Am I being scammed

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.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Hi all,

Love the site and have been reading it for a while.

Got this email today and would be interested if you could let me now if I am being set up for a scam.

I have not shown any email addresses or website addresses in case it is real as I would love the business if genuine!! I can provide names/websites in pm if needed

I've been taken down the garden path by someone supposedly based in the sub continent before which is why I am sceptical.
**EDIT** This company's website does work although it is awful and there are two addresses in India and one in London although I can't get a listing for the London offices. The work does relate to my company which is webdesign, and the enquiry came through my contact form. **END EDIT**

I have sent an email back with a quote (quite a few thousand pounds) asking for western union payment of a deposit (I don't want to give out bank details unless it turns out to be genuine).

Thanks Dave

Code:

Dear Friend

I am interested for SEO, Web hosting, Internet Marketing & some re designing of my existing website http://www.********.com .

plz revert me specific query after careful study of my existing website & tell me cost ,time frame ,mode of payment as well as other terms and conditions.

Money doesnot matter for me. I want great & fruitful promotion,Great look & feel for my website. I m also interested in brand promotion (Advertising ) for my organization, kindly suggest me for my company growth.

Waiting for valuable response from your side.

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

Just a few simple ideas without knowing the specifics.

Have you checked the headers to see if this mail is coming from where the sender claims it is coming from? Have you checked the companies addresses to see if they exist and if it belongs to them?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Seems to be coming from the person it's purported to be. Just done a whois on teh domain name and it was only registered at the end of last month which is a little disconcerting as they make out on the site that they have a decent client base and business.

Dave

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:08 am

If you don't want to post it, please PM the URL to a bank killer or mod so we can have a look.
I'll do it, if you want. If not- Meyer, TSnerd, The False Italian, and Old Coaster are all board moderators and very experienced in fake websites.

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

Can you let us know the IP of the Email they sent?

First impressions are it sounds a bit dodgy they are supposed to be web designers yes? Yet you say their website looks "awful" and they have only registered the domain last month but claim to have a huge client base.

I'm sure a more experienced member of this board will chip in sooner or later but for the minute your stuck with me Smile

EDIT: Phew SF comes and saves the day Smile

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:11 am

^^^
not entirely Wink

That said, your instincts are right on, 4X1X9. This smells just a bit.
[Edit]- try SF saves the middle of the bloody night Wink

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

4X1X9 wrote:

Can you let us know the IP of the Email they sent?

First impressions are it sounds a bit dodgy they are supposed to be web designers yes? Yet you say their website looks "awful" and they have only registered the domain last month but claim to have a huge client base.

I'm sure a more experienced member of this board will chip in sooner or later but for the minute your stuck with me Smile

EDIT: Phew SF comes and saves the day Smile

Sorry for the confusion, I am the web designer, they seem to be some sort of market research company or something (hard to tell exactly what they are offering properly from the site). They want me to re do their site and SEO stuff. Thing is I am in France so god knows where they got my details from.

Can't post the ip address of the email as it came from my contact form on my site so just uses my email address. Maybe I'll update it to capture their ip address and send it to me in the emails in future. Obviously if they reply to me I will be able to get it though.

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 8:25 am

It does seem suspicious so proceed with caution but until you have more info it's hard to be certain either way. It's easy to be paranoid over every slightly 'dodgy' email and you don't want to lose a potential real client. Try to get an email out of them and check the IP - it's usually a dead giveaway.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Thanks Gnasher

Yes it is easy to be paranoid especially when you have been stung before (time only not cash luckily).

I have their email address as they have to enter it on the contact form and it is from the domain they sent me the url for. The domain was only registered last month under the name of the person who contacted me although a different address to the ones they have on the site.

Oh well, I suppose if they send me some money (I have requested Western Union rather than give out bank details for the mo) I can be assured. I'll let you all know how it pans out.

Dave

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 9:19 am

Any businessman who uses the phrase "Money does not matter for me" is full of crap and should be avoided like the plague.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Very true,

I will let you all know what happens if I hear from them again. Interesting thing is they want me to do work for them so we will see if they are willing to send a deposit or not via WU.

