Fake email, scam email. Every day most of us probably get some.
I am just going to start a list with samples of fake or scam emails in this article, and keep updating it as they come in. I have many email addresses, so I tend to get almost every scam or fake email going around at some point.
I have seen everything, so when I get one I have not seen before, I want to warn people. I get so many bad, fake, scam emails, that I usually just delete them.
Then I meet people who fall for them and it breaks my heart. Many people are too ashamed to tell anyone. They feel like fools. The best prevention is education and warning others. Share your knowledge if you know older people who still believe these emails are real or are not sure. Talk about this with your friends and relatives.
It infuriates me how many people feel scared by these fake emails.
One trick that is common and some people I know fell for it, is getting an email saying your domain name is due and to pay them $70. to renew! Those are fake emails!!
Then the person pays and guess what? The scammer actually takes over your domain and then they continue to charge you 70.00 a year.
You should never be paying more then $15. a year for a normal domain name, .com,, .net, .org, .info.
The other newer domains run a bit more, like .tv or .co, but NEVER $70.00.
Today’s Latest Scam email is: Pinterest.
Here is the email I got. Which I knew immediately was a fake one, because it used my paypal email as the one it wanted me to confirm. Which I do not have anywhere on the net and never use to register for anything. So how they got it, I am not sure, but it may be because it is not a very clever name. I should change that I think.
What is a DKIM signature? Can they be faked? YES. Read more here.
Checking the IP you see in the source code.
Pinterest does not have much to say on the matter.
Many sites really do not offer much help for users. The best you can find is when this kind of fake emails starts to impact the website, they will post the worst ones to warn you.
6/2013
Scam fake email-which is from a fake address: billings@iata-billings.ca.tf
The subject line is a nice scary, FINAL WARNING
TIP-As soon as you get these fake looking emails, and you feel alarmed, or you are not sure about any email you have gotten, all you need to do is google the topic or subject line of the email and you will quickly find the real companies have warnings up on their websites.
Here is the website for the real IATA, (which I have no idea what that is and had never heard of that before).
http://www.iata.org/pages/fraudulent-email.aspx
Dear IATA Code Holder, Your company have exceeded the deadline for the Annual Review of Codes. As of this time we still have not received payment for your 2013 Annual Review fees. Please be advised that failure to pay the invoice for your 2013 Annual Review fees which has already exceeded the deadline date will result in the recall of your assigned IATA airline codes. Should you require an electronic copy of this invoice please advise, and one will be sent to you by e-mail. If you have made payment already, please provide the full banking details so that we may follow this up with our finance department and locate the payment. Please note any payment recently made, may not have had a chance to be reflected in our accounts. Please be sure to quote your airline name, and assigned codes. This way it will be clear to us which airline we are dealing with when we receive your e-mail. Thank You and Best Regards, Anita Anita DZEPINA Administrative Assistant MITA/CODING Tel + 514 874 020 Fax + 514 390 677 billings@iata-billings.ca.tf International Air Transport Association 800, Place Victoria, P.O. Box 113 Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4Z 1M1
Totally fake email, set up to scare and a weird one too. How they got my email for this one, who knows?
Set up to SCAM you out of your money.
Here is part of the safety message from the real IATA. Read the entire warning and report the fake scam email to them, directions are here.
Handling and Reporting Fraudulent e-Mails
There have been attempts to obtain payments from users of IATA products and services through fraudulent e-mail messages. On this page you will find resources to help you detect such fraud and report it to us.
Tactics used by fraudsters
- Fraudsters contact IATA customers by email or telephone, seeking payment for products or services, or claiming payments for outstanding amounts due.
- Often the fraudster will use names similar or identical to that of IATA officials.
- The fraudster uses an e-mail address resembling IATA e-mail addresses but using different host servers such as “gmail”.
- The name of the e-mail sender is masked, which makes it appear as if it was sent from a valid IATA address.
- Forged documents bearing the official IATA logo and forged signatures are used.
- Bank details of the fraudster are inserted onto forged invoices. Often ‘Beneficiary Name’ or ‘Account Name’ is referenced as ‘IATA’ or similar.
Emails asking you for money. Scam, Fraud, Fake. Do not ever fall for these emails.
Here is a sample email I received this week.
hello please help me if you can and for GOD sake.please this is not a lie.but i need your kindly help. Sorry I am handicap by being a deaf person.Well let me start by introducing my self .I am miss Eunice amin whom just wrote you today . I am a deaf girl and the daughter of late dr and mrs Vincent amin, my father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant based in Abidjan. The economic capital of Ivory Coast before he was poisoned to death by his business associates, on one of their outing to discuss on a business deal. Well my mother died on the 21st October 2006 and was the day I became deaf. My father took me so special because i am motherless. Before the death of my father on 29th November 2009 in a private hospital here in Abidjan. He secretly called me on his bedside and told me that he has a sum of us nine million, united states dollars left in a local bank here in Abidjan. he also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business associates, that i should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where i will transfer this money and use it for investment purpose. (Such as real estate management and Transportation). I am honorably seeking your assistance in the following ways: to provide a bank account where this money would be transferred to serve as the guardian of this fund and my younger brother apala is 15 years. to make arrangement for us to come over to your country to further our education and to secure a residential permit in your country. moreover, i am willing to offer you 30% of the total sum as compensation for your effort input after the successful transfer of this fund to your nominated account overseas. Furthermore, you can indicate your option towards assisting me, as i believe that this transaction would be concluded within seven days you signify interest to assist me.
You may ask yourself, who would fall for that? Well the statics are frightning. 1-2% of the people who get these emails, so respond and lose their money. I discussed this in more detail on our local talk show. The main topic was online dating scams, but also discussed email scams and how to protect yourself and how to tell if emails are real.