There is an overdue payment under your name. Please, settle your debts ASAP, aye right.......

[RogerS]

.....
For the record Paypal were just the worst people to try and communicate with, I never did get to speak to anyone despite many hours of trying, fortunately my bank were very helpful and managed to get all of my money back from PayPal.

Which is why I don't use PayPal unless forced to.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

Just the other day I bought a pair of hinges from Andrew Crawford, his website was PayPal only so I rang him and explained why I do not use PayPal, he kindly sent me his bank details so I could do a bacs transfer and I cleared out his account

 

[mcostello]

Best one I have had was ----- A red Headed Russian woman was in My drive way right now and wanted to get frisky with Me. I have seen videos of how They live over there and I am afraid She would get Me all crinkled up and bent. I did not even look out the window.

 

[rafezetter]

Got three versions of this recently:

Hi!
Sadly, there are some bad news that you are about to hear.
About few months ago I have gained a full access to all devices used by you for internet browsing.
Shortly after, I started recording all internet activities done by you.
Below is the sequence of events of how that happened:
Earlier I purchased from hackers a unique access to diversified email accounts (at the moment, it is really easy to do using internet).
As you can see, I managed to log in to your email account without breaking a sweat.
Within one week afterwards, (why wait a week?) I installed a Trojan virus in your Operating Systems available on all devices that you utilize for logging in your email.
To be frank, it was somewhat a very easy task (since you were kind enough to open some of links provided in your inbox emails).
I know, you may be thinking now that I'm a genius.....^^) No, not really



With help of that useful software, I am now able to gain access to all the controllers located in your devices (e.g., video camera, keyboard, microphone and others).
As result, managed to download all your photos, personal data, history of web browsing and other info to my servers without any problems.
Moreover, I now have access to all accounts in your messengers, social networks, emails, contacts list, chat history - you name it.
My Trojan virus continues refreshing its signatures in a non-stop manner (because it is operated by driver), hence it remains undetected by any antivirus software installed in your PC or device.

So, I guess now you finally understand the reason why I could never be caught until this very letter...
During the process of your personal info compilation, I could not help but notice that you are a huge admirer and regular guest of websites with adult content.
You endure a lot of pleasure while checking out porn websites, watching nasty porn movies and reaching breathtaking orgasms.
Let me be frank with you, it was really hard to resist from recording some of those naughty solo scenes with you in main role and compiling them in special videos that expose your masturbation sessions, which end with you ********* (naughty word)

In case if you still have doubts, all I need is to click my mouse and all those nasty videos with you will be shared to friends, colleagues, and relatives of yours.
Moreover, nothing stops me from uploading all that hot content online, so all public can watch it too.
I sincerely hope, you would really not prefer that to happen, keeping in mind all the dirty things you like to watch, (you certainly know what I mean) it will completely ruin your reputation.

However, don't worry, there is still a way to resolve this:
You need to carry out a $1450 USD transfer to my wallet (equivalent amount in bitcoins depending on exchange rate at the moment of funds transfer), hence upon receiving the transaction, I will proceed with deleting all the filthy videos with you in main role.
Afterwards, we can forget about this unpleasant accident.
Furthermore, I guarantee that all the malicious software will also be erased from your devices and accounts. Mark my words, I never lie.

That is a great bargain with a low price, I assure you, because I have spent a lot of effort while recording and tracking down all your activities and dirty deeds during a long period of time.

In case if you have no idea how to buy and transfer bitcoins - feel free to check the related info on the internet.
Here is my bitcoin wallet for your reference: 17nwWz U9WA9tmR rQLaJqHRszz jLt2xMgmG
Attention please! I have specified my Bitcoin wallet with spaces, please make sure that you key-in my bitcoin address without spaces to be sure that your coins successfully reach my wallet!
From now on, you have only 48 hours and countdown has started once you opened this very email (in other words, 2 days).

