WARNING - A new Craigslist type of Fraud

Deadly

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Just received an email responding to my CL ad. It was an obvious attempt at fraud but what sets this apart from any other was it wasn't the typical type of Western Union USPS attempt. This was an email containing a link that appears to be (like) a media player/java applet that needs a plugin. Yeah - Like I'm going to install this plugin....not

Anyways 2 minutes of research reveals this shithead is in China and if anyone has been watching the news lately there has been so much hacking going on from China lately that it's unreal. Google has been compromised as well as Intel to name a few of the corporate beasts hit within the last two weeks.

A friendly warning to you friends. Here is what I was sent (links omitted for obvious reasons). Notice the grammer is quite decent not broken engrish:


Bettye Landrey [[email protected]]
Gday,

saw the Listing you put up on c-list titled - "Trade Arcade Games for Pinball Machine" and I'm very interested in purchasing this however I am not too certain if it's the same type that my cousin is after. Naturally I want to make certain before I commit myself to purchasing it. Anyways here is a video shot that I been able to copy from my boy's computer (BOGUSURL) or try (BOGUSURL). Can you please confirm its the similar type and reply back to me Asap. Im ready to pay a little more than what your asking for as long the it meets the video description and you can reserve it for me.

Kind
Regards
Julie.
 
Whenever they refer your ad to "this item" or make no reference to whats in the ad at all, I hit delete.
 
It's so awkwardly worded.Plus the part about wanting you to download a video to confirm the item that's already pictured...uh yeah.Not only that,but the part about paying more for it...come on.I don't ever even finish reading these if I even open them in the first place.
 
Re:

There are also bots now targeting the craigslist emails, half are spammers and half are scammers...I got 17 overnight last night for a HD DVD player I was selling. They seem to target electronics or anything worth a nice penny from the looks of it.
 
The "regards" at the end is a clear tip off you're dealing with someone not from the US. In all my online dealings, only people outside the US have used "regards".
 
That's the signature I always use, and I'm from plain ol' Kansas.

/Damn the influence of working in the past for an international company........
//Maybe that's why some of my CL replies don't get answered?


The "regards" at the end is a clear tip off you're dealing with someone not from the US. In all my online dealings, only people outside the US have used "regards".
 
I got the old "CASHIERS CHECK" scam emailed to me yesterday for my Asteroids. He asked for my name and address to overnight the check... I gave him a bogus name and the address to our local District Attorneys office in Boise.
 
Has anyone ever offered to pay MORE than the listed price on Craigslist?

That is one of the most common scam...


Usually it's "Hey, XXX owes me $1000... he's sending you a cashiers check for $1000 for your $200 arcade... take an extra $50 for your troubles and then forward the $750 remaining to me.

You send them the $750, then the $1000 cashiers check comes up bogus... and you're ass-out for $750.
 
I tell people in my ads that if they don't title the heading a certain way and include a phone number, then I'm deleting that shit.
 
That is one of the most common scam...


Usually it's "Hey, XXX owes me $1000... he's sending you a cashiers check for $1000 for your $200 arcade... take an extra $50 for your troubles and then forward the $750 remaining to me.

You send them the $750, then the $1000 cashiers check comes up bogus... and you're ass-out for $750.

A friend has been getting those. The last one he got, he just sent back an empty envelope. A few days later he got a nasty email and so he sent back that he didn't have time to go get a money order, so he just stuffed the $750 in the envelope. Never heard back.

ken
 
Here's something I posted in a different forum (my car club). I'm an IT person and have been battling a lot of crap software and viruses that come right through antivirus software, and a lot of it is from spam and infected ads, so here goes...



Figured I'd put this out there as a heads up - There's a lot of viruses and spyware being pushed over the internet recently, more so than usual. Most of it involves fake antivirus and anti-spyware software that looks pretty legit. If you get a pop up that looks like something is scanning your PC and showing all sorts of infections - DO NOT CLICK ON IT. AT ALL. Press CTRL-ALT-DEL and kill your browser, or pull the power cord on your computer. Do not click any X or try to hit OK/CANCEL.

(The fake scanners will show all sorts of infected files - again, these scanners are FAKE, as well as the results. Its the scanner thats bad!)

The makers of this crap are targeting Google's search results, so for example, you may look up something for the Olympics, or Olivia Munn, and near the top of the list may be an infected site. When you hover your mouse over the link, make sure the address at the bottom matches what it shows in the listing before you click! When the address looks like www.19xj3ck.com - I'd avoid it!

So on top of just being cautious when surfing, there's a lot of very recent updates (as new as yesterday 2/16) that help mitigate this crap from attacking your PC. First and foremost, if you still use Internet Explorer as your browser (why why why), download and install FIREFOX. Much safer!

What to do:

For Windows XP/Vista/7 - Get all available Microsoft updates including newest Internet Explorer (get new IE even if you don't use it):
Microsoft Update

Get latest Acrobat Reader (9.3.1):
Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions

Get latest Flash Player (if you use Youtube you have this):
Adobe - Adobe Flash Player
(Flash is browser specific - if you use Firefox or IE, you have to use whatever browser you use most to install it)

Get latest version of JAVA:
java.com: Java + You

For Firefox users - make sure you get the latest version of Firefox:
Firefox Browser | Upgrade to the latest version of Firefox | Free Download

Firefox users - make sure the "Microsoft Presentation Foundation" plugin is DISABLED. See this article for more info:

Microsoft Silently Installing Windows Presentation Foundation Plugin For Firefox

I've had to redo over a dozen machines at work - once infected not only is this $hit practically impossible to remove, but antivirus software doesn't detect it in most cases, and it can compromise your credit cards and bank accounts if you do online banking, especially if you enter your credit info trying to get rid of the crap. If this posting saves one person the hassle of either getting their comp f'ed up or their identity stolen, then its my way of helping to kick the ASSes of the POSes that put this stuff out there.
 
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Just received an email responding to my CL ad.


I got the same / similar email a week or two ago. Never bothered to look at it so didn't get the fake plugin error. thought it was just someone trying to get more traffic.

I was selling a picture window so didn't think a person would be sending a video of a window.
 
Friggin scams on CL. I've gotten most of these as well, but have yet to see this new one. One time I was trying to rent a furnished house in Hawaii, and this guy was trying to tell me that more furniture was going to be delivered from a rental place in Loisiana, to which I was to pay for and later be re-embursed. I quickly told him to get lost. All these scams leave me with the feeling that there are no honest people left in the world.
 
The "regards" at the end is a clear tip off you're dealing with someone not from the US. In all my online dealings, only people outside the US have used "regards".

That's just silly. I send emails all day as part of my job and I always use 'regards' in my email.

regards,
Allen
 
That's just silly. I send emails all day as part of my job and I always use 'regards' in my email.

regards,
Allen

That's why it's great to discuss items like this - because you might be missing an opportunity because of your signature.
The main reason I posted is because my particular email was fairlry well worded (I've had Mexican buyers that didn't type so good) so sometimes it's hard to tell. However this was an attempt to load a plugin that with every fiber of my being I believe would be a back door trojan attempt. How many of you do online banking and internet transactions. Yeah this stuff is getting dangerous.
 
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