has been reported by Internet users for the last two years at least and could easily be called a scam.

Here is one post on a Whirlpool forum this year:

Not sure if anyone has received calls from this apparent company so far, but I received one today and it sounded super dodgy, so I just wanted to warn others about it (although admittedly most people who browse this type of website/forum probably wouldn't get sucked in for this sort of call).

They say they are from E-PRO SOLUTIONS, a company which has been employed by "Windows Computer Maintenance Department."

They say they have discovered that you have inadvertently downloaded junk from the internet and it is slowing down your computer, and that they can quickly remedy the problem by going through a process which I think allows them remote access to your computer.

They say they are calling from an office in Australia (the address they gave me was 83 Yaran Street, Evans Head, NSW 2473), but the three people I spoke to (two guys and one girl) all had heavy Indian accents (two of the names they gave me were David Mark and Peter Williams), and they also lied when I asked them about the weather there at the time.

When I asked for their details, the phone number they gave me was: 08 7200 7207.

Cheers.

It should be noted here that the address cited in the post does not exist as Yaran Street is a short street with no more than 18 residential lots according to Google Maps and, the telephone number is three digits out from E-Pro Solutions published West Australian telephone number.

Reverse Australia has fielded so many queries that it now features sample complaints like this one:

Contacted by "Julia Kidman" and "Harry Watson", so say from South Melbourne, Victoria, both working for E-Pro Solutions, acting on behalf of Microsoft Windows, that they had detected problems on our computer.
Landline contact is : 0872 001 707
Website: www.e-prosolutions.com , and
Email address: support@www.e-prosolutions.com
Requested to go into “start and r “ depressed together, and looked at application and system logs with errors and warnings in them. Asked to count the number of each, and got to about 30 warnings and about 5 or more errors or so, in each, then stopped scrolling through.
Asked for peoples names, and provided with above names, which are English names, but the people were Indian (or Pakistani), by accent. Was to be put through to technicians, via the “Support Connection” window, and they were going to provide a password, which should not be given to anyone else!!
I hung up and checked the White pages, which does not have a name anything like "E-pro solutions".
These people through their website, www.e-prosolution.com, should be tracked down, or they are just using this website for their own purposes. Whatever the situation, do not touch with a barge pole.
Tony, Perth, Western Australia 19 April 2011

E-Pro Solutions is also implicated in similar complaints in the U.S. and Microsoft Answers has been fielding queries about E-Pro since 2010. An e-commerce company dri swreg cardquery com is sometimes mentioned as processing its online billing

It is possible that E-Pro Solutions is unaware of this ‘scam’ and Mr. Adarsh Jaiswal & Ms. Deepika Verma are legitimate business people. That the problem may lie elsewhere.

I leave that up to readers to decide.

Under the Nazi Banner: One reason why one should no longer take the Australian mining industry seriously

From 28-30 June 2011 the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC), the peak industry representative body for mineral exploration and mining companies in Australia, will be holding a convention at the Burswood Convention Centre in Perth West Australia.

These are the groups sponsoring and supporting this convention:


This is the man who opens Day Three for convention guests:


And this is the type of nonsense he currently purveys:

Professor Ross Garnaut's considered opinion on the economic and social impacts expected from increased global warming is "fascist point of view" according to Lord Monckton.


In light of this and the absurd political posturing of some of its members, perhaps AMEC might like to explain why any sensible person would believe that Australian mining companies are more than a collection of knuckle-dragging, anti-science rednecks.

It is no surprise to find Opposition Leader Tony Abbott taking part in the official conference opening. However, the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia might also like to explain how on earth they came to be associated with this absurd gathering and why they have not had their name removed entirely from the list so proudly displayed on AMEC’s website last night.

Yet another scam targeting pensioners and other welfare recipients

Media Release
TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
Minister for Human Services
Minister for Social Inclusion

