HAMEMERGENCY

[WX2C]

In this mornings e-mail 7/29/04, #I recieved notification , seemingly from HAMEMERGENCY,that I am #the #winner of a $1,500,000 #lottery. # Its meant to appear as tho #sponsored by HAMEMERGENCY. #I investigated this matter further thru FRAUDWATCHINTERNATIONAL. #
The #following is their reply:

Subj: RE: GOLDEN TRUST AGENCY #
Date: 7/29/2004 1:42:46 PM Eastern Standard Time
To: wx2c@aol.com

Unfortunately, this email is a fraudulent lottery scam. This is a known scam that is currently circulating via both email and physical mail. Whilst the company names may change, the method of the fraudsters remain the same.

The fraudsters will ask for personally identifiable information that could be used in an Identity Theft scheme. They will also ask for payment of taxes, legal fees or other fees for payment before the money can be released, which it never will.

Fraudsters have many ways of scanning the Internet, and people's address books for email addresses, and it is unfortunate they have gained your email address in this way, and used it for the purpose of trying to defraud you.

I would recommend you do not have any communication with this company, and certainly do not disclose any personal or financial account information.

You can forward this and other fraudulent emails to our scams@fraudwatchinternational.com email address where our Investigative Team will work to shut down this scam and the fraudster's means of communication.

Kindest Regards,
Administration & Investigations Team
FraudWatch International
http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com

It is my understanding from this that #HAMEMERGENCY mailing list was abused by these fraudsters, and that HAMEMERGENCY is in no way implicated. #

I have found FRAUDWATCH INTERNATIONAL to be a valuable resource

Included below is a copy of notification of #winners #sent

Subj: [hamemergency] CONGRATULATIONS! You've won
Date: 7/29/2004 9:106 AM Eastern Standard Time


Sent from the Internet (Details)



GRAND PROMO LOTTERY
AN AFFILIATE OF INTERNATIONAL LOTTO COMMISSION
RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION.

Sir/Madam,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners International programs held on the 7th of july, 2004. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 80511765786-827 with serial number 454674-09 drew lucky numbers 9-14-79-43-81-72 which consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of 1,500,000.00 US Dollars. (One Million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars) CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money Remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 100,000 company and 500,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world.This promotional program takes place every three year. We hope with part of your winning you will take part in our end of year Five million Euros International lottery.

To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial agent Mr. TORINO ENRIQUE
of the GOLDEN TRUST AGENCY (Monday - Friday, B/W 90-180 G.M.T) Email:
golden.trust.agent@winning.com

Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 21st of August, 2004.


After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake. Note that in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Mina Deman
Lottery Coordinator.








Welcome Amateur Radio Operators who wish to be involved in emergency communication services on a world wide basis. All services are offered benevolently. < We appreciate your HELP! >
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
# http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hamemergency/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
# hamemergency-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
# http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[K0RFD]

You have a much greater chance of being hit by lightning than winning $1.5 million in a lottery, let alone one you apparently didn't even enter.

And the fact that this is a scam surprises you?

[KA3RFE]

So what else is new? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[kd5giv]

Well it sounds like you need to go collect the money in person. Take a baseball bat and if they don't pay, simply break their knee caps. Maybe they will think a little more clearly next time they scam somebody.

[kj5t]

Hamemergency needs better ways to keep spammers out..

[WX2C]

TY Steve for having the insght to recognize the article was about how I was surprised HAMEMERGENCY would be used / misused in such a manner and not about be believing or being disappointed about the money. I was marrried far too long to fall for false promises! hihi/

[WX2C]

TY #Steve for having the insight to recognize the article was about how I was surprised #HAMEMERGENCY would be used / misused in such a manner and not #about #me #believing or being disappointed about the money. # #I was #marrried far too long to fall for false promises! #hihi
I contacted VE2AUU #immediated and he #apologized sincerely for this piece of #SPAM #slipping thru even tho #they have #checks and measures to avoid it. # #i was #quite pleased w/ the #sincere response I recieved.
tnx agn #WX2C # RAY # 73

[NX5W]

WELL IF YOU DON'T WANT THAT KIND OF MONEY, I'LL TAKE IT!

I'LL START WITH 3 OF THOSE ICOM 7800'S!

[WS2L]

Thanks for the heads up on this matter, unfortunately many people are taken in by these scams.

