The Spam and Scam Superthread- Merged

[tannerthehammer]

Couple guys pull up to me when I'm in a parking lot and try to sell me some "Divinci" Home Stereo equipment...Showed me on the box the price was $3029 and that they were delivering it and they got an extra one by mistake and had to unload it before their boss found out...

When I first looked at it the stuff looked legit although I had never heard of "Divinci"...They showed me a fake bill of sale with no phone number under the address of the so called company they worked for which was called
"Boss Home Theatre" out of Brampton...

The vehicle they were in was a grey late model SUV and the driver was a caucasian male mid 20's and the passenger was a hispanic male also mid 20's...They were asking $1000 for the complete system which included 2 boxes...Although the white male was a convincing salesman and they even showed me a magazine article with the Divinci system, something was just not right...

I offered $100 because I knew they wouldn't bite and told them that's all I could do and that they would find someone else to take it...They left and I went and got Subway then started researching "Divinci" and found out it was a scam and that alot of people have been duped by this before...Even the divinci sound website is really poorly done and looks fake...

The speakers and equipment is really low quality and not worth anything near what they are asking...I immediately called police and filed a report...Apparently these scammers are all over Canada and many have been popping up in Ontario lately leaving a trail of victims...Luckily I wasn't dumb enough to be had by these bastards but I could easily see how an unsuspecting person could be...

Just thought I would pass it on

 

[condor888000]

Yet another reason to not buy things out of the back of someones truck.

 

[Devlin]

Yeah I got approached by them in a Canadian Tire parking lot in Waterloo, took one look at their equipement and walked. Pick up one of their speakers there is absolutely nothing to it feels like it's made out of balsa wood.

Utter crap stay away and call the cops on the scammers

 

[Bzzliteyr]

That happened to me in Fredericton not too long ago.  I immediately called the police and explained that "thanks to the internet" I knew of this scam and I gave semi-good descriptions of the vehicle and persons in it.  It is always good to pass on the info.

 

[tannerthehammer]

Ya I called the cops about it but from what I'm told they aren't too interested in it since the stuff isn't stolen...

 

[Trinity]

If you do buy from these people, you do so with the impression you are buying
stolen goods to begin with.  So IMO, the person who is buying the stero is just
as bad as the person who sells it.


Cavet Emptor

 

[Hot Lips]

If you do buy from these people, you do so with the impression you are buying
stolen goods to begin with.  So IMO, the person who is buying the stero is just
as bad as the person who sells it.


Cavet Emptor

Ditto Padre

HL

 

[GO!!!]

What I'd really like is to offer them some counterfeit money - Oh the poetic justice!!  >

 

[medicineman]

Go - give a $15.00 bill and see if you get a couple of 7's in change.

MM

 

[Chaz]

Common sense people... common sense.. if that little something in you says "Gee, that's odd" that's because it is .  ;D

 

[Scratch_043]

I've had two guys in an early model caravan do the same, in the same location as Devlin.

Wasn't DaVinchi though, they were definately stolen Logitechs.

Pretty well all you can do, is get a good description of the guys, the van, and the license plate #. (Photos don't hurt either) and then call the cops.

 

[tannerthehammer]

Ya the police won't really do anything unless the stuff has been reported stolen...The thing is that the stuff wasn't stolen, they just hype it up like you are getting an amazing deal is all...

 

[Bzzliteyr]

To the police it is still fraud.  They are in interested in any criminal activity and if they can do a public announcement then maybe someone you know might not get taken for their hard earned cash.

 

[winchable]

I was reading about more scams like this one and I came across a really funny one where they turned it around on an ebay scammer.
You might have heard of it, but it's the "p-p-p-powerbook" anecdote which has become somewhat famous (although today was the first I heard of it).

 

[The Bread Guy]

Couldn't believe this when I got it in my e-mail box - "Kelly's Heroes in IRQ"  ;D

From Sgt.  Duncan Czar
of D Company, 2nd Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment

2nd Junly,2006.

Good day,

I am Sergeant Duncan Czar, an American Soldier. I am serving in the US Army of D Company, 2nd Battalion 22nd,Infantary Regiment, Iraq. As you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs.

I and my crew members discovered $650M USD in Saddam Hussein's palace in April 2003. We now managed to move away a total sum US$45 Million dollars cash out from the $650MUSD, mostly 100-dollar bills and was quickly flown out of the warzone and deposited in an undisclosed security company Europe,You can as well click on the website for more details about the funds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

Unfortunately, the rest of my crew members have lost their lives to the wicked Iraq insurgents.Also very soon all the troops will be withdrawn  from Iraq, I therefore seek your partnership to assist me transfer  these funds into your account and invest the funds without further  delay.I will take 65% while you take the other 30% and 5% will be for expences,no strings.

If you are interested I will send you the full details but my fear is  Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers in order to forward to the Security company for the release of the funds  in your names or your company. This business is risk free.

Respectfully,
Sgt Duncan Czar''

Funny how the BBC story says they're giving the $ back to IRQ.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Anyone who answers an unsolicitated e-mail for "easy" money deserves to lose it.

If anyone out there decides to give it a go just send me half the money you would have sent them and I promise to make you feel just as stupid when its all over,......at a great 50% savings to you!!!

 

[winchable]

These always remind me of the time that someone actually scammed a scammer:

http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/files/thepowerbook.pdf


The p-p-p-powerbook!!

There's another site where someone scammed one of those Nigerian Oil scams, I can't remember the link.

 

[GAP]

This is going around again. If you click on their link provided in the email, you go to a fake site.

Forward this email, if you receive one to paypal security at spoof@paypal.com


here is the wording they use

Your online credit card account has high-risk activity status. We are contacting you to remind you that on October. 15, 2006 our Account Review Team identified some unusual activity in your account. In accordance with PayPal User Agreement and to ensure that your account has not been compromised, access to your account was limited. Your account access will remain limited until this issue has been resolved.

We encourage you to log in and perform the steps necessary to restore your account access as soon as possible. Allowing your account access to remain limited for an extended period of time may result in further limitations on the use of your account and possible account closure. If you would like close your credit card account, please contact us, as soon as possible.

Login to your limit account and restore online access:

.

This notification is part of the All-Electronic Program you enrolled in to receive your activity report online.

To protect the security of your account, PayPal, employs some of the most advanced security systems in the world and our anti-fraud teams regularly screen the PayPal system for unusual activity.

If you're planning to change your e-mail address, sign-on to www.PayPal.com, go to the Manage My Account menu, and choose Update Personal Profile to edit your Email Profile. To change your postal address, just use the same menu and choose Address & Phone Change.

If you use your work e-mail address, keep in mind some employers may block receipt of employees' personal e-mail. Please update your e-mail address at www.PayPal.com -see instructions above.


Sincerely,
Card Member Services

 

[safeboy43]

Yes, I received one of those recently. It just about had me fooled but always remember that they will address you by your first and last name as opposed to "Valued Paypal Customer." These emails are getting more sneaky than the previous ones, so be on your guard and watch out.

Cheers

 

[Milhouser911]

I received the same email for EBay.  They're getting clever, good thing I don't actually have an Ebay account.  I'm guessing the secret to the scam is the hyperlink they give you to "log in and perform the necessary steps" is actually some sort of keylogger?  Delete that if you think its giving out more info than should be readily available.