Scammers seize on Japan disasters with 'record speed'

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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 5:27 am

Quote:

Criminals have jumped on Japan's twin earthquake and tsunami disasters at record speed, security experts said today.

Scams range from links to fake anti-virus downloads and phony donation sites to classic online swindles that rely on greed.

"Symantec has observed a classic 419 message targeting the Japanese disaster," said researcher Samir Patil in a post to the company's security blog today. "The message is a bogus 'next of kin' story that purports to settle millions of dollars owing to an earthquake and tsunami victim."

Full Story

It's sometimes worth reminding ourselves what sort of people we're dealing with here -- they view any kind of human misery simply as an opportunity to line their own pockets, diverting funds from the injured, sick and bereaved.

It serves as a good answer to people who think that scam victims are always victims of their own greed. Mad

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:58 am

Catch 'em, send 'em to Japan, cleaning up radioactive zone.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:17 am

That didn't take very long.
But then again, who really expected it to. Lads are scum.

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:18 am

Every Japanese charity email to me, please.

I will give'em all something to play...

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:54 am

Me too, thanks.
As stated in previous thread, I have a bit of a personal grudge....

419Eater is my life Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 407

I've seen a couple of articles warning people of scams regarding the Japan disaster, I've shared the links below

http://about-threats.trendmicro.com/Spam.aspx?language=us&name=Scams+Related+to+the+Japan+Earthquake+Emerge

http://blog.trendmicro.com/phishing-attack-uses-fake-donation-website/

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

Baitsamurai already found one fake Salvation Army site used for this. Evil or Very Mad

Please contribute links to news articles and scam emails at ScamWarners too.

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:41 am

Not certain where I would post this article in scamwarners though:

Tsunami in Japan and self modifying RogueAV code

http://isc.sans.edu/diary/Tsunami+in+Japan+and+self+modifying+RogueAV+code/10543

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Posts: 586

I saw this coming a mile a way too. Send em to me as well Twisted Evil

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

@internationalchrysis: Any news stories you want to post about at ScamWarners can be posted in the "news and announcements" forum there.

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:48 am

I KNEW that the next time I got online, scammers would have already jumped all over this tragedy.

I'm betting all the tons of baits I'm doing right now are wondering what happened because I was right about to go to the Western Union to pay them, then bam! I haven't communicated with them for 5 or 6 days now. Damn earthquake...

My opinion of them hasn't gone any lower than it was before, but I do feel a bit more anger for the bastards.

Master Baiter Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 106

It was inevitable. Those wanting to make donations should be made aware of this and head to he rights avenues and not be suckered in

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:29 pm

Personally, I fail to see why the police force of any country should have any trouble dealing with the number of scammers out there.

After all, it should only take one bullet per scammer.

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

Like the article posted by internationalchrysis, here's another example of scammers targeting anyone even interested in reading about what is happening in Japan. Mad

This one involves videos on Facebook.

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/techsense/archive/2011/03/15/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-prompts-rise-in-internet-scams.aspx

(bolding mine)

Quote:

Social media, which is being used by people around the globe to share news and personal stories from the disaster, is also being used by scammers. On Facebook, a link that is making the rounds promises a video of the tsunami.
"Facebook users are being tricked into clicking on links which claim to be raw CNN footage of the Japanese tsunami by cold-hearted scammers - as part of a plot to earn money by driving web traffic to take online surveys," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos wrote on the Sophos blog. "The videos, which in the examples seen by Sophos exist on a website called spinavideo, purport to be footage of the horrifying tsunami which hit parts of Japan on Friday."
Clicking on the link takes users to a website pretending to be YouTube. Instead users are tricked into agreeing to 'like' the page on Facebook, spreading the scam even further on Facebook.
"Remember to always get your news from legitimate news websites, and if you're hunting for a video make sure that you go to the real YouTube website rather than a replica set up by scammers," wrote Cluley.

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:27 pm

Somebody beat me to a great idea....

Quote:

Domain Name: SPINAVIDEO.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
Name Server: NS1.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM
Name Server: NS2.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 13-mar-2011
Creation Date: 04-mar-2011
Expiration Date: 04-mar-2012

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:11 am

Quote:

From: [email protected]
IP: 180.215.202.202
Subject: Please Help Life, From Jamaine Lecott

1.0

Hello Dear Friend

My Name is Jamaine Lecott
i am in hurry writing you this message and i hope you get it on time, there was very hard quake here in my country

northeastern coast in japan. It has been a very sad and bad moment for me and my family here, the present condition that

we found myself is very hard for me to explain.i want us to be out of the country immediately i am asking for help of

($1,600 ) only to raise our ticket charge and some other expenses to leave here I will appreciate whatever you can afford

to assist me and my family so that we can have food and eat to be out of the country i will be very happy for that , we lost every thing we have
Please send the money via Western Union money transfer channel because that is the only way

we could be able to get the money fast and leave. which country are you transferring the money from please help us with

thanks GOD will help you also and bless you...

ADDRESS.NO A14 Tokyo. northeastern coast japanMy Honest Regard,
Jamaine Lecott

I have just indicated "interest"
Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:06 am

^^^^^
Can I bait this person with this email address?? Is that "kosher"?
Les

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:54 am

Yes, please Very Happy

Oh, just noticed this thread - didn´t know it has become so many already Sad

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:38 am

Zapmaster wrote:

Personally, I fail to see why the police force of any country should have any trouble dealing with the number of scammers out there.

