This document summarizes various internet scams, frauds, hoaxes and phenomena. It discusses common scams like phishing, lottery scams and dating scams. It also outlines top hoaxes such as the dioxins in plastic hoax and bonsai kittens hoax. Finally, it briefly describes internet phenomena like rickrolling and lolcats. The document provides advice on how to identify and avoid scams, hoaxes and malicious emails or messages online.
Fraud is endemic to American society. Many of us have heard the story of Dutchman Peter Minuit who purchased Manhattan Island from the Canarsie Indian tribe for $24 dollars in trinkets. The punch line here is that the Canarsie lived in what would later be called Brooklyn not Manhattan, so the Indians actually defrauded the Dutch! Prior to 1906 there were no laws regulating food and drugs in the US and snake oil salesman could make any claims about a product without fear legal consequences. Often substances like morphine, cocaine, and arsenic were used creating these elixirs. Beginning in 1938 GM and other automotive supplier began a campaign to destroy electric rail-based street cars, successfully using their influence to dismantle 90% of US street car lines.
One radio station in the UK reported that they were unable to give away several cash prizes to people whose telephone numbers were selected at random. Everyone is so used to being duped by the “you’ve won a prize” scheme that the winners assumed it was a scam and hung up!
A dead giveaway that it’s a scam is when they ask you to pay a processing fee in order to get your money! Also it is illegal in most countries for foreigners to win a lottery.
In 2007 3.6 million adults were victims of phishing and lost approximately $ 3.2 billion. As a general rule never click on links in e-mails even if its an e-mail address that you recognize. Also, to tell whether a website is secure look for “https” rather than “http” in the address bar.
Another variant has you accepting money orders or checks. The internet is also used to perpetrate the traditional work-at-home scams including: Craft assembly: after paying for materials your crafts will be rejected as “substandard” Medical billing: 99% of hospitals use large companies for billing, not individuals E-mail processing: send out e-mails persuading people to sign up for work at home scams Multilevel marketing: the classic pyramid scheme where you must bring in new member to make money Envelope stuffing: stuff envelopes with materials persuading people to sign up for work at home scams Auction sites drop shipping: you buy a list of list of wholesalers with goods to sell; the problem is price competition makes any profit nearly impossible
This type of marketing is similar to what book and record clubs have been doing for years and is only illegal if the company tries to disguise what it is doing. As a general rule, scrutinize your monthly credit card bill and look out for unexplained charges. In the above scheme you may be charged a monthly fee for more products that you don’t want. The US has a lenient policy on commerce and subscribes to the Caveat Emptor philosophy: let the buyer beware.
Most of us laugh at these poorly-worded, far-fetched e-mails and wonder why anyone would fall for these, but they do, to the tune of about 100M a year and an average of $36,000 per victim. Even intelligent, well educated people have been taken in. Last year the treasurer of Alcona county, Michigan was found guilty of embezzling over 1.2 million (over 25% of the county’s budget) to fund a Nigerian fraud scam. Variants also include the puppy scam and the hitman scam.
The Ponzi Scheme : Ponzi scheme is a type of pyramid scheme that relies on new investment capital to provide a return to previous investors. When no new investors can be found the scheme collapses. Ponzi schemes usually offer returns that seem too good to be true and are usually short in term--under one year. Ponzi schemes rely heavily on word of mouth advertising and spam e-mailing. The few initial investors that make a great return on their money are urged to bring in new investors. Always get third party verification from the Better Business Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission The Offshore Investment Scam : Fraudsters claim that investing in foreign markets can make you a fortune because the differing time zones allow trades to take place at any hour of the day. Be cautious, it is extremely difficult for authorities to prosecute fraud perpetrated in another country The Prime Bank Scam : Unscrupulous brokers claim that they have access to a secret list of stocks in which the world’s top 50 banks invest when in fact no such list exists. Be wary of any investment that claims to have secret or inside information. Even if the scenario were true it would constitute illegal insider trading The Promissory Note Scam : Many victims fall for the promissory note scam falsely believing that promissory notes are insured by the government or an insurance company and are therefore risk free. Keep in mind real promissory notes are usually not offered to individual investors, instead corporations offer promissory notes to other corporation usually when they have a shared business interest
Also some systems can damage your car, particularly any systems that requires you to modify your oxygen sensor. Hydrogen enrichment is the latest scheme here due to the positive press about green cars. Don’t believe it! Your car’s electrical system is not powerful enough to produce an amount of hydrogen significant enough to increase your MPG by even 1%
The above scam was so pervasive in Japan that last month 58,000 police officers were sent to ATMs around the country on pension payment day to warn seniors as they withdraw their money.
Online Dating Scams: is the person really who they claim to be? Some things to look for: Unrealistic or fake photos (most everyday folk don’t look like fashion models) Men who say they are millionaires Women who are overtly sexual in their communication People from foreign countries like Nigeria and Russia (those serious about dating will live within a reasonable distance from you) Poor grammar and spelling if the person claims to be well-educated Requests for personal information Requests to circumvent the double blind e-mailing system on the site Requests for money or assistance with cashing checks or money orders
Remember in any situation were you post an item for sale you are vulnerable to phishing attacks and any other kind of scam out there. Use a secondary e-mail account to post items for sale rather than your primary account (the one that you give to friends, family etc.)