The following list contains things you should definitely abstain from doing or even attempting:
~>> Abstain from trying to reply this email (since the email is generated inside your inbox alongside with return address).
~>> Abstain from trying to call or report to police or any other security services.
In addition, it's a bad idea if you want to share it with your friends, hoping they would help.

If I happen to find out (knowing my awesome skills, it can be done effortlessly, because I have all your devices and accounts under my control and unceasing observation) - kinky videos of yours will be share to public the same day.
~>> Abstain from trying to look for me - that would not lead anywhere either. Cryptocurrency transactions are absolutely anonymous and cannot be tracked.
~>> Abstain from reinstalling your OS on devices or throwing them away.

That would not solve the problem as well, since all your personal videos are already uploaded and stored at remote servers.
Things you may be confused about:
~>> That your funds transfer won't be delivered to me.
Chill, I can track down any transactions right away, so upon funds transfer I will receive a notification as well, since I still control your devices (my trojan virus has ability of controlling all processes remotely, just like TeamViewer).
~>> That I am going to share your dirty videos after receiving money transfer from you.
Here you need to trust me, because there is absolutely no point to still bother you after receiving money.
Moreover, if I really wanted all those videos would be available to public long time ago!

I believe we can still handle this situation on fair terms!

Here is my last advice to you... in future you better ensure you stay away from this kind of situations!
My advice - don't forget to regularly update your passwords to feel completely secure.



Well, quaking in my boots I was. Managed to scrape together some money and bought lots of crypto buttons and sent them off and true to this this gentleman's word all my videos and images are safe.

Seriously, I'm sure these people do catch the odd poor soul out.

I'm sorry I was broke - I need a new tablesaw.

 

[Dabop]

I sort of had the opposite of this a few years ago. I received a letter in the post from a debt collecting agency saying I owed Paypal £150 with offers help if I was in financial difficulties. Very poorly written and very poor design and layout on the page, it went straight in the recycling. A month later I got virtually the same letter but all in red with the added threat of court proceedings, it went in the recycling. A month later my neighbour who has the same surname as me knocked on my door and handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it and said, can you ring these people because they think I'm you and they want money owed!!
I rang the number and initially had a very angry conversation with this Scotsman when he demanded I prove who I was!!! When things calmed down, it turned out it was a legit debt collecting agency working for Paypal. After I told him what I thought of his stationary and use of the English language it emerged that someone had managed to open a Paypal account in my name, they had taken about £600 out of my account in small amounts over several months but were also scamming companies by returning goods and getting refunds (did not really understand how that worked)
It turned out my solicitors IT system had been hacked which was how these scammers managed to get all my personal details in order for them to open the account.
For the record Paypal were just the worst people to try and communicate with, I never did get to speak to anyone despite many hours of trying, fortunately my bank were very helpful and managed to get all of my money back from PayPal.

This is one of the reasons that scammers are so interested in bank accounts- and LOTS of them...
Besides the obvious use for money laundering if you have access to tens of thousands if not millions of other peoples bank accounts (through stolen database 'sales', keyloggers and social engineering- usually through the phone rather than emails these days, but also many online 'ads')- you can do things like doing tens of thousands of small regular withdrawals (do a monthly withdrawal of say a dollar for months if not years each marked as 'account keeping fees' or similar- how many people bother to check THAT out???) If you have access to say 500,000 accounts and aren't greedy, thats a guaranteed monthly 'income' of half a million dollars a month!!!!

(even a 'small' one with only say 20000 compromised accounts can 'earn' ten grand a month or more- how many people make that kind of money???)


One VERY common 'social engineering' method used is the extremely common 'call center' refund scam- you probably have all seen them, where you get an email, (or a popup, or even a phone call) that 'your (insert company name here- Nortons, Windows Defender etc etc) subscription has expired and either 'do you want to renew it', or more commonly 'has been auto renewed' (at several hundred dollars)- with a phone number to call if you don't with to renew it'

This is the classic 'refund scam'- they will ask you to go online and fill out their 'online refund form'- which is usually a 'remote access program', there are many to choose from)- and once you have done that- congratulations- you are now the proud owner of a 'zombie-bot' computer or phone...