After all, it should only take one bullet per scammer.

While many would disagree with your solution... I would be HAPPY to pay for the bullets. Twisted Evil

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:25 pm

I created a profile on a site called NETLOG (a known scammer is there just waiting to fall in love with me Twisted Evil

) and I got a private message from a member/group. After reading the the message I got the feeling that perhaps the group was shady. Have a look at the profile and tell me what you guys think.
http://en.netlog.com/helpjapan

Quote:

Hello Netlog Member,

We have taken permission for the Netlog team so we can appeal to its users regarding a very important issue that can happen to anyone..,,,

We all know the issue of the japan earth quake that claimed lots of life's and property, we use this medium to ask for your support and donation to assist the survivals of this sad event please as you do God will reward you and note that all donators will be contacted by the Japanese government after the trying period are over..

You are to contact the donation office if you are willing to help to restore hope the the hopeless.

NOTE:This can happen to anyone or any great Nation so please assist us

DONATION OFFICE DETAILS
Name of Secretary:Mr.Brad Collins
Email:[email protected]

Do contact them and tell them your contributions..

Thanks,
The JCI for the Help and revival of people that lost their hope
Copyright of JCI ©2011 All rights reserved.

I googled "JCI DONATIONS" and got some hits but that really convinces me of NOTHING!
I am particularly disgusted by scammers that take advantage of REAL situations like the one in Japan.
I have already donated to Japan through reliable charity organizations but I KNOW that A LOT of people will be fooled by these slimy turd scammers and I really think that we need to concentrate on them for the time being.
Les

Not quite a Newb Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Posts: 22

Zapmaster wrote:

Personally, I fail to see why the police force of any country should have any trouble dealing with the number of scammers out there.

After all, it should only take one bullet per scammer.

One thing that can be counted on is change.

Police actions on International criminal networks occur routinely.
Electronic tracing and cyber-criminologists are developing extensive databases for use.

You here at 419eaters have seen the developments across the years.
Criminal Justice systems and governments are addressing corruption. Fraud crimes cost lives.

While cyberspace has developed, we have seen justice systems, volunteer and professional, come together to produce spectacular results, for example international child cyberspace pornography rings.

Volunteers reaching out to overwhelmed justice systems helped address such an overwhelming task when online volunteers began addressing the child predators.

Police bust major child porn ring in 30 countries
By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
Police arrested 184 suspects and rescued more than 200 children in 30 countries with the breakup of an international child pornography ring centered in The Netherlands, Radio Netherlands reports.

Arrests have taken place in Britain, the USA, Australia, and Spain. Europol Director Rob Wainwright says authorities identified an additional 486 suspects and more arrests are likely.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/police-in-30-countries-bust-major-child-porn-ring/1

When cleaning a weed infested garden, one picks one place and begins. The weeds do come back but they are not as thick.

Attitudes are changing across cyberspace. In addition, tools are being developed to address criminal enterprises.

How long ago would we have said, nothing could be done about spam?

Microsoft says helps take down spam e-mail network

– Thu Mar 17, 10:01 pm ET
SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) claimed credit on Thursday for taking down one of the biggest producers of spam e-mail in a joint effort with federal authorities across the United States.
The world's biggest software company said its legal action against the operator of the Rustock 'botnet' -- or network of infected computers programed to send spam e-mail -- led to raids across the country on Thursday which effectively shut the network down.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110318/tc_nm/us_microsoft_botnet

There is good reason for fraud fighting communities, such as you, to take a stock and consider lobbying police departments, justice systems, and public servants.

It is no longer a truthful outlook to think that simply because a crime is international that it cannot be brought to justice. Or that being on a computer makes the crime un-prosecutable.

Regards,
Glass of water

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 5:09 pm

^^^what you said.

And speaking of useless trash,

Quote:

ADDRESS.NO A14 Tokyo. northeastern coast japan
My Honest Regard,
Jamaine Lecott

Right.
Geography, not much.

This one's starting out as a beggar rather than a 419er, but shows promise. Twisted Evil

Not quite a Newb Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Posts: 22

It dawned on me while making other reports that some may not know where to forward spam for reporting.

Quote:

Do you receive lots of junk email messages from people you don't know? It's no surprise if you do. As more people use email, marketers are increasingly using email messages to pitch their products and services. Some consumers find unsolicited commercial email - also known as "spam" - annoying and time consuming; others have lost money to bogus offers that arrived in their email in-box.

This website has information about the Federal Trade Commission's recent law enforcement actions against deceptive commercial email and spammers' responsibilities under the CAN-SPAM law. In the "For Consumers" section, you'll find tips on how to reduce the amount of spam email in your in-box.

If you get spam email that you think is deceptive, forward it to [email protected]. The FTC uses the spam stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive email.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/spam/

It may deserve its own thread, I do not know.

At least if you did not know, you now have a place to forward your unwanted questionable spam. Cool

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:35 pm

Followed up on this, reply resolved to Lagos but referred me to Thailand appeal for the Japanese disaster, asked for donation via WU.

Gave lad usual runaround and he came up with bank account in Thailand although he's definitely Lagos Nigeria. Off to Alan it goes, another piggy for me, but these ****ers really are the pits. Crying or Very sad

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:35 am

^^psychicbait, that lad I posted must indeed be from India, it´s not shown as a proxy from what I know. No idea why the "Dubai" referrals (mugu asks to send money to a Robert Johnson in the UAE per WU).

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