Friday, June 17, 2011

Warning of scammers posing as Centrelink workers
The Federal Government is warning people to be wary of a new Nigerian-like scam where victims are asked to transfer money to someone claiming to be a Centrelink employee.
Minister for Human Services Tanya Plibersek today said several recent reports have emerged of customers being asked to transfer several hundred dollars to an account in India in order to facilitate a substantial return payment.
“We have received several reports of people making phone calls claiming customers will receive a large Centrelink payment when they transfer several hundred dollars to a designated bank account,” said Ms Plibersek.
“People should be aware that claims made by callers of large sums of money being available in exchange for payments are a scam and they should not cooperate.”
“Centrelink never asks its customers to transfer funds and I urge people not to send money to anyone they don’t know.”
Ms Plibersek said recent months reports of people being targeted by scammers purporting to be Centrelink workers have occurred in West Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.
The most recent report of the scam occurred in West Australia when a man was asked to transfer $300 to India in return for $3,000. In another recent call an elderly Queenslander was asked to send $800 through Western Union in return for $3,000.
The scam is similar to the so-called “Nigerian 419 scam” where people are contacted by email or letter and asked to transfer money to assist in the release of funds for a substantial “reward.”
“Unscrupulous people who perpetrate scams often target the most vulnerable in the community such as the elderly and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.”
“I urge anyone who suspects they have received a scam phone call to make a note of the details including the time and date of the call, the gender and accent of the caller and what the caller said.”
Ms Plibersek said people who received such calls should report them to the Australian Government’s fraud tip-off line on 13 15 24.
Information about scams can also be found at www.scamwatch.gov.au

Media contact Minister Plibersek’s office: Simon Crittle 0466 773 531

Does former NSW Police Commissioner Peter Ryan know that his identity has been stolen?

Snapshot of the lower half of the in memoriam for a deceased NSW Police officer

On 4 May 2011 The Clarence Valley Review newspaper published an in memoriam in its classified section which was purportedly lodged by one Peter James Ryan using a post office address in Maclean on the NSW North Coast.

This is not the first time this fake Peter Ryan has been active.

On 4 April 2011 he sent a fax (copy here) to both the Local Court at Grafton and the NSW Chief Judge, as well as to various other individuals.

As his approach to the courts was reported in The Daily Examiner, one has to wonder why alarm bells did not ring at the Review when it received the in memoriam for publication.

I suspect that Dr. Ryan would not be amused by this turn of events as he appears to act as a security consultant and public speaker since his retirement.

Within minutes of Bin Laden's death being officially announced conspiracy wingnuts were active in the Northern Rivers

I happened to be having an after lunch drink when Osama bin Laden’s assassination in Pakistan was officially announced by the U.S. Government.

Two men lunching at an adjacent table began to pantomime amazement and disbelief as the news was discussed. Then it began to get interesting as we fell into conversation.

Apparently for some nefarious and unstated reason the announcement of bin Laden’s death at the hands of the U.S. military is nothing but a sham. He either died years ago or is still alive - it was hard to discern just what this pair actually believed on that point. But wink, wink, nudge, nudge, it’s all a big fat lie and we know better than to believe anything we see or hear on the news.

So how did these two men know with such certainty that the announcement by President Obama was a sham?

Why one of two was allegedly a judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, who just happened to have been legally representing a person before the court that day in Lismore.

I was shown what had to have been the cheesiest business card I have ever seen and one which had obviously been printed out on cheap paper using a home computer.

De Judge then asserted something which was patently wrong; that is that an ordinary person could not find out the names of ICJ current judges as these names were not on the Court’s website and "could not be Googled".

On hearing that I settled back and began to enjoy myself. Though apparently I did not hide my glee all that well, as suddenly the good judge morphed into either an employee or associate of one David Wynn Miller (aka King of Hawaii) who appeared on the NSW North Coast earlier this year after seemingly wearing out his welcome in Canada and possibly many parts of his own homeland as well.

When I returned home I checked my lunch time acquaintance out. It goes without saying that he is not a judge.

In comments on one blog KJM aka BM admits that he is not even a lawyer, on a second he asserts he is a judge representing certain indigenous interests, on a third he states he belongs to something called the Unity States of the World or similar, on a fourth he sets himself up as an amateur linguist with hysterical results, on a fifth he associates himself with assorted wingnuts, on a sixth he is calling himself a musician/music teacher who is ex-military and, on a seventh he offers a little free 'legal' advice and insists that Hawaii is a sovereign nation. He is also a supporter of the elusive Cairns Law Club and beleives that all local government elections are probably illegal.

It seems that the North Coast is now hosting a second fantasist to rival our resident Zussino.

Oh dear…………………

Gocompare.com goes off road

‘*********, your car insurance is due for renewal in 30 days’ according to an email received today.
Surely not! We don’t have a car – never had a car. Bicycles R Us!
Tut tut. Cheap trick to drive traffic to website. What on earth was www.gocompare.com thinking?

Anony-mice
Yamba

You're from "Microsoft"? My computer is infected? S#d off!

