I am a RICH man . I won $250,000

[CyberGuy]

So I was told today on the phone 30 minutes ago. I was told I had won a $250,000 prize and then he asked if I was an american. I said yes wondering why he would ask that. Then he asked if I was over 40. I said yes wondering why it was not over 21.

He then said I had won a 2010 Mecedez Benz and that all I had to do was to sent them $250 and the prize was mine. I then told the man I knew now this was a scam and hung up. He called back three times and I hung up again.

The call was coming from an unlisted number which made it more suspicious. Also the guy sounded evasive and spoke haltingly as if he he was unsure of what he was doing. He kept asking if I was excited. I said. Tell me more. I was waiting for the line where they would ask me for money.

Beware folks. These types of scams are getting more and more prevelant as scam artists prey on the unemployed and desparate.

A legit prize would have deducted any fees from the prize and sent you the rest of it. If they call back I will ask for their address and phone number. I just was to eager to hang up on them after they asked me for money. LOL.

[Woody]

Good one CyberGuy and thanks for the warning. WE do need to hear these warnings over and over or we will fall for them.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Kind of like "winning a car" scam, huh Redwood? (What a disappointment *that* one was....)

[Cosmin M.]

There was this joke a guy did on a telemarketer, he pretended he was a FBI agent and that he was at the house where a murder had occurred and the man the telemarketer was looking for had been killed. Then the guy harasses the telemarketer pretending to ask him of his whereabouts and if he has any connections to the victim. Search for it on YouTube I can't remember what it was called exactly.

[SivartM]

So... do you think I should ask for my $250 back?

[Liz]

I listened to that one Cosmin, it is funny!! Cyberguy, I'm glad you didn't fall for it. I wonder why you had to be over 40?

[CyberGuy]

I listened to that one Cosmin, it is funny!! Cyberguy, I'm glad you didn't fall for it. I wonder why you had to be over 40?

I wondered about that as well. Also why do I have to be an american. I have heard that a lot of scams come from Canada.

Read this

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Cross-Border...natio-m92ca.htm

[phkrause]

HEY ALL

WELL A few months back in JULY or AUGUST I got

this phone call telling me that I was being mail out

free gas vochers....well I was a little concern but

the person on the said it was because I was a good

credit called customer.... but then this person

said I had to answer some question and that all I

had to do was say yes adn I WOULD get more free offers....

I was told that if I did not want the free offers that I

could cancell then with in a certain amount of days

i just told the people to take my name and phone number

out of their computor......I GUESS I got this same offer

5 or 6 times they finally did stop calling

dgrimm60

They don't seem to be able to take a hint dgrimm.

pk

[CyberGuy]

Kind of like "winning a car" scam, huh Redwood? (What a disappointment *that* one was....)

Emails came in the past now it appears to be phone calls on this same type of Scam. This is what happened to me but I did not fall for it as I had heard of these types of scams. I found the following on the internet.

======================================================

According to this email, the lucky recipient has won, not only a brand new Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle but also a large cash prize. What's more, he or she supposedly won without even needing to buy a ticket or enter a draw because the winning email address was randomly selected via a "computerized email selection system".

However, not surprisingly, the claims in the message are entirely bogus. There is no Mercedes-Benz car prize, nor will the "winner" ever receive the promised cash.

Instead, the message is a lure designed to entice the victim into falling for a classic advance-fee scam. Those who fall for the bogus claims in the message will eventually be asked to pay up-front fees, supposedly to facilitate the release and transfer of the "winnings". The scammers will claim that the fees are necessary to cover insurance, tax, government charges or some other fictional requirement. They will insist that these fees have to be payed before the prize is released and cannot be deducted from the amount won.

Hapless victims who comply to these requests for advance fees will discover that the promised prizes are imaginary and that their money has disappeared, probably forever, into the coffers of the criminals running the scam.

