Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Did you receive an email from a "the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban ki Moon" who says "to contact Mr. Lawson Brown of Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, ... for your Cheque/ International Bank Draft of USD$ 100,000." This one is one of our staff's favorites. It is so ludicrous - the scammer starts out with "How are you today? Hope all is well with you and your family" then proceeds to inform you that the United Nations felt bad about people who have been scammed, that they agreed to give every victim $100,000. And it is signed by the secretary general of the UN! The subject line is even "Good News"!
At first, we thought no one would fall for this scam; it is too absurd, but then we realized that people from socialist and other countries accustomed to receiving handouts from the government, the idea is not so far fetched!
What is the scammer after? Certainly the scammer will try to steal your identity and get you to send him money
the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban ki Moon (not his real name, obviously) hopes to con you into sending money for various "fees" to free the fortune. If you would like a step by step explanation of how this type of "Advance Fee Fraud" works, click here!
Notice (highlighted below) some of the other obvious signs that this is a scam are poor spelling , use of free Yahoo/Hotmail/etc email accounts, proposals that make no sense, etc.:
We wrote to the scammer on December 28, 2007, pretending that we received his email and want our cheque for $100,000. Watch for additions to this page, as we post his replies!
Attention:
How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family, You may not understand why this mail came to you.
We have been meeting for the passed 7 months which ended 2 days ago.
This email is sent to all the people that have been scammed in every part of the world, the UNITED NATIONS agreed upon to compensate them with the sum of US$ 100,000. This includes every foreign contractors that may have not received their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems etc.
We found your name in our list and that is why we are contacting you, this have been agreed upon and have been signed.
You are advised to contact Mr. Lawson Brown of Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, as he is our representative in London, contact him immediately for your Cheque/ International Bank Draft of USD$ 100,000. This funds are in a Bank Draft for security purpose ok? So he will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice.
Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone number/your correct mailing address where you want him to send the Draft to you.
Contact Mr.Lawson Brown immediately for your Cheque:
Person to Contact Mr. Lawson Brown.
Email: lawsonbrown01@gawab.com
Thanks and God bless you and your family. Hoping to hear from you as soon as you cash you Bank Draft.
Making the world a better place.
Regards,
Mr Ban ki moon.
Secretary (UNITED NATIONS)
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