Took great pleasure in telling a recent caller "This call is a scam" and hanging up the phone in his ear - right after a short, clumsy intro which alerted me to the fact that he was going to request remote access to my personal computer because Microsoft software supposedly had a virus only he could fix.

As bogus anti-virus alerts and other scams (eg.,callers offering products, services or cash under fake government grants/seeking bank details in order to process a bank fee refund or tax refund/offering to place the person’s number on the Do Not Call Register for a fee/recorded messages asking consumers to “dial 9” for a ‘free’ holiday/incomplete messages which solicit a billable call back/work at home offers) happen at least a couple of times a year to many people and successful cybercrime/scamming cost $63M in 2010, it is worth remembering the ACCC's advice at the beginning of every call received from a stranger:

* If you receive a phone call out of the blue from someone about your computer system’s security status, hang up.
* NEVER give a stranger remote access to your computer.
* Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source.
* Make sure your computer is protected with anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a good firewall - but only purchase the software from a source that you know and trust.
* If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.

Consumer fraud from all sources costs an estimated $1 billion annually according to the Australian Institute of Criminology and there is an invitation on its website to take part in the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce Survey 2011.

Even politicians are not immune from scam attempts according to the Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin:

“Lately a number of local people have been in touch with me about emails they’ve been sent claiming to be from the Tax Office offering a tax refund, but requiring bank or credit card details and tax file number. I have received these emails as well.
The Tax Office will never ask for your personal information such as credit card details, date of birth, tax file number, passwords etc.
If you are suspicious of any online approaches you can check at www.scamwatch.gov.au where there is up to date information on the latest scams and methods to beware of. You can also report a scam on the site.
Consumer fraud comes in many forms and can target both consumers and businesses....”
[Media release, 9 March 2011]

Caveat emptor: pay new prices at Target but take home pre-loved goods!

Recently I went into the local Target store and came out the 'proud' owner of a new digital camera.
Or did I?
This short video filmed by an unknown person was found in the camera's memory and, its very existence probably voids any warranty.
Nice one, Target!

Who is Supertintendent Pieter Poynton APM (Ret) and why is he out there in cyberspace?

On International Sweep Day this week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) swept the Internet looking for sites which scam the young.

It seems the digital highway is littered with people pretending a position or occupation to which they are not entitled in the real world or dubiously offering goods and services they may not have the capacity to deliver.

However, not all misrepresentations out there in cyberspace are aimed at scamming money. Sometimes the motives are more complex.

The prevelance of individuals who pretend a military past has seen the formation of the Australian and New Zealand Military Impostors (ANZMI) website which appears to represent a group of irate individuals intent on exposing this form of fraud.

Of course military rank is not the only rank type assumed by the wannabe brigade. Just this week I was sent a link to one intriguing persona which has surfaced - a certain 'decorated' Superintendent Pieter Poynton APM (Retired).

I look forward to seeing how this latest phantom develops and how many online and print newspapers get taken in.

Bolt's lack of research exposed yet again

If the rest of the Australian mainstream media and blogosphere made as many factual errors as journalist Andrew Bolt there would barely be a handful of people left in this country who were using the Internet to read news and current affairs.

Crikey's Pure Poison outed Bolt for his latest blunder in The Herald-Sun on 31 August 2010 set out here:

Something a little more likely and potentially a lot more devastating for the global warming alarmists to fret over:

An asteroid more than a mile wide is heading for earth, posing the greatest threat yet by an object approaching the planet, scientists have warned.

The asteroid – called 2002 NT7 – was spotted only three weeks ago, but could strike on 1 February 2019, the US space agency Nasa said…

Gerrit Verschuur, an astrophysicist and radio astronomer at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said the impact would create a fireball so intense it would kill anyone who could see it, after which material thrown into the air would shower half the world with flaming debris. "It would be as if the sky itself had caught fire," he said.

The heat would set fire to forests and cities, after which dust would fill the atmosphere, obscuring the sun for a month. That in turn would kill plants and animals, so that only creatures that lived underground would have a strong chance of survival.

Same apocalyptic scenario as the global warmists' own, but missing that vital ingredient for a new mass faith - a narrative of human sin and the punishment to come.

(Thanks to reader Warwick.)

Now a sensible person would have looked at that link to Newshoggers and double checked with NASA and its Near Earth Object Program, but not Mr. Bolt - that would have spoiled his dig at climate change science.

For those who are interested in seeing how few objects pose a real risk there is NASA's Sentry Risk Table . As I write there is only one risk impact on a scale of 0 to 10 that is presently indicated as meriting "careful monitoring" and, it is not Bolt's asteroid of doom (discovered in 2002) and it is not due until sometime between 2048 and 2057.

