What's the angle?

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:22 am

I got this in my catcher account today:

Quote:

From Vanina Frank Fri Feb 18 03:26:18 2011
X-Apparently-To: xxxxxxxxxx via xxxxxxxxxx; Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:26:19 -0800
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
X-YahooFilteredBulk: 98.139.91.242
Received-SPF: none (mta1088.mail.sp2.yahoo.com: domain of [email protected] does not designate permitted sender hosts)
X-YMailISG: B..n.a4cZAqqlTqvXmqFDYOQAbJ7ndopDPh64JbfZwCPehES
Qi.C0rqnfMqwhi3BcoBliJZ1nbmeE
MFaT_bTVJN0k9P.EwD_g5s7rPjcZLXY
IAXOHCYsfWExCDuqqd4vTvK
faq0fQX3zdq3Tk1pkX2biwquQrqimTm1Fmclw
_U3X2i2g.EMPgqNHXVSocjPp
CsaLfzoH2_t9mrdHG2zyijF3IUkS0pDaQ8uN
VzHTLaC31pNFz8Azg_sMnuId4zeYZ9hV6Y6lHZN
DPQ4Lgzamqq.LsolQoHOy
qEl1yht_EJqTIYm.40kxb5C9HojUekkPJw6losWPuRLUHMRrUnLZsRTQmcWg
PSCx18r9cGi2kVRriVydxzNq7Ee9DggQvLSPg
rboMJgi9NF.RLdme7jgVWSz
qdLlBNnpqlDBWdpmfJnzODUkHVtJ.YrIfflybNrkEUAf7lDDpETd3mT3Nict
JcQr0fh7NhzYwIqpFu_iQNPAMpwCbqRDjoM
62S9f3YyXywduRguD7lHRilUs
UKD67o7P0L6l8oQO245YO0dTp3hV4M7R19CpFa6PceRcQR8qjftyMPV8RVdu
kXJJUl3W9UjfeOgSDQLg817i_u_FCfDuCP
vQCIpF.ViiZR64E3Vkhc0SZRCM
LAJde0HEdGLtOqI49iMqzyHfDSh5xtosoxy5
LCmweXoKXyC2vYfsW12nKE.G
.54SwHN.Ev6VMy3cvFBBKWoVAQt_3OeYK3LaLzyO4nlGYiDuh3CI1AFw7dx4
hQX8e8UeA4svmQK1MySxJ6N28Gz2ObkjFVJgbE.tB4EgmhnLSLV74UEQgU5d
WqHCYoIpbidnKljaWhSN.WvEBRMl8GUEfLGfBW1InZgKJvtHyDn4wlV1GE84
8uBoENABOlUpEXOOnlrq9COHtavbEZ231fJl3ho_LpTEWWi8JVmHWo2UH8kh
1b4V43Yal137lBkOW639iDeG1w_uKBhHZMzQyLYJzrh1_9_DlQoJzauoEh5.
rGQPtTtOa_.WU2D2U9lrI1
2X5DWLCMwDc5i72YYYodJd25JqPcRgM43MKQ4a
QrTnFAP92TG.wibrUoaDqhlUWqn8tgE6P61M9IdSSE3IcZZ7Xi9YtY_VZfty
2VjO7c9blPDUrR53qB00EP_FCRzLDZY296C_uyYbJ17MDmWH9b3CQ4sgYW.I
irLSJ9x4KBzCPh4O79ObKL.n89IQdE7EEgEXsP_YPuetnnuTkkPHrG7WKAFL
lal4SUKjQdUELk8hoOAAzKL0U6UrKh1AXIg19oG9UsLkW5IpU0mQs2O_MbqC
bzFqLjxBeTYYj2t6SXRjwGIWZP4MgFZM.S3Ju_Gu
OmZC4JHCihxIWUq.Ie8e
pWXvGHSFApV98gfRY1PGI6LgKDK7sqotjGDRxTO.cv63tZpDjisFLnu82sqj
vqyc2x9_
X-Originating-IP: [98.139.91.242]
Authentication-Results: mta1088.mail.sp2.yahoo.com from=yahoo.com; domainkeys=pass (ok); from=yahoo.com; dkim=pass (ok)
Received: from 127.0.0.1 (HELO nm12-vm0.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com) (98.139.91.242)
by mta1088.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with SMTP; Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:26:19 -0800
Received: from [98.139.91.69] by nm12.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Feb 2011 03:26:19 -0000
Received: from [98.139.91.33] by tm9.bullet.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Feb 2011 03:26:18 -0000
Received: from [127.0.0.1] by omp1033.mail.sp2.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Feb 2011 03:26:18 -0000
X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-3
X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: [email protected]
Received: (qmail 85676 invoked by uid 60001); 18 Feb 2011 03:26:18 -0000
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=yahoo.com; s=s1024; t=1297999578; bh=418kQma66Hzmoo/UFxaRp+Kjd1vU4wLHtDlkr8GiU
h0=; h=Message-ID:X-YMail-OSG:Received:X-Mailer:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type; b=e9xaI/X83ig0ysxQR55w7THfxTkc/OCPxZBXfofKkPOceTzHpgUN3uM753aq3iP4asBLmT
41kXBrc8w5O2CTBtM2o6Yp06aGPxaSN2saXKN+ZqFLw
mRPduJs23gbp+IwbSpzMklvyWfwNZEMQRJ1hwlP8yU9Q0LbC/vp6fwHaRw=
DomainKey-Signature:a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws;
s=s1024; d=yahoo.com;
h=Message-ID:X-YMail-OSG:Received:X-Mailer:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type;
b=MuQc+BnQzm9Tk/XYnHfoWlNq82RZ0y0Pizk27SzDa
mDfMyL/rBYvI4dlm6naAs/G6O2+7Mu5W5zcjTe5tnp/
g77nadqjKeSIaA4XrQIqeMz9Zb5Za5ynYFJYb+jK81byGOWO/IwcQnWDyXwthY1MPzYe1my1mzllsGU6N+vy6Lo=;
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
X-YMail-OSG: cdvrn3UVM1l3B9sxU.pI70Dtf_1S3NSy7_NOY6tynCsPEyC
1jpGZpmbqKxFk4fw9DGmM2YqzTD4wan.X
eCll.8AzGdkdHPmYHGszFYzCJNj
frz0iwt4Da4OKWx2MZ719Gv.EwyseCJ4Z8TWAupMIEfMuskLGs_Hc_18FAXG
EiPWV1j4AV6YtmOvYkw2hkje6nApPu5
nSxGrEtpwePaFmvboFfYY0Hs5rnD8
bAKok4WE6fqWfXeRSaAMzP75z.nhSCS_JIw.
in1crC10pXx.4jQkTbQ7IW3C
Y2KPKdZjH0Cd3tQ1MD4uTZEr9VVSnG.Gv
YqnU9_BLEEN0rGdp_wOHzUhQMIp
AfJleT6OYWMWi0WtwlICafPisWZfWSowUqWIaKgwDNzKXyLX8BXpCeRytMMn
TrA1sfaLwmhQc0gGOjbhcE9Uf1Y4gC_U02
cDHB2EMPvp6EkSWXHi0jZN1_9m
Yy_5SkanIwKBL5jh6i9rEkej5yNaXRhSsPseuv1nAm4nzV7kqI6mSHPECE4E
N7w--
Received: from [196.207.200.182] by web44706.mail.sp1.yahoo.com via HTTP; Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:26:18 PST
X-Mailer: YahooMailClassic/11.4.20 YahooMailWebService/0.8.109.292656
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 19:26:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Vanina Frank <[email protected]>
Subject: SPECIAL INVITATION
To: [email protected]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0-1599957099-1297999578=:85467"
Content-Length: 10658