Moreover, during subsequent correspondence with their victims, the scammers may request a large amount of sensitive personal information, ostensibly to allow transfer of the prize and to prove identity. If a victim complies with these requests, the scammers may eventually collect enough information to steal his or her identity.

Like many such scam messages, this one uses the name and website of a high-profile company in an attempt to add a veneer of credibility to the supposed lottery promotion. However, in spite of its claims, and the inclusion of a link to the genuine Mercedes-Benz website, this bogus lottery is in no way endorsed or condoned by Mercedes-Benz.

Scam emails can often be quickly identified by poor spelling and grammar as well as other telltale signs. If real, a promotion of this nature would be very unlikely to use a free Yahoo webmail account as a contact email address. Also, in a genuine promotion, messages would likely include direct links to further information about the promotion on the company website as well as legal information and detailed terms and conditions. The London street address used in this scam message has also been used in other scams, including one that falsely claimed to be from BMW.

Lottery scams are very common. A great many different versions of the same basic scam are operating continually and people from all over the world have fallen victim to them. Internet users should be very cautious of any email that claims that they have won money or prizes in a lottery that they have never entered. Similar scam messages are also distributed via fax and surface mail.

==========================================

and now it appears by phone as in my case.

[phkrause]

HEY ALL

I have been getting emails saying that this person

or that person and the living spouse wants to give

me millions of dollars.....I think it is funny that

they even know me or how they got my email address

any way they always want you to leave information

and call them but it is always out of the country

phone number

when will these people quit(shaking head)

dgrimm60

Well don't forget to share!

pk

[CyberGuy]

You would be amazed at how many gullible people actually bite at these scams. Thousands of dollars lost per person on some of these scams.

[CyberGuy]

CYBERGUY

WELL if these people can not get you on the

phone then they try the internet

dgrimm60

I have AT&T Uverse phone and internet. I went to my account and blocked all private phone calls from phoning my landline. They get a message that all private phone calls are blocked from this number.

If they want to call me they can unblock the private calling by dialing *82 then the phone number. That makes it so the phone call comes through on Caller ID. However criminals do not want their phone number they are calling from known.

[CyberGuy]

This is just one scam. There are many variations of the same scam out there. Also hundreds others.

The key to know a scam is this. If it seems too good to be true. It most likely is too good to be true.

Any scam demands you put money up front to get a huge reward. They play on the human greed to fall into the trap. After all Pay $125 fee for $250,000 and a mercedez Benz sounds like a deal one cannot pass up. Trouble if you pay that money you will never hear from them again. And you will not see that money or the Mercedez either.

All Scams play on the human greed for it to work. They also keep the amount you pay small so that you will not consider it worth your time and money to come after them. After all it will cost you a whole lot more than $125 to sue them for that money even if you did find out who they were. Very few would bother or could afford to sue.

[CyberGuy]

Another prevalent scam that I have seen many variations on is called the Nigerian Scam.

It is called that because it originated in Nigeria but some come from Europe as well.

This came comes in the form of an Email and says they are a government or bank employee of a bank in Nigeria and they need to get a large some of money into the USA but that they cannot do so directly. They want to use your bank account to funnel a large sum of money in and out of your bank account. You will keep say 1 percent of the transcations as a finders fee.

You pay a fee to help start up the transactions. That is the last you hear from them. Many Adventists have fallen for this. I even heard one pastor of an SDA church lost church money falling for this scam.

There are many variations of the same scam. Some even send an official looking PDF file that looks official. But it is a scam nether the less.

[Woody]

Originally Posted By: dgrimm60

CYBERGUY

WELL if these people can not get you on the

phone then they try the internet

dgrimm60

I have AT&T Uverse phone and internet. I went to my account and blocked all private phone calls from phoning my landline. They get a message that all private phone calls are blocked from this number.

If they want to call me they can unblock the private calling by dialing *82 then the phone number. That makes it so the phone call comes through on Caller ID. However criminals do not want their phone number they are calling from known.

