>>Scams to look out for

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mell61 said:
Possibly not the correct forum, be we've gotten 2 x missed calls and a hang up as soon as we answered from a Nigerian phone number in the past 2 days. As we have no family / friends or even enemies over there, I'm wondering if this is a missed call scam for some sort of international premium rate scam?
Anyone else getting Saturday morning calls from Nigeria at 06:50?
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could be as simple as someone calling a relative here but dialed the wrong number...... but if they do get through & ask you to key in some digits then you just hang up.

ninsaga
 
mell61 said:
Text spam

This may not be the correct thread to post this, but everytime I get a 'you've won a camera / holiday / etc' text now I just forward it onto Vodafones spam number (i assume each provider has one), at 50005.
I usually get a text back immediately saying they will investigate....
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do they ever get back to you with the result of the investigations?
 
mell61 said:
Possibly not the correct forum, be we've gotten 2 x missed calls and a hang up as soon as we answered from a Nigerian phone number in the past 2 days. As we have no family / friends or even enemies over there, I'm wondering if this is a missed call scam for some sort of international premium rate scam?
Anyone else getting Saturday morning calls from Nigeria at 06:50?
Click to expand...

Hi,

I have got several of those calls and have even got to answer on 3 occasions- the caller varied between agressive and friendly but on all occasions told me to call back straight away as they had something important to tell me. I have also received some texts from a Nigerian number - again varying in content but 3 at the weekend were all about love and the wonderful time we had etc etc. The times I answered I politely told them they had the wrong number and to stop calling - thought it had as until this weekend 6 weeks had passed without me hearing anything. I'm quite confident it is a scam but not sure what I can do about it- some of the texts freaked me out a bit so I'm temoted to change my number.
 
Do these texts all come from the same number? Depending on the model of your phine, you may be able to block the sender.
 
I think that others have posted about this type of scam already but just wanted to let you know it still seems to be active.

I advertised my car on Buy and Sell and got an email from a "guy" saying he was interested in getting some more info on the car, so after sending him pictures of the car and some detail on milage etc I got this back.
Needless to remark this was the last communication on the topic of me selling him my car.

Hello.,
Great to hear from you.,Thanks for your reply,Am much interested in purchasing the Car from you,I will also like you to send me this information below today,so that by this week the check is going to be issue and send to you as soon as possible and i want you to considered it sold to me.OK

{1} FULL NAME: ............

{2} FULL ADDRESS: ..........

{3} PHONE NUMBER : # .......

{4} LAST ASKING PRICE : IN POUND'S

To enable me to instruct my client to issue the cheque as soon as possible.
NOTE: I DONT NEED P.O BOX ADDRESS....................

[FONT=times new
roman] Am a contrator I buy use Vehicle and Motorcycle's,I based in UNITED KINGDOM and WEST AFRICAN, But currently am in Holland for a contract and i will soon be back.And morover the Amount that will be on the check / Bank Draft will be for the Amount of the {Car} and the shipping Fees too.., So that when you get the check / Bank Draft and get clear into your Account you will now send the remainingfund's though WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER to the shipping agent for the pick-up of the {Car} from your end and some Other Item's I bought too okay,So kindly get back to me with your Payment details asap okay..,that's all let me hear back from you asap,Awaiting for your swift response. Payment will be Issue to you in Pounds Bank Draft

Thanks for your co-operation.

Regards
Jason Holt
[/FONT]
 
Rosru said:
Hi,

I have got several of those calls and have even got to answer on 3 occasions- the caller varied between agressive and friendly but on all occasions told me to call back straight away as they had something important to tell me. I have also received some texts from a Nigerian number - again varying in content but 3 at the weekend were all about love and the wonderful time we had etc etc. The times I answered I politely told them they had the wrong number and to stop calling - thought it had as until this weekend 6 weeks had passed without me hearing anything. I'm quite confident it is a scam but not sure what I can do about it- some of the texts freaked me out a bit so I'm temoted to change my number.
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I've received about 10 of these calls in the past 3 weeks. Usually very early in the morning. (6.45 this morning) All from a woman saying stuff like 'I want to be your friend...' and dumbly repeating 'Ulo Ulo Ulo'. The number is a +234... number which is Nigerian. Can't figure out how she is meant to get money out of me though. The last 8 times I usually just cancelled the incoming call only to get a voicemail. Hopefully 'F off you F'n F'er' at 6.46 this morning might shut her up.
 
i had a letter during the week from la primitiva lottery agency letting me know i had won a share of so many millions and to send off my bank details and a sum of money to pay for transfer of such winnings ,another one of these scams which some people still seem to fall for this racket, just seen in paper today that some guy in england had actually sent off 300 euro,s to them and they still wanted more to close the transaction,a bank is demanding he pay£1,925 to them before releasing a prize cheque to him,and now his bank is demanding £100 from him,when will they ever learn !!!!!!!!
 
Very concerned to know how these guys got my name and knew where I lived in the US years ago!
Got a call on my MOBILE today from a guy in Carlow (059 area code) called Frank Lalor saying he got my name from a guy who knew me and gave him my name as someone who may be interested in investing in or helping develop a marketing company based in the US over here. He sent me a link to download software for an online conference at 3pm tomorrow - have serious reservations and am particularly curious to know where on earth he got my contact details! Anyone else being approached by the same method recently? From what I could dig up online its 'pyramid'. But concerned that even downloading software could corrupt my PC as they say to disable your antivirus! Hello?? Someone takes me for a royal eejit! Welcome comments... contents of email below. New member - nervous - and not sure if I've done this post right!!
"
If you go to the following link you can download the software for the Iconference at 3pm tomorrow, and i will be in touch with you by midday tomorrow with the relevant password required so as to access it.
[broken link removed]

Please read the instructions , as I mentioned it is advisable to turn off the anti virus for the download as this can corrupt the download.

