Question re:origin of email

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Wannabe Baiter Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 83

Hi
The latest scam email I got (yesterday) was the typical man dying of cancer and wants to distribute his millions, yadda, yadda. But what interested me was that the originating address was z*chary br*[email protected]. I tracked the IP address (64.66.67.77) and it said it had come from Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Would this be something that could be reported to law enforcement here in the US and actually/possibly get some sort of result? Result, of course, meaning to catch a scammer.

Thank you so much.....Dina

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:22 pm

Hello Dina and welcome here.
There's not much you can do with it.
You could try and sent the whole email + header to

Quote:

Domain Name: ARKANSASBAPTIST.EDU

Registrant:
ARKANSAS BAPTIST COLLEGE
1621 Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
Little Rock, AR 72202
UNITED STATES

Administrative Contact:
Fitz Hill
President
ARKANSAS BAPTIST COLLEGE
1621 Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
Little Rock, AR 72202
UNITED STATES
(501) 370-4000
[email protected]

Technical Contact:
Ken Harris, Jr.
Chief Information Officer
Arkansas Baptist College
1621 Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
Little Rock, AR 72202
UNITED STATES
(501) 370-4000
[email protected]

Ken Harris would be the person there that might be interested to do something. Use a fake safe email addy as he might be the lad himself ! You never know Wink

Have Fun, bait SAFE

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:52 pm

Hi Dina, it is not that uncommon that a scammer uses a college/school email account to 'throw' some of the initial scam formats. Usually it is a hacked student/employee account and they don't even know about it and have nothing to do with the scam.

If you look at the email/headers, you will usually find that the 'reply-to' address is totally different and the 'sending' email address is not the same. Doing a search for '.edu' (not in quotes) just in our Surplus forum will show this to be true, like this one here: http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196841&highlight=edu

Like bill2 said, the best thing to do is to forward the whole email and headers to the IT department of the school. They are usually very happy to know and will deal with it appropriately.

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 83

Ahh....thanks so much for the suggestions. I didn't even think of sending it to the school. This person DID have a totally different e-mail address (@yahoo.com) that I was to use in order to contact him. AND....I could not understand why he'd be so stupid to use his real name and college e-mail address. I know how stupid they can be.....but that would be beyond stupid.

I didn't even think of the hacking issue. I am not at all computer-savvy....and in fact, I will have to have my son make me a gmail acct. on the 31st when he visits so I can forward the emails and headers to the college from it.

So if they are, let's say, in Africa.....they could hijack an innocent student's email acct. at a US college and even the IP address would show the real college location rather than the IP they were sending from? That's way beyond my comprehension of what one can do on the internet/e-mail. I know it's possible to hide your IP address....but you can actually be in one location and have it show up as sending it from an altogether different location?

And gmail is a good acct to use as a bogus/catcher acct, right?

And thank you so much. I will definitely forward the email and the headers to the college on the 31st. Thank you SO much for all your help.

Dina

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:46 pm

I believe they are actually using the school's server and not so much the hacked account itself. And that is why it would show the IP back to the school. And 'hacked' might not be the correct word -- the account could have just been compromised by a phishing attempt or another method.

If you would like, you can send the header/email to me via PM, removing your identifying information from the header (your email addy), and I can forward it on to the school.

Gmail is very good to use for baiting/catching and pretty easy to set up. You might be able to do it all by yourself -- just try and see. Go to gmail.com and sign up with completely fake information and you will be all set! Good luck! Very Happy

Oh, have you signed up for a baiting mentor? They are free and very helpful! http://forum.419eater.com/forum/cherrie_mentor_program.php

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 83

Dora~
What address would I forward the email and headers to (to get to you)? Is there some sort of administrative email?

I went and took a look at the college's website....which looked legitimate to me but what do I know? Very Happy

And in their video on the site....nobody had any sort of foreign accent whatsoever.

Funny you mention the baiting. I have been reading here for several years and was reluctant to try it because I have always been such a non-assertive, push-over, easily guilt-ridden type of person who always feels sorry for everyone and wants everyone to like me....and was afraid I would be no good at it, due to that. Luckily, I've not fallen for any scams thanks to this website and you guys.....because personality-wise, I might have been a classic victim had I not been reading here for so long.
But lately, I've been thinking I might be able to handle it and was thinking of having my son set up a catcher acct. for me.