In fact the asteroid Bolt mentions seems to have been removed from the Sentry Risk Table sometime between mid-2002 and 2004 because the risk was so low as to be negligible over the next one hundred years.

When 'Microsoft' calls..........

The international Support on Click scam (aka ITEZY.com and System Recure) has been around for a number of years as this suspect press release, media article, forum and post indicate.

Even Dell has a warning out about these scammers: We have recently received complaints from some Dell customers in relation to a company called Support On Click. We are informed that representatives of Support On Click have telephoned Dell customers and have indicated that Support On Click.com is in some way affiliated with Dell. Please note that Support On Click is in no way affiliated with Dell, nor is its controlling company, Pecon Software Limited.

This appears to be part of the standard spiel and one version that currently being used in the Northern Rivers area: He had me click Start-Run and type in eventvwr, and then click on Applications and tell him how many Error flags I had — well, there were hundreds, just from this past month. He asked for a little info about them, and started a spiel about how many people were having these kinds of problems. It sounded like the canned beginning of a sales pitch.

The Daily Examiner on 9 June 2010 reported on the latest manifestation:

A TELEPHONE-BASED computer scam, which asks computer owners to install damaging and invasive software on the premise of a remote repair session has been stepped up in Grafton and Coffs Harbour in recent weeks.

Though the scam has been operating for well over a year nationally, with sporadic instances occurring locally, Computer Troubleshooters, Grafton reported it had heard of at least 10 customers affected in the Grafton area in the past fortnight and about the same amount in Coffs Harbour prior to that.

According to a Queensland police statement, the scam, which is sometimes known as 'Support on Click', involves people taking a call from a person working at a foreign call centre.

The caller claims to belong to a software support company that has been requested by Microsoft to fix problems on the victim's computer.

The offender confirms the victim's computer has sent error messages to Microsoft regarding problems with their Windows Explorer before directing the victim through a process on their computer, ultimately giving the offender remote access to the computer to download Trojans or gain access to personal information.

Once the offender has gained access, they will then give or sell the victim software in order to prevent this problem in the future. The victim, instead of downloading anti-virus software, unknowingly installs a virus on their computer which may be used to gather credit card data.

Microsoft's Asia-Pacific director for internet safety, Julie Inman Grant, confirmed the company was not contacting its customers by telephone.

"Microsoft will never cold-call a customer and request access to their computer system. Nor do we direct third-party support companies to do so," she said.....

However, to date I can find no specific mention of this attempt to deceive on scamwatch.gov.au. Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy is apparently more interested in furthering his grand plans for censoring the Internet.

Boy the Wonder Cat receives a death threat

Sometimes I am amazed by what turns up in email received. This is one of those times.

Below is an email received by Boy the Wonder Cat on 12 May 2010 from an individual using Verio Data Centres, Englewood NTT America and Correo UC Webmail-n via Chile and West Australia (return address cross1953@live.com spoofing Rip Productions Limited ) to send an electronic demand for money with menace.

This distasteful scam has a long history and Boy has buried it in the backyard:

You Have 72 Hour To Respond To This Mail Or Forget It‏

Good Day

I felt very sorry and bad for you, that your life is going to end like
this if you don't comply, i was paid to eliminate you and I have to do it
within10 days.Someone you call your friend wants you dead by all means,
and the person have spent a lot of money on this, the person also came to
us and told us that he wants you dead and he provided us your names,
photograph and other necessary information we needed about you. If you
are in doubt with this I will send you to death.

Meanwhile, I have sent my boys to track you down and they have carried
out the necessary investigation needed for the operation, but I ordered
them to stop for a while and not to strike immediately because I just
felt something good and sympathetic about you. I decided to contact you
first and know why somebody will want you dead by all means. Right now my
men are monitoring you, their eyes are on you, and even the place you
think is safer for you to hide might not be. Now do you want to LIVE OR
DIE? It is up to you. Get back to me now if you are ready to enter deal
with me, I mean life trade, who knows, and I might just spear your life,
$6,000 is all you need to spend. You will first of all pay $3,000 usd
then I will send the tape of the person that want you dead to you and
when the tape gets to you, you will pay the remaining $3,000 usd If you
are not ready for my help, then I will have no choice but to carry on the
assignment after all I have already being paid before now.

