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Fraudulent
Invitation to Child Abuse Conference
IRS - Economic Stimulus Refund Program
Global Welfare for Child Development?
Legacies for NGOs
Herbal Remedies in Hills
50 crore grant if you have 35AC...
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Fraudulent Email Warning
Ford Foundation has
recently issued an advisory:
“[You]... may have been
contacted through scam emails claiming to be from or associated with the Ford
Foundation. These emails are circulating on the Internet in various languages
and may use the foundation’s logo and web address.
The emails notify
recipients of a foundation award for their personal, educational and business
development. Recipients are asked to contact an office in London to claim the
prize and to provide personal information to release the grant.
These emails, Web sites,
and accompanying materials and claims are in no way associated with the Ford
Foundation or any foundation employees. .... If you are contacted
[through]... an email making such claims, [you are advised] not to respond.”
Fraudulent Invitation to Child Abuse Conference
The following conference invitation is fake. There is no such organisation. Its web-site has been
shut down for sending out fake invitations to a conference in USA. Later they
will get you to transfer money for the hotel booking in Dakar, Senegal. After
which you will never hear from them again.
If you want to know more about how this kind
of fraud works, please visit www.vitalsecurity.org/labels/conference.html
Please circulate this warning to your friends
as a goodwill gesture and help keep internet fraud down.
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Conference Invitation :
Dear Sir/Madam
We are cordially Inviting
Interested individuals to a Combined Conferences against Racism and Child
Abuse that will be held from the 16th - 20th of August 2008 In Anaheim
California and from the 25TH -28TH of August 2008 in Dakar Senegal.
You may contact the Secretariat of the
Organizing Committee for details and information. You are to also inform them
that you were invited to participate by ( Miss Petelyn Wright ),
Who is a member of the American Youths for Peace and a staff of ( World
Youths Conference Organization ).
Registration is Free and the
Benevolent Donors of the Organizing Committee will provide round trip air
tickets and accommodation for the period of participants Stay in the U.S to
all registered participants. You will only be responsible for your own hotel
booking in Dakar where the second phase of the conference will be held.
If you are a holder of a Passport that may
require visa to enter the United States you may inform the Conference
Secretariat at the time of Application ,as the
organizing committee is responsible asist for all
visa arrangements and travel assistances.
WORLD YOUTH ORGANIZATION FOR
WELFARE
TEL: +1 ( 516 ) 3030022 or +1 ( 516 ) 3030020 FAX +1 ( 760 ) 284-5664
Email: conference_wyohw2008@usa.com
registrationdesk@worldyouthsorganization.org
Sincerely,
Petelyn Wright
p.wright@worldyouthsorganization.org
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You receive an e-mail telling
you that you are eligible for a tax refund by the US Government:
"Over 130 million
Americans will receive refunds as part of President Bush program to jumpstart
the economy.
Our records indicate that
you are qualified to receive the 2008 Economic Stimulus Refund.
The fastest and easiest way
to receive your refund is by direct deposit to your checking/savings
account.
Please follow the link and
fill out the form and submit
before
May 10th, 2008 to ensure that your refund will be processed as soon as
possible.
Submitting your form on May
10th, 2008 or later means that your refund will be delayed due to the
volume of requests we anticipate for the Economic Stimulus Refund.
To access Economic Stimulus
Refund, please click here."
You think, Oh Boy,
someone has goofed up. I am not even an American citizen. And here the US
Government is ready to give me some money. You click happily on the link. You
reach the IRS web-site (actually it’s a fake look-alike).
The web-site asks for
some simple information from you. No real information about your social
security or assessee code etc. Not even your address. A figure of US$ 1500 is held out
tantalizingly in the form.
When you click next, the
web-site asks for your credit card number and CVV so that your refund can
be processed. And yes, just throw in the ATM number as well.
Getting money out of
Uncle Sam seems very easy. Like stealing candy from a baby.
You think this sounds
fishy? Well, it is. The web-site is merely harvesting your credit card
information, possibly for sale to other crooks. But many of your friends
may not realize this. And may end up losing thousands of Rupees.
Do them a good turn – please
forward this warning to them, Now.
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Global Welfare for Child Development?
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You receive an invitation by
e-mail from some person, inviting you to a workshop in Canada, where bulk
of the costs will be picked up the sponsors:
"Your e-mail address was
gotten from the website forwarded to us by the African/Asian Students
Association here in Canada. Our independents donors is in accord to cover
over 70% of all charges, e.g., Finance all round trip tickets, visa
issuance throughout the conference in Canada for all participants. .... In
this event, Group from any organization is allowed to participate from each
of the selected countries. Like-minded Individuals are also welcome along
with their names and passport."
You feel flattered, and
start packing your bags. You also send the requested information by e-mail.
You may be then asked to send your registration fees, only a few dollars.
You happily comply.
You can now unpack your
bags. No visa will ever arrive. And that is the last you will see of your
few dollars.
In the meanwhile, the
sender of the e-mail, possibly part of a crime syndicate, has got richer
with money from you and thousands of others. Hopefully he/she will spend
the money on the children in their own family, at least!
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You receive a letter, fax or
e-mail from a lawyer in West Africa (e.g. Nigeria). The message says that a
rich client has died and left a large legacy (donation) for your NGO. To
get the money, you may be asked to pay a small handling
fees, send your bank account information or just a couple of
letterheads.
You jump with joy and
send the money / information. In the time it takes for you to come down to
earth, you may find that a crime syndicate has gobbled up the handling fees
or siphoned off money from your account.
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This works mostly in hill-stations. You will be
approached by a simple persons selling shilajit
or kesar. If you show interest, this chap will
drag you deeper and deeper into the world of herbal remedies. You will be
mesmerized by his simplicity and deep knowledge. He will grind a herbal concoction for you, in front of your eyes. You
will happily pay between Rs.1,000 to Rs.30,000 for
something, which is doubtful at best. If you don’t have ready money, he
will give you credit – send the money later by draft.
If
he can’t make a sale finally, he may ask you for a visiting card, or sign
his book of remedies or allow a photograph with him. This will be useful
for gypping others later.
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50 crore grant if you have 35AC...
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A
person approaches you over the phone, asking if you have 35AC approval. If
so, he or she can get you a grant running into several crores. If you show
interest, he or she will set up a meeting, where you will be asked to show
some documents. The person will also give more details about the source of
funds and how you will get the money.
Once
you get hooked on to the idea, the person will start bleeding you gradually
of small amounts of money for 'processing expenses' etc. Unless you back
out, the game may proceed to a stage where you will get a cheque, after
paying a handsome 'commission'. However, the cheque will bounce.
And
your contact person would be untraceable.
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Fraud teaches that it’s easier to make money than
to keep it. It is likely that at some time or other, fraud will touch your
life. You may later laugh at your naiveté or cry at losing all.
Why
do so many people get tricked? There are different reasons. But if you do a
clinical analysis, a desire for easy money is mostly the trigger.
A
fish being hooked is a beautiful lesson: the fish thinks that the worm is stupid
or slow. This is going to be an easy catch. Result: the fish gets
hooked.
This
is a ‘personal’ collection – based on real stories experienced or heard
during travels. All alerts have one thing in common: they are being worked on
a large scale.
If you
have a real story, do send us an e-mail. Click on: accountaid@vsnl.com
See
also
AccountAble
(on Netscape)
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