[w4fjf]

SCAMMERS ABOUND BY THE THOUSANDS. IF IT'S SOME POOR WIDOW FROM SOME AFRICAN PESTHOLE TRYING TO RECOVER HER LATE HUSBAND'S FORTUNE FROM SOME GOVERNMENT THUGS TO SOME FAKE HAM RADIO GIVEAWAY, THEY ARE ALL OUT TO RIP YOU OFF. IF YOU STOP TRYING TO GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, YOU PRETTY MUCH BECOME IMMUNE TO THIS BRAND OF I-NET CRAP. REMEMBER, THE OLD CLICHE "THE THING YOU GET IS ONLY WORTH WHAT YOU PAY FOR IT" IS VERY TRUE. I REMEMBER THE "FREE LUNCH" SIGN AT THE LOCAL WATERING HOLE. THE LUNCH WASN'T FREE WHEN YOU CONSIDERED HOW MUCH EXTRA YOU HAD TO PAY FOR THE BEER TO WASH IT DOWN WITH. I USUALLY SEND A VERY NASTY REPLY TO THESE SCAMMERS, THEY VERY SELDOM REPLY BACK, BUT IT SOMETIMES FEELS GOOD TO DO IT! #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[n4vox]

I USUALLY SEND A VERY NASTY REPLY TO THESE SCAMMERS

These people could care less about what you call them. But what you do when you send your nasty reply is confirm that yours is a good valid email address and will put on more scam lists. I never reply in any way. Gill

[kf4vgx]

$1,500,000 , that's about the same price I'm selling my pink elephant for . http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[G0GQK]

Surely you didn't believe you had won so much money after someone sent you a printed letter in the mail !
They send these letters out by the million !

[N3ZKP]

<< unfortunately many people are taken in by these scams >>

Then, in my opinion, they are stupid and deserve to be ripped off.

[W8BAJ]

The scam you mentioned is but one of hundreds (if not thounsands) of ways that jerks try to steal your hard earned money. I do not have the time or space to print all of the out-right scams I've recieved. I used to get dozends upon dozands of those type of scams while I sold used pinball parts, baseball/football cards, and misc junk online. The fastest way to get rid of them is to delete ANY email you do not recognize BEFORE you open them up. Set up your spam blockers to block any scam you accidently open up. Third, (AND THE MOST FUN) is to have these guys direct ANY monies, IN POSTAL MONEY ORDER FORMAT ONLY, to you with a 180 day hold on ANY monies sent. AND advise them that all monies recieved will be donated to the the presidental election fund in THEIR name, after the M.O. clears!! You will be suprised how fast your name comes off of THEIR lists when you turn the tables on them!!! I've done it before and it does work. And if THEY are stupid enough to send you any money, It's their fault! Believe me, its fun to see how fast these guys leave you alone.
Bruce
W8BAJ

[k0ru]

hi hi, WX2C - Ray

Thanks for the Ex-Xyl chuckle, it felt great.

Ditto on everything else about this spam...

Nothing EVER comes Cheap, Easy or Free.

73 - W8YRB - Rob

If you don't know the sender, delete it.
If *anything* seems fishy, delete it.
If it has an attachment, delete it.
If you do know the sender and it has an attachment, delete it.
Use text (not html) email.
Assume all email is harmful and/or junk.
Keep your virus scanner updated at least weekly.
Use a firewall if you connect to the internet at all.
Keep your operating system up to date (esp Windows).

[VE3EMP]

These scams have been around for a long time. If you want to see an interesting take on it check out 419eater.com (http://www.419eater.com)
You can see how some people are baiting the scammers and having fun with it.
Jay

[wb6vpm]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (jeffv @ July 31 2004,19:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">If you don't know the sender, delete it.
If *anything* seems fishy, delete it.
If it has an attachment, delete it.
If you do know the sender and it has an attachment, delete it.
Use text (not html) email.
Assume all email is harmful and/or junk.
Keep your virus scanner updated at least weekly.
Use a firewall if you connect to the internet at all.
Keep your operating system up to date (esp Windows).[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Some of this makes sense, (such as anything fishy, keep virus defs & windows updated) but the others, are sometimes hard to (or in my case) imposible to do. I have people sending me attachments all the time (pictures, html code, etc) as I maintain various web sites. They are not always from the same people that i normally do business with (such as the secratary sending it to me instead of the IT director, etc. sometimes they have the files at home, so they send them from that email account. So how (and in reality, unfortunatly) how could I follow the other rules. I send most of my invoices by email, and I require html to be able to send it. (Yes it could be done in plain text, but would require a complete revamping of the software that I use to do my billing). for some people, you can follow all of the rules specified below, but for many of us, esp those of us that use our email addresses for work, that is not possible, or at the very least, not practical.