Warning:
Do not think of contacting the police or even tell anyone because I will
extend it to any member of your family since you are aware that somebody want
you dead, and the person knows all members of your family as well. For your
own good I will advise you not to go out once is 7pm until I make out time to
see you and give you the tape of my discussion with the person who want you
dead then you can use it to take any legal action.

Note: You Have 72 Hour To Respond To This Mail Or Forget It.

Good luck as I await your response.

Cross. Killer

Waltzing around the Web looking at.....

...this and that.

Wikileaks gets dissected by US Army counter intelligence

In March 2010 Wikileaks amusingly blew the whistle on a 2008 assessment of its own organisational structure and aims by US counter intelligence .

Haystack creates 'hidden' Internet access for Iran citizens

Haystack is a new program designed to provide unfiltered internet access to the people of Iran. The software package is compatible with Windows, Mac and Unix systems, and specifically targets the Iranian government's web filtering mechanisms.

First Care Physicians puts the bite on patients for almost unlimted distribution of personal medical information








Perth woman wins award for whistleblowing

Denise Brailey exposed a fraudulent investment scheme which saw thousands of people - including many seniors - lose tens of millions of dollars. Her work has prompted other official investigations in the finance and real estate sectors including an ongoing WA Police Major Fraud Squad probe into a mortgage broker. The Rona Oakley award was presented to her at a lunch at Fraser's Restaurant in Kings Park today.

US Dept. of Defense looks at its big boy's toys in a document published in March 2010

This is GAO's eighth annual assessment of selected Department of Defense (DOD) weapon programs. The report examines how well DOD is planning and executing its weapon acquisition programs, an area that has been on GAO's high-risk list since 1990.

Statement of Gregory C. Wilshusen Director, Information Security Issues to US House of Reps sub-committee released in March 2010

An underlying cause for information security weaknesses identified at federal agencies is that they have not yet fully or effectively implemented key elements of an agencywide information security program, as required by FISMA. As a result, they may be at increased risk of unauthorized disclosure, modification, and destruction of information or disruption of mission critical operations. Such risks are illustrated, in part, by the increasing number of security incidents experienced by federal agencies.

Securency International (Australia) speaks out about folding money rip-off

Following the departure from the company of former Managing Director Myles Curtis and former Director of Commercial Services John Ellery, Securency International Pty Ltd has initiated a global search for a new chief executive.

The reasons why:

Assistance with enquiries into matters dealing with agents in overseas territories 29 March 2010

Counterfeit medicines rife
An estimated 10% of the global medicine supply chain is counterfeit, according to the World Health Organization. More than 25% of the medicines consumed in developing countries are thought to be counterfeit, and in some countries, the figure is as high as 50%.

Stranger than fiction.......

Stumbled across this as I tiptoed through the tulips in Yahoo! ANSWERS.
Seems someone's done a variation on an Einfield recently:

"I've just received a speeding infringement notice form Victoria Police, Australia - although I have never been to Australia! They have my correct name, correct street name (not number) and a postcode from a few streets away. I believe I know who has given these details, and old acquaintance who moved to Australia a year or so ago - they lived in the street which the postcode on the notice had. So my question is, what should I do with this? Go to the police in the UK? Ignore it? Or will they chase it up? Also, what is likely to happen to the person who gave the false details?"

Be prepared for the Twelve Scams of Christmas

Bluddy 'ell it's almost December.
What do those scouts say? Be prepared......
With the festive season starting to gear up and thoughts of present buying beginning to creep into idle moments, it was probably timely that someone passed these emails on to me as examples of what may come down Teh Netz and land on your PC to snatch up your hard-earned readies, raid your credit card or wreck your home computer:

Xmas Promotion‏
From: Microsoft Award (cleohfn@bellnet.ca)
Sent: Friday, 20 November 2009 10:22:20 PM
To:
£750,000.00 has been award to you,send us your Names/Tel/Country to slyvester_howard@gala.net. Tel: +44-70-24-030-541

read and reply now‏
From:united state postal inspection service (uspostal@noreply.com)
Sent:Sunday, 22 November 2009 10:43:51 PM
To:
1 attachment delivery.doc (26.0 KB)

Here's a reminder from McAfee by way of CNet News:

