Phishing Scams.. Share your best ones..

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
Phishing scam emails are supposed to be getting really hard to distinguish from genuine emails, but this one amused me so much I thought a light hearted thread where we could share the obviously bad ones might help pass the time..

PayPal
This is an automated email, Please de not reply.
Hi there,

We Are Sorry To Inform You For That But Your Account Has Been Limited To continue using your account, you must make mandatory update your information
.

LOL
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
The current ones I'm getting are emails headed that my invoice for xyz service for £xxx amount is due for payment, giving a link to click on to see more detail. Each one cites a different invoice They are obviously phishing rather than trying to get a payment of the quoted amount, relying on the curious clicking the link.
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Danidl

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2016
8,611
12,256
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Ireland
The current ones I'm getting are emails headed that my invoice for xyz service for £xxx amount is due for payment, giving a link to click on to see more detail. Each one cites a different invoice They are obviously phishing rather than trying to get a payment of the quoted amount, relying on the curious clicking the link.
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The current one doing the rounds in Ireland involves a very short phone message, from a number somewhere in Africa, Cameroon or similar. It does not last long enough to even answer, and if as one might be tempted to call back, it puts one on a premium line. My son answered such a call and in the 5 seconds it took to connect, realise and cutoff , he found that he was billed 5euro.
 
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Data_Daedalus

Just Joined
Oct 5, 2014
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Phishing scam emails are supposed to be getting really hard to distinguish from genuine emails, but this one amused me so much I thought a light hearted thread where we could share the obviously bad ones might help pass the time..

PayPal
This is an automated email, Please de not reply.
Hi there,

We Are Sorry To Inform You For That But Your Account Has Been Limited To continue using your account, you must make mandatory update your information
.

LOL
That was incredibly funny. And dismally pathetic on behalf of the scammer. I get nonsense like this sent direct to my junk mail every day. The badly misspelled ones are usually from some African country like Nigeria, where most of them actually originate. [emoji849]

The proliferation of smartphone technology and resultantly, surprisingly (cheap) easy access to the worldwide web, means many scammers believe they can try their luck at getting rich quick. I suspect forums over there abound with tales of riches made scamming “gullible” foreigners! ‍♂♂♂

Cringeworthy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
Being pensioner with time to spar I have starting playing with the cold callers.. I had a call from an energy company selling solar panels and kept them going for about 15 minutes, I presented myself as an old man with dementia, answering Do you rent or own your home? with "I think so, but I am not sure as my carer deals with that sort of thing", and throughout the conversation I kept interrupting with "I would really like a windmill", and " are you sure I cant have a windmill?" and frequently getting his name wrong as I had forgotten it!
Worryingly this guy must have realised early on that he was dealing with a vulnerable person but he didn't give up and kept on insisting I needed his product to save hundreds of pounds per year and needed my address to send someone round even after I said I couldn't remember it.
At the end I said I would ask my carer to ask the landlord if I was renting or not which annoyed him greatly and he hung up.
 
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Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
20,925
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Gubs you have a wicked sense of humour, playing them at their own game and wrapping them a round your little finger.
But it does show how unscrupulous these cold calls are and the employees/callers are only interested in any type of a sell to gain commission.
Recently a company has been laying new drives in my road and I was cold called by the ganger an Irishmen ( Patrick), 3 times over a few days he knocked and I turned him away.
On the phone its easy if you are unable to string them along you have choice to put the phone down, at the door it is harder and you have to be firm and of a stronger will.

And the drives hmmm :oops:, the neighbours is supposedly finished at an extortionate price. The so called edging looks like a sad sea wave and the tarmac surface nowhere near the 2 - 3" they claimed was going to be put down, the wife and I give it a couple of wet and frosty harsh winters.
 

daveboy

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 19, 2012
952
1,366
pontefract
The wife works in a high street bank and everyday an old person comes in to transfer money to one of these scams.
They have just been given a fraud number for the Police to come to the bank and convince the old (and not so old) that it's a scam,
They don't believe the bank staff because the scammers tell them the staff are trying to steal the money and they have to transfer it or draw it out.
The wife once spent 2 hours with an old woman who wanted to send £7,000 by western union because TalkTalk had overpaid her.
The old womans last words were "I hope the man from TalkTalk doesn't get the sack he has 4 kids"
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
On the phone its easy if you are unable to string them along you have choice to put the phone down, at the door it is harder and you have to be firm and of a stronger will.
Unbalancing door callers with the unexpected response works well, it creates a pause for the door to be closed. A favourite line of mine to do that, delivered with a friendly smile is:

" Definitely not for me, but thank you for calling, it was kind of you to think of me".

Door closed still with the smile worn. They expect a hostile response and this one leaves them speechless for a few moments.
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Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
For doorstep callers I hold my hand up and say. "Let me stop you there. Whatever you are selling I am not buying". Usual response is something on the lines of "I am not selling anything"
And so it begins.....
 

mike killay

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 17, 2011
3,012
1,629
My daughter is nothing like as polite.
I really don't know where she learned such language.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
Door callers are easy; "Do you like sex and travel?"
 

the_killjoy

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 26, 2008
822
226
Had a bad day today with callers, it started with the Jehova witnesses and went down hill from there. 5 in total including one doing the not selling anything just want to talk about home insulation. Seemed to have had everyone except the ex prisoner selling dusters or paintings.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
it started with the Jehova witnesses
I've fixed them long ago. There's a Jehovah's Witnesses centre half a mile away where they were only allowed to move in on a legal condition they didn't unreasonably pester the local inhabitants. Of course they immediately breached that condition so I threatened them with action. One of their leaders had the nerve to come round and try to intimidate me, demanding to see proof of any such condition. Let's just say he found the encounter very unpleasant

Ever since they still come round in groups proselytizing, including calling on my neighbours, but they never call on me so I must be blacklisted.

It can be handy to be in league with the Devil. :D
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Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
:)
I've fixed them long ago. There's a Jehovah's Witnesses centre half a mile away where they were only allowed to move in on a legal condition they didn't unreasonably pester the local inhabitants. Of course they immediately breached that condition so I threatened them with action. One of their leaders had the nerve to come round and try to intimidate me, demanding to see proof of any such condition. Let's just say he found the encounter very unpleasant

Ever since they still come round in groups proselytizing, including calling on my neighbours, but they never call on me.

It can be handy to be in league with the Devil. :D
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Did your "Action" include your Samurai Sword by any chance? Sorry, for some reason I thought it was SW, until I saw the big words...
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,216
30,617
Did your "Action" include your Samurai Sword by any chance?
No, I don't have one. I do have a baseball bat that I accidentally inherited from someone who had it as a defensive weapon (long story), plus a quality air rifle, but neither of those were used. Didn't need them, I was decades younger at the time and well enough equipped without.
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