Hi Friend ,
My name is Vanina Frank female, working with (WORLD YOUTH ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN WELFARE) California, U.S.A. We are organizing a global International combined conferences on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Child Abuse/Labor taking place in California in the United States and later in Africa (Senegal), 2011. In our request to invite people from various countries around the world, I went in search of e-mails on the web site as a means of contacting interested delegats and Organizations. As a result, I picked your e-mail from website. If you are interested to participate and want to represent your country, you may contact the Secretariat of the Organizing Committee for details and information. You may inform them that you were invited to participate by a friend of yours (Vanina Frank), who is a member of the American Youths for Peace and a staff of (WORLD YOUTH ORGANIZATION FOR HUMAN WELFARE). I believe that we may have the opportunity to meet if you may be willing to participate in this most esteemed event. You can also inform Youths Organizations & NGOs in your country about these International Conferences. The benevolent donors of the Organizing Committee will provide round trip air tickets, accommodation and feeding for the period of participants stay in the U.S, to all registered participants. If you are a holder of a passport that may require a visa to enter the United States of America, you may inform the Conference Secretariat at the time of registration, as the Organizing Committee is responsible for all visa arrangements and travel assistances.Below is the contact address of the Conference Secretariat:
Email:[email protected]
World Youth Organization For Human Welfare Secretariat,
21St Avenue, Stockton 11958
California,
United States,
FAX+1801421-367
Sincerely,
Vanina Frank.