I would also have to register on some dating sites....as I have never done that.

And speaking of that.....for any older women like me here...I attend a division of the state university here for people over 50....and it's just learning for the love of learning....no tests or grades or anything like that. It's extremely popular....and believe me, PLENTY of men. Yes, older, mostly retired men but very intelligent, etc.....who would likely never ask for money, just for starters. And as far as I know, most if not all of the state universities have an extension like this one that we have here. You get to learn all sorts of things (ie: I took Greek history, Roman history, opera, etc.) and meet lots of nice men....how can you lose? And the cost is quite reasonable.....a heck of a lot less than what women have sent to these romance scammers. I'm having a great time attending. It's a great option for us senior women.

Dina

Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:04 pm

Dina, if you want to send a private message to me (or anyone on the forum), you can just select the PM button at the bottom of their post. It will then send a message to just that person.

(click to enlarge)

To check to see if you have any private messages (PMs), look at the very top of the forum and look at Messages.

(click to enlarge)

If it is showing Messages (New), then you know you have a PM waiting for you.

(click to enlarge)

I am glad to hear that Eater has helped you. And if you feel like you want to try your hand at baiting, as long as you are doing it safely (and from reading Eater, I am sure you know how), you can try it and always stop if you don't like it. Very Happy

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:21 am

Quote:

I went and took a look at the college's website....which looked legitimate to me but what do I know? Very Happy And in their video on the site....nobody had any sort of foreign accent whatsoever.

The website is real, a student there is just using a computer to email his scam proposals out. Or someone is using a student account to do the same, hard to say from here.
This guy (see below) could figure it out with your email and header.
And make sure it doesn't happen again.

Quote:

Technical Contact:
Ken Harris, Jr.
Chief Information Officer
Arkansas Baptist College
1621 Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
Little Rock, AR 72202
UNITED STATES
(501) 370-4000
[email protected]

I got this by entering the IP# in this page http://centralops.net/co/DomainDossier.aspx and clicking domain whois record and then GO.
It shows some basic info about the website at that IP# and who to contact if..... and I guess you have a legit IF Laughing

Have fun

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 83

Dora~

Would I copy and paste the email and headers to you? I couldn't forward them to a PM, right? I'm quite an idiot when it comes to computers, sorry about that. My son works for Apple and I sort of relied on him to do everything for me computer-wise and he recently moved into an apartment (had lived here prior to that) with his girlfriend...and now I need to learn how to do these things myself.
I still have no clue how to do IM.

bill~
I do know how to forward an email. Do either of you think that I should forward the email to the technical contact (Ken Harris) from the college website? And it would be safe to use my yahoo email address as long as I'm forwarding to a person (and their email address) listed on the legitimate site?
Do you think that should be safe?

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I feel kinda dumb but I'd never gotten a spam with an actual legitimate email address as the origin. And I had no idea of and didn't even think of the probability that the scammer was in another country and had somehow managed to falsely use that address.

Dina Embarassed

Added:
bill~
When I did what you instructed, the administrative contact was shown as having a hotmail email address and not a college (kansabaptist.edu) address. Would that be expected or is there anything odd about that? The technical contact (that Ken guy) does have a college email address but not the administrative contact guy. I'm a little thrown about the president of the college having a hotmail address.....or would this only be odd if the president showed a hotmail address on the actual college site?

Dora~
I PM'd you both the letter and the headers (both copied and pasted)

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:50 pm

Dina -- I got your PM and sent the email and headers to the college. Very Happy

Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 2:06 pm

Quote:

Do you think that should be safe?

If not, I should not have told you.

Quote:

Use a fake safe email addy as he might be the lad himself !

A Yahoo addy isn't really safe, as it still sends your IP# to the receiver, but I don't think there's any risk here.
I have a special addy for reporting fake sites and I would have used that in this case. I only use my real name online to known and trusted people.

Cya

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 83

Thanks so much, Dora.
I'm curious if you'll get a response. Very Happy

And thanks so much also, bill. Yes, my real name does show up when I send my emails, though it's not specifically in my email address. I am going to get my son to make me a gmail account in a few days. Then I can get a mentor and dip my toe in and see if I have what it takes to bait. Rolling Eyes

Dina

Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 2:39 pm

Quote:

Use a fake safe email addy as he might be the lad himself ! You never know. Shocked

Right,don´t trust unidentified sources.

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