Please forgive my spelling, I am very tired, and I also usually use a spell checker before I send anything #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[WS2L]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (VE3EMP @ July 31 2004,16:43)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">These scams have been around for a long time. If you want to see an interesting take on it check out 419eater.com (http://www.419eater.com)
You can see how some people are baiting the scammers and having fun with it.
Jay[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I first learned about the 419eater.com site a few months ago and it's entertaining at the least. There are stories in there about how people tagged these scammers along for a while making them do ridiculous things and join fake organizations. I used to get these emails all the time on the email address attached to my websites but never read past the first few sentences. The website is however a good source of information about how these scams work and if your so inclined it gives advice on how to lead them on into thinking you will actually cooperate with them.

[n4cqr]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ka2hlw @ July 31 2004,07:16)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I AM A FORMER YANKEE. GLAD TO BE AN ULTRA CONSERVATIVE ADOPTED SOUTHERN REDNECK LIVING IN THE HEART OF DIXIE. #DON'T EXPECT THE USUAL QSO ! I CAN'T EXCHANGE CALLS, SIGNAL REPORTS, AND WHAT RIG YOUR USING AT THE MOMENT. BE PREPARED TO TALK A WHILE ![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

We think a lot alike..

Craig N4CQR

[WD8OQX]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (VE3EMP @ July 31 2004,20:43)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">These scams have been around for a long time. If you want to see an interesting take on it check out 419eater.com (http://www.419eater.com)
You can see how some people are baiting the scammers and having fun with it.
Jay[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Read a little of the site - it is interesting (if you have time to read)

Have to wonder though, what if this "backfires in you face"? What would be the legalities of it? Would you be just a guilty? #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[AB8RU]

Does not surprise me as to how thieves are doing to steal your idenity, etc.. I have invested in pratically every thing from Sam Filters, Firewalls, virus scanners, etc.. Just recently I was at this site Pc Checker web site Audit My PC (http://www.auditmypc.com)
this tells you about your computer ISP ports etc..

I also found Jokes contain Viruses, so also recents I changed my email addresses last place I went to change is my call at Yahoo.com

for spam bots try this

aha@frptgb.com <--- Spam Bot food



aha@frptgb.com see if this works!

[K8ERV]

I am cheap, easy, and free !!

I have also been looking for a pink elephant. Can you come down a bit on the price?

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[n7lv]

In my experience it's become very easy to differentiate between spam and legit e-mails, just by seeing the sender and the subject. #These are ones that stand out to me as spam, because I don't know the sender and the subject is not consistent with real messages I receive:

Sender # # # # # # # # #Subj
admin@admin.org # Staff Bulletin
Octavio Underwood #Interesting...
Kerry Underwood # # Dafodil Monument
Rosa Rose # # # # # # #re; Ti*me to re^order
(anything with junk characters, random characters or words is guaranteed spam)

Good ones are:

Mike Givens # # # # # #Domain Name Change
Dave Green # # # # # # Unidentified Files
Lane Cothee # # # # # PCM coordinator

Sure, these good ones don't mean anything to you, but the ring bells in my mind as legit business, familiar names, or recent topics I'm in on. #The top ones are ... who the heck is Octavio? #Dafodil? #Sorry ... deleted!

The more e-mails you get, the better you should get at quickly identifying the junk. #Also, Outlook Express lets you view the contents of e-mail without opening the msg. #(Right-click, properties). #View before opening. #And I also keep my MS Explorer security settings set to max: turn off Java, ActiveX, etc, so web pages can't load and run scripts in your e-mail. #Use Tools/ Options/ Security/ Trusted Sites to identify sites that you're okay with letting Javascripts run.

[N8CPA]

Responding in any way to spam invites more spam. Sure, it feels nice to vent your fury on the purveyors of scumware. But all they do is add your email address to a list of good ones and send you more spam. The only way to deal with it is to delete it and block the address whence it came.

[kc8vjd]

It's good that you were able to catch this before they caught you.

There is one just as bad. That one always mentions an an oil company in Nigeria. Scotland Yards calls it the West African 419 scam.

Nevertheless, good work in spotting that and letting us know about it.

73's
Herman

Thanks for taking the time on this and post it here for us to read.

Jim Knivel W8WAO