Obviously it's a scam (for one, it was sent to an address that has only ever been used to seed guestbooks, and for another it traces to Senegal), but I was just wondering what the angle is. How does a request to attend a UN conference translate into a money request? Are you expected to send them money for hotel rooms or conference fees or something like that?

Edited (hopefully) to comply with N N N's request

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:28 am

This is a classic dual location fake conference scam. They will have a a fake hotel and or travel company make your travel arrangements and take your money. Via WU of course.

Bait'em and see if they cough up a fake hotel.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:49 am

The address and fax number listed are both fake (missing a house number and a digit from the phone number, also the zip code is dead wrong: all zip codes in California start with a 9, the ones starting with a 1 are somewhere on the East Coast). Besides area code 801 is in Utah, not California, and the way the address is written is not the way a US-based person would write it.

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 4747

have you submitted it to scamwarners yet?

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 689

Hi Giml, can you break up a couple of those long code lines please?

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:56 am

Thanks for the explanation Woody, that makes sense.

I haven't submitted it to scamwarners yet but I will right away. Despite the errors pointed out by Ezio it's relatively well written and could probably fool people.

Edited: Sorry, N N N, I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but I'll be happy to do it if you explain.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:29 am

I've worked at many conferences, and after reading the message more carefully, a few things stick in my mind:

1) Addressing someone you expect to participate at a UN-sponsored international conference as "Hi Friend"?
2) Anybody issuing invitations to a conference is going to know the exact date well in advance, and the invitations usually mention the specific venue where it's going to be held (as that also has to be arranged well in advance).
3) Participate as a speaker, or just attend? In the former case, a real organizer would be asking for the subject of the proposed presentation. No distinction is made, nor any mention of the possibility of speaking.
4) "I picked your e-mail from website" - not the right sort of language for a conference organizer.
5) A conference being held in two different places, on two different continents? For all purposes, these would be considered and treated as two different conferences.
6) "My name is Vanina Frank, female" - again, doesn't sound anywhere near professional enough.

Consider these something like ways to tell that it's a scam.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:40 am

I already knew it was a scam, Ezio, I said that in my original post. I was just trying to figure out how they planned to get money from it. That being said, it looks a heck of a lot better than the other crap that finds its way into my catcher account, so I'm sure it would be able to fool people.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:19 pm

I'm not denying that you knew it was a scam.
What I was trying to do is put together a list of ways that a potential victim could recognize it as one. (or recognize similar scams in the future)

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:32 pm

I think N N N meant:

You should take the long codes in the headers and break them up into small lines as below:
( I just did a random cut n paste and put hard breaks
where I wanted to divide the long lines up)

DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256;
c=relaxed/relaxed;
d=yahoo.com; s=s1024; t=1297999578;
bh=418k
Qma66Hzmoo/UFxaRp+Kjd1vU4w
LHtDlkr8GiUh0=; h=Message-ID:X-
YMail-OSG:Received:X-Mailer:Date:
From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:
Content-Type;
b=e9xaI/X83ig0ysxQR55w
7THfxTkc/OCPxZBX
fofKkPOceTzHpgUN3uM
753aq3iP4asBLmT
41kXBrc8w5O2CTBtM2o6Yp06aGPxa
SN2saXKN+ZqFLwmRPduJs23gbp+
IwbSpzMklvyWfwNZEMQRJ1hwlP8y
U9Q0LbC/vp6fwHaRw=

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:55 pm

I got that email in my catcher as well. Shocked

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:17 pm

Ezio: That seems like a really good idea, and I noticed on scamwarners that in their "Introduction to Scams" section there is nothing there on conference scams and how to recognize them. Maybe you should think about using your knowledge of how conferences are actually organized to write a guide for potential victims there? I'm sure it would be helpful to people, especially considering that (at least in my opinion) these types of letters are not only better written than other lad e-mails, they're also less obviously a scam (since there's no money mentioned up front).

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:37 pm

Sure, I could try that, but it will have to wait some days because of work and training pressures.

I signed up on Scamwarners but have actually visited the site only once.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:38 pm

I've seen 2 or 3 like this before and always like this one from Senegal.

The Senegal scammers seem to only run 2 kinds of scams,those being conference scams like this one and the jobs in hotels scam,normally at hotels in the UK or Canada for some reason.

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:55 pm

Gimli Have you been able to sign up for a mentor yet?

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/cherrie_mentor_program.php

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:32 pm

Morgain: Yes, I have a mentor, but I decided to post this question here to get a few different opinions on it, and because I don't necessarily want to pester Sunshine with every little question.

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:24 am

^^^ Gotcha. Just wanted to make sure. I thought mentors were to be pestered!!! Laughing