You will can also access the conference via this link once the software has been installed and is active on your pc indicated by the red and blue headset which will be in your task bar.

[broken link removed]

You simply click on enter room button and type in the password

[broken link removed]
You should now enter the conference room.
If you have any questions or need help please do not hesitate to contact me "
As it happens he would give me NO information over the phone!​
 
Hi,
The firm I worked for received a call about a children's charity in the uk. The owner said if it was for a children's charity he would be happy to make a donation but told the caller to speak to me.

Some weeks later we received a wall planner in the post addressed to me (incorrectly, first name only and incorrect at that). They then rang to speak with me and I asked them was this meant to be the proof? No I was told, this is the finished product and that we now owed them €295.

I was not happy about this and did an online search for the company, Hamilton Forbes and discovered that they are related to Barrington House publishing that was shut down previously by the Trading Standards although the link between the two does appear inconclusive to me.

The problem with these kind of companies (this has happened to us before) is that they then start demanding payment. There is no fax number or email contact on their headed paper and it is impossible to get through by phone. They have so far ignored my letters to them and in fact state that they have received no response to their previous requests for payment and are threatening legal action.

As I said, this happened before and on that occassion it was Barrington House. At that time we never even did see the supposed advert in a supposed child safety book. When I demanded proof that the ad had been ordered they had no written proof but said they had taped the original phone call with my employer. I demanded a copy of this recording but never received it and they backed off with their threats.

I don't intend to pay this bunch of eijits either and I have contacted some of the other people on the wall planner and they agree with me that they feel they have been scammed.

I'll let you know how I get on but I don't think I'll be online in the prison library for non-payment.

Anyone else come across this?

Thanks. (sorry for long post!)
 
Not sure what is going on but still getting a number of calls at all hours of the day, some are coming in on definite Nigerian numbers, the rest come up 'unavailable'.... On answering either we get a silence followed by a hang-up or we get a stream of talking, none of which makes any sense....
We've also spotted a number of missed calls, which makes me think its some sort of call back a premium rate scam.
Of course I could be completely wrong and someone isn't hearing from their family, and getting us instead....
 
One scam that is especially prevalent during the Christmas shopping period occurs in the main cities and towns in Ireland. People give out flyers advertising auctions in an hour's time at a given location and give some sample prices e.g. Xbox 360s for €50, DVD-Recorders €40, etc.
When you show up, the windows of the "shop" are all covered with Christmas wrapping paper and inside is a room with a counter, behind which are all the latest electronic gadgets.
It starts off with a guy taking down one of these gadgets e.g. an PS2 and says he's selling it for €40. A woman puts up her hand, hands over the €40 and gets the PS2. This continues for a while and then the guy says that some people aren't taking part and so can everyone pay €5 to show that they're serious. Some leave and some pay and then the "auction" continues but the mark always just misses out. It switches to auctioning off of completely white boxes but whenever someone wins they open the box straight away to reveal similiarly high priced items. It all ends with one final offer - 30 completely white boxes for €40 each and so all the marks are able to get in on this offer. The guy asks everyone to agree that they're happy to pay the €40 for whatever electronic gadget is inside the box, which everyone does. The guy in charge tells everybody to leave and to open their boxes outside. Once outside you open the box and find an amstrad clock radio worth no more than €10 and then you realise that all the people who got the high priced gadgets were in on the scam.
 
Hi Joe,

This scam was covered in the BBC3 show The Real Hussle. Its a con. Its called the [broken link removed].
3. The Jam auction
The con: Jam Auctions involve “jamming” a big crowd into a shop which has been taken over for a few days by the gang. "Lucky" customers are then persuaded to part with their money for apparently cheap-as-chips electronic items.

How it works: The shop is filled to the rafters with gadgets and gizmos which are offered at a bargain price to anyone willing to pay cash for a “mystery bag” – which the hustlers say will contain a selection of products worth many times the value of the cash handed over.

As soon as the victim parts with their cash they are bundled out of the shop and left to discover the harsh facts: they’ve just bought a pile of worthless rubbish – sometimes just stones in a box.
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I would contact the Guards immediately if I came across this.


aj
 
This happened to me on Moore Street in about 1980. There was some kind of cheap ornamental rose in the box. It probably cost me a fiver but that was a lot of money back then!
 
Is that actually illegal? If somebody offers to sell something on a "mystery" basis and somebody is willing to take the chance and pay for it then do they actually have any comeback when what they purchased turns out to be worth less than the price paid? I wouldn't have thought so...
 
I got caught out in London with that auction scam back in 1994...
I was young and foolish... luckily only lost £13 though....
 
ClubMan said:
Is that actually illegal? If somebody offers to sell something on a "mystery" basis and somebody is willing to take the chance and pay for it then do they actually have any comeback when what they purchased turns out to be worth less than the price paid? I wouldn't have thought so...
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It might not be illegal. I remember buying Lucky Bags in the shop when I was a kid. Never knew what was going to be in them.
 
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