In some instances the scammer was able to get away with the first and last month’s rent and security deposit! Even if you are relocating from a long distance never make any payment without a copy of a lease agreement
Report any suspected scams to www.ic3.gov
This hoax originated from a news program from channel 2 in Hawaii 2002. The person who claimed that dioxins were being released in to food was not a physician, toxicologist, or oncologist. Rather the Director of the Center for Health Promotion at Castle Medical Center in Kailua, Hawaii
This hoax was completely debunked by UK science show that tried to cook an egg using 100 cell phones. It takes a 1000 watt microwave about a minute to pop a popcorn kernel. Cell phones operate at between .5 watts and 2 watts.
Also no cat could survive under these conditions.
Although the photographs themselves are genuine, the gun collection actually belonged to the late Bruce Stern, rather than Charlton Heston. Mr. Stern was a lifelong military and gun collector. An attorney and Vietnam veteran, he was involved in a number of military and firearms related organizations. He was a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Board of Directors he passed away in July, 2007 and some of the collection was auctioned off. This hoax may have been an attempt to discredit Heston as a “gun nut.”
The American Cancer Society agrees. They say that sweat glands are not connected to the lymph nodes, the source of most cancerous tumors. Most cancer-causing substances are removed by your kidneys, and released through urine by the liver. The lymph nodes don't release toxins through sweating.
Burundanga is the street version of a pharmaceutical drug called scopolamine. It is made from the extracts of plants in the nightshade family such as henbane and jimson weed. It's a deliriant, meaning it can induce symptoms of delirium such as disorientation, loss of memory, hallucinations, and stupor. In this scenario it would be nearly impossible to deliver enough of the drug have any effect.
While eating at either location, when the customer asks for the dessert recipe the waiter of waitress replies, “That’s two-fifty.” Naturally assuming that to mean $2.50. A month later when the bill comes with a $250 charge the irate customer vows revenge. Stand up to corporate greed and forward the recipe to everyone that you know!
This person is Chris Cocker, 19 year old man from Tennessee.
Rickrolling is a bait and switch prank. For example, you click on a link for the latest celebrity gossip and instead you are taken to a video clip of 80’s one-hit-wonder Rick Astley singing “Never Gonna Give You Up,” you have been rickrolled!
In 1991 a decision was made to add plot details to the European version of the video game Zero Wing which included dialogue between the game’s hero and villain. The dialogue was clearly translated by some one with limited knowledge of English and produced the above nonsensical sentence which became a catch phrase among computer geeks and gained greater fame when a music video was created using the slogan. Although interpretations vary, the phrase is most commonly used as a declaration of victory or ownership. For example, I defeat you totally and completely at table tennis then declare “all your base are belong to us!”
Post Secret is a website that is an ongoing community art project where people can anonymously post a secret that they have been keeping. Send your Secret on a post card and the webmaster posts it for all to see. The secrets have been compiled in to 4 volumes of books.
On November 4, 2002 this student made a video of himself swinging a golf ball retriever around as a weapon like a Jedi Knight. The video was filmed at his high school studio, and the tape left in a basement. The original owner of the videotape discovered it and immediately shared it with friends. Thinking that it would be a funny prank, one of them put it on Kazaa. Within two weeks, the file had been downloaded several million times. An adapted version of the video was created, adding Star Wars music , texts, and lightsaber lights, and sounds to his golf ball retriever. As of November 27, 2006 it was estimated by The Viral Factory that the videos had been viewed over 900 million times, making it the most popular " viral video " on the Internet.
Scambaiting is a form of vigilante justice perpetrated against 419 or other Advance fee scammers. The goal is to waste the scammers time and money and humiliate them in any way possible. Scambaiters like to collect “trophies” from the scammers or “mugus.” These can include embarrassing photos or videos; counterfeit checks, money orders, or passports; or even pieces of artwork they have persuaded the scammer to create. The most satisfying type of scambaiting is the “freight bait” were scammers are persuaded to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollar in freight charges for worthless items. One scambaiter successfully freight baited cement blocks, an old washing machine, and an old stove! To view a hilarious scambait got to youtube.com and type in “Where have all the laptops gone?”
Myspace currently has over 100 million members and acquires about 230,000 new members each day. What’s the big deal? Some negative aspects of My Space include predators who pose as typical young MySpace users in order to arrange meetings with minors. Currently approximately 80% of abductions are precipitated online. My Space is also rich ground for cyber bullying. Cyberbullying is when a child, preteen, or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies. “My Space addicts,” those who spend in excess of 2 hours per day on My Space, may also be disinclined to make friends in real life. Also, MySpace can be considered a waste or resources in terms of bandwidth, public access computer time. 2006 US House resolution 5319 passed the House of Representatives with a 415 to 15 vote, but was buried in a senate committee. This bill would block access to social networking sites at schools, libraries, or any other public institution that receives tax dollars.
97 billion emails are sent each day. One in 5 companies have fired people for e-mail abuse. Several websites offer programs to help you avoid “drunk emailing” by asking you mathematical questions before you are allowed to send a mail.
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