The problem with doing this is many banks, businesses,insurance companies, government, hospitals and doctors offices are private numbers and they are not allowed to unblock them. If they need to contact you ... this can be a problem.

[CyberGuy]

The solution is simple. I give my doctors office my cell phone which is not blocking private numbers. But I can see their number anyway so they are not blocked.

As far as banks. They are not blocked I get phone calls from my banks and credit cards from time to time about deals etc. I see them on the caller ID. Same for my city government which I get calls from. I can see them. Also I get calls from political ads and I see their calls. If they are private I do not want to talk to them.

Why would government block their numbers anyway. I have not seen that they do that. If there was a problem with this they would not allow us to block them as they do. I am of the opinion if they are blocking their caller ID they have something to hide and I do not want to talk to them. I do have a couple of relatives who are private and I tell them to call us on our cell phones which will not block them.

[CyberGuy]

CYBERGUY

THE answer is delete---delete----delete

dgrimm60

Yes that is what we should all do to those types of Emails. And I do just that. Still people need to made aware of those kinds of scams.

[CyberGuy]

The following is another Scam Email sent to me. Notice how he is offering an illegal deal. If I had accepted he would ask for my bank routing number and bank account number. Then he would drain my bank account rather than make me a rich man. This scam is a modification of the Nigerian Scam. Notice also how he pleads for you not to go to the authorities. (Grin) To late. I have forward this to the FCC as is suggested on the internet. Let them sort it out. Mail came from a Penn State university Email. Most likely Fake. I have deleted the email and phone number he put here. Here is the Email. Sounds very convincing does it not. If one does not mind breaking the laws.

=================================================

Goodday,

My name is Christopher Keat, My email address is Email address here, I am a senior partner in the Technical Advisory Board of Allied Irish Bank Group (Senior Security Specialist). We are conducting a standard process investigation on behalf of "AIB Group", the International Banking conglomerate.

This investigation involves a client who shares the same surname with you and also the circumstances surrounding investments made by this client at "AIB Group", the Private Banking arm of Allied Irish Bank. The client died in testate and nominated no successor in title over the investments made with the bank. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail private and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail.

I contact you independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you. You share similar details to the late fellow; I am prepared to place you in a position to instruct the firm to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you, that is, I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 50/50.

I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit. But on the other hand, you with the same very name as the depositor's would easily pass as the beneficiary with right to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you within few working days.

I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of my proposal. You may not know this but people like myself who have made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private banking sector. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come ones in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once, I have found myself in total control of my destiny. These chances won't pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy my chance, if you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities.

There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me. I am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Lets share the blessing. If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through my email account below. If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards a conclusion.

I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the consequences, but I know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold. This is the one truth I have learned from my private banking clients. Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting soon.

Kind regards,

Christopher Keat.

Email address

Illinois phone number here

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Wow. I never get email like that.

[CyberGuy]

Several years ago in 2004 I refinanced my home. I used my Email to search for the best deal. Since then one of those banks musts have sold my email for I get a log of junk email and a lot of scams. I just delete most of them. But I do find some quite ingenious and for the uninformed very seductive to try. Anyone who does fall for it will get robbed though.

[phkrause]

Several years ago in 2004 I refinanced my home. I used my Email to search for the best deal. Since then one of those banks musts have sold my email for I get a log of junk email and a lot of scams. I just delete most of them. But I do find some quite ingenious and for the uninformed very seductive to try. Anyone who does fall for it will get robbed though.

I get a ton of those stupid emails, from all different places telling me that they want to send me money! Millions of dollars, I just delete them. And than I get emails from the FBI saying that they know that I've been receiving this garbage and I have so and so many hours or days to report it. I delete those too. Wonder if they are fake to. What a pain in the ars. LOL

pk

[GreatLakesGramma]

Of course the "FBI" emails are fake. The FBI does NOT contact people about things like that by email.