1. Charitable phishing scams: Marcus warns consumers to be wary of e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charities. Not only will they take your money and deprive charities of needed funds, but they will also steal your credit card information and identity.
2. 
   Fake invoices from delivery services: During this period, scammers will send out fake invoices and delivery notifications appearing to come from Federal Express, UPS, the U.S. Postal Service or even the U.S. Customs Service saying that they were unable to deliver a package to your address. They ask you to confirm your address and give them credit card information to pay for delivery.
3. 
   Social networking friend requests: Bad guys take advantage of this social time of year by sending out authentic looking friend requests via e-mail. Marcus recommends that you not click on those links but sign into Facebook and other services and look for friend requests from the site itself. Clicking on a link could install malware on your computer or trick you into revealing your password.
4. 
   Holiday e-cards: Be careful before clicking on a holiday e-card, especially if it's from a site you haven't heard of. This is a way to deliver malware, pop-ups, and other forms of unwanted advertising. Some fake e-cards will look like they come from Hallmark or other legitimate companies, so pay close attention and make sure it's from someone you know. If you're going to send an e-card, be sure you're dealing with a reputable service lest you risk infecting yourself and your friends.
5. 
   Fake "luxury" jewelry: If you see an offer for luxury gifts from companies like Cartier, Gucci, and Tag Heuer at a price that's too good to be true, it probably isn't true. These links could lead you to malware and take your money or merchandise that will probably never arrive (or be fake if it does). Some of these sites, according to McAfee, even display the logos of the Better Business Bureau.
6. 
   Practice safe holiday shopping. Make sure your wireless network is secure and be sure you're shopping on sites that are secure. Though it isn't an iron clad guarantee, you should look for the lock icon in the lower right corner of your browser and make sure the Web page starts with https. The "s" stands for "secure."
7. 
   Christmas carol lyrics can be dangerous: Bad guys know that people are searching for holiday related sites for music, holiday graphics, and other festive media. During this time, they create fraudulent holiday related sites.
8. 
   Job search related scams: With the unemployment rate at 10.2 percent, there are plenty of job seekers looking for work. Beware of online offers for high paying jobs or at-home money making schemes. Some of these sites ask for money up front, which is a good way for criminals not only to steal your "set up fee" but misuse your credit card too. Marcus said that some "get rich quick" sites are all about money laundering, asking you to accept an inbound financial transfer and pay them.
9. 
   Auction site fraud: McAfee has observed a rise in fake auction sites during the holidays. Make sure you're actually going to eBay or whatever site you plan to deal with.
10. 
    Password stealing scams: Criminals use low-cost tools to uncover passwords, in some cases planting key logger software to record keystrokes. Once they get your passwords, they gain access to bank accounts and credit card accounts and send spam from your e-mail accounts.
11. 
    E-mail banking scams: A common type of phishing scam is sending out official looking e-mails that appear to come from your bank. Don't click on any links but type in your bank's Web address manually if you need to access your account.
12. 
    Files for ransom: Hackers use malware to gain control of your computer and lock your data files. To access your own data you have to pay them ransom.

Update:

On the SCAMwatch radar this month:
Overcharged bank fees scam
November 2009: SCAMwatch is warning consumers about hoax offers of assistance to reclaim overcharged bank fees.
Bogus anti-virus alerts
November 2009: Scamwatch is warning consumers to be wary of bogus security software or 'scareware'.
Travelling to the USA?
November 2009: SCAMwatch is warning all prospective travellers to the United State of America to be wary of unauthorised third party websites.
Comcover non-refundable loan email
November 2009: SCAMwatch is warning about an email from Comcover that offers a non-refundable loan
Steer clear of sports investment schemes
November 2009: SCAMwatch is warning you to be very careful if you think you can improve your odds with the aid of sports ‘investment’ opportunities.

National Indentity Fraud Awareness Week October 2009

This week is Crime Stoppers National Identity Fraud Awareness Week 2009.

The Sydney Morning Herald's Lesley Parker reminds us that:

According to a report released last year by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in three people aged 15 and over encountered some form of scam in 2007 – perhaps receiving emails...
Five per cent of them (806,000 people) made at least an initial response and 453,100 people lost money – almost $1 billion in total, or an average of $2160 a person.
The ABS says this translates to a "victimisation rate" of 2 per cent.

Don't become a statistic in 2009.

How identity theft occurs according to Stop ID Theft:

• Personal information you place on the Internet is collated by a fraudster.
• Mail is redirected without your knowledge.
• Wallet or purse is stolen.
• Unsolicited phone calls asking for information.
• Household or business garbage bin raided.
• Credit card or ATM card skimmed.
• Corporate identity theft by accessing publicly available records.
• Impersonation of a deceased person.

Fellowes Identity Fraud Quiz

Cybersquatting on photographs: one form of identity theft on the Internet

Update:

Some April and September 2009 statistics on identity theft from Veda Advantage.