Many thanks to SF who has given me quite a bit of info in pm.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Right, I have had a reply

Quote:

Can I revert you within saturday with all details due to important
meeting pls? Mean time you can careful study of my website
www.******.com by free registration to see depth of website (as proxy)

Think I'll register in the site with false details and have a look around

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:49 am

Don't forget to use a proxy for it and I'd use modified browser headers too, only because it wants registration.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

It seems a more complex site than I thought a scam one would be. It seems to be a directory of business leads that premium members can get contact access to.

Still not sure though. Obviously I still don't want to publish url etc. in the vague possibility it's real.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Got an ip address too now. What checks do you all do with them?

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

^^^^

We usually check for the country the IP originated from, of course it does not always follow that the person is in the same country that their ISP is pointing to but it is usually a good indication. A lot of scammers from West Africa, Nigeria inparticular, pretend to be from other countries such as Britain, US (etc) so as not to raise alarm bells of people aware of 419 scams.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Ip address goes back to Delhi which is where it is supposed to come from so that in itself isn't worrying.

I'll see what they say on Saturday.

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 12:41 pm

Slightlyoutofit wrote:

Any businessman who uses the phrase "Money does not matter for me" is full of crap and should be avoided like the plague.

Hey I use that!

Then again...my business proposals should be avoided like the plague! Laughing

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 1:01 pm

Don't forget, just because they send you a nice freshly printed cheque as a deposit that it will be worth the ink it was printed with. Sad

@five
I'm open for new business ventures, call me I like your style Smile

(and your money) Cool

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

harrya wrote:

Don't forget, just because they send you a nice freshly printed cheque as a deposit that it will be worth the ink it was printed with. Sad

@five
I'm open for new business ventures, call me I like your style Smile

(and your money) Cool

Oh, don't worry about that. I've asked for a Western Union transfer for the deposit (�2000) so if they send that I can be pretty certain they are not scamming. Not given my details yet that may happen Saturday. I'm going to be careful though although I know I have to give some details I'm going to try to keep it to a minimum.

Would scammers be likely to set up a dynamic site (no matter how crap it looks) and populate it with links?

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 1:13 pm

Quote:

Would scammers be likely to set up a dynamic site (no matter how crap it looks) and populate it with links?

In a word - YES.

The members you see with flags on their siggy line indicate fake sites they have had taken down. I am very proud of my two - soon to be three.

A website makes it all look credible and secure. SF and others have quite a collection of flags.

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 1:15 pm

Quote:

Would scammers be likely to set up a dynamic site (no matter how crap it looks) and populate it with links?

Have a look through the lotto, phone and fake bank forums, there has been some really great work done by reall good coders all in the name of scams.

Actually I think many times they just download a site modify it to their use and viola a nice new site, it would still need some back end work so your not talking your average 419 numpty.

Gomer types quicker Smile

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

Thanks,

I wondered what the flags were for!

I know all about phishing sites etc. so I suppose it's just an extension of that really.

SF has already mentioned that alot of the site is ripped off from others so that may well be a good clue to it.

Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 1:47 pm

@dave:

As a business man myself (legit in real life) I can tell you if they are not willing to put down a cash deposit then they are not willing to follow through, and even if not a direct scam it will be an unpaid bill.

I would check with WU, but I think that as long as they send you the MTCN you can pick it up at any WU branch.... so you can lie a bit about where you are.... i.e. if you are in France tell them nothing more than you are in Paris.... good luck them finding you then!

The Man

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 13

The Man wrote:

@dave:

As a business man myself (legit in real life) I can tell you if they are not willing to put down a cash deposit then they are not willing to follow through, and even if not a direct scam it will be an unpaid bill.

I would check with WU, but I think that as long as they send you the MTCN you can pick it up at any WU branch.... so you can lie a bit about where you are.... i.e. if you are in France tell them nothing more than you are in Paris.... good luck them finding you then!

The Man

Not a bad idea, although if they do a whois on my domain then they can find me anyway (if they think of that!)