They have full access to your device at any time it is online from then on (the programs hide, and self start after turning on/restarting etc) obviously useful to host DDOS attacks, acting as a host for further spamming campaigns, and even as a storage host for illegal things (like kiddie porn pictures etc), and more importantly for them- can be access to any bank accounts etc you use on that device...
You will never even know its happening... its all in the background...

Compromised bank accounts can be then used for 'money laundering' their illegal money- by 'bouncing' money from account to account from these systems and their owners accounts, it can make it 'practically impossible' for law enforcement to track it- and it eventually all gets sent to the criminals 'burner' accounts after being split up, bounced through thousands of accounts in random amounts until if is collected as 'clean money' for them to use...

These are what the 'smarter' crooks do- and very successfully too- its a multi tens to hundreds of billions a year 'industry'- the dumb scammers will just clean out your account, the smart ones will use it (successfully) for months or even years...

Tiny 'nibbles' on a regular basis, rather than emptying it out...

 

[worn thumbs]

At least we now know what those paranoid enough to tape over the webcam on their laptop get up to....

There are some valuable warnings in this thread and hopefully it will encourage greater care in our collective online dealings.

 

[poshpaws]

what appears to be a targeted scam from something called Axminster.

me too , and another from one called Kelvin

 

[AES]

Which is why I don't use PayPal unless forced to.

In my case I simply NEVER use PayPal (or FB BTW). Being a Luddite is sometimes quite comfy!

 

[Fitzroy]

Just the other day I bought a pair of hinges from Andrew Crawford, his website was PayPal only so I rang him and explained why I do not use PayPal, he kindly sent me his bank details so I could do a bacs transfer and I cleared out his account

Oh that really made be laugh, didn't see the punch line coming at all!

Having received multiple of the same scam I'm always tempted to send them to each other and ask who really has the videos of me "enduring unforgettable pleasures", so that I can ensure I pay the correct person. I find with most scams I get so many of the same thing from multiple places it becomes obvious quickly. In the days of old when a 419 scam letter dropped through your front door they were a rare thing and I expect caught many more people out.

Regards emails that send you your logon details and passwords there are huge databases available for sale from the multiple data-breaches. You can check if your info is in these breaches on haveibeenpwned.com, honestly that is a real website not a scam itself.

Fitz.

 

[pidgeonpost]

Reckon I'm getting 6-8 phishing or scam emails a day that Outlook spam filters are missing. They're just a total pain in the @RSE. When I only had a handful of online accounts it wasn't hard to handle different passwords for each one. Now I think I had around 100 at the last count. A couple of years ago I got pretty sweaty about the number with common passwords I was using and took out a subscription for password management software. It's a bit of work to sett up, but worth it IMO. I also use SNOPES occasionally to check out rumours circulating online.

 

[GuitardoctorW7]

I've had that one and a few others, more concerning though was the one I received that told me what my personal information and passwords were, I didn't respond to it but it was concerning that they actually had some of my info.

Without starting a new sharpening thread , I'm a Mac user and have been for about 30+ years, (so please don't launch into a diatribe about the evils of fruit named companies).
One of the nice features of Safari their browser that I tend to use, and yes it's not perfect, is, it tells you whether any passwords you have saved for various sites have been involved in data breaches and also if you're repeating any passwords across sites. It then offers you the option to change them. It can also generate and save complex passwords that you don't need to remember as it's all accessible by their key chain app and biometrics.

Not sure if the glazed platform does the same, I'm sure it does?

Any of my really sensitive sites are usually protected by 2 factor authentication so I feel fairly well covered, no not smug, that's a trap users like myself can fall into quite easily.