Another Western Union scam
January 26, 2010
A few minutes ago, I received a weird email from a friend. It was his valid email address but the content sounded fishy. It went like this:
Western Union scam email
Greetings,
How are you doing today? I need you to help me out of this devastating situation that I got my self into, I had to come down to United Kingdom and unfortunately for me I was attacked by robbers in the Hotel where I am lodge.The robbers made away with my entire luggage’s, including my credit cards and air return tickets, they also disconnected the Hotel’s telephone cables, so we cant get access to the Interpol and also and compromised its database too, which means that no credit card payments nor online payments can be made at the moment.
Please I need you to lend me $1,500 US Dollars so I can use it to settle up my Hotel’s bills and book the nearest flight home and as soon as I return home it would be reimbursed, please I need you to send the money via Western union money transfer to my name and on this address below,
Receivers Names: Mark Maria Montesa.
Receivers Address/location: 19 New Dover Road,Canterbury
Dover Kent,CT1 3AH, United kingdom
Thank you so much, please as soon as you are done sending me the money, I need you to help me write out the MTCN details giving to you by the Western union agent or better still help me scan a copy of the receipt. I am looking forward to hear from you.this the details i need in getting the money picked up here in UK:
Sender’s Name: …
Amount sent: …
M.T.C.N (the ten digits number): …
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Mark.
Why this is a scam
Now, this email is weird and fishy for several reasons. One, if the sender really was my friend Mark, I’m sure he won’t start the letter with a formal “Greetings, How are you doing today?”.
Two, he’s not in the United Kingdom at present so whatever story written in the email is unlikely.
Three, assuming he was “attacked by robbers in the Hotel” and “disconnected the Hotel’s telephone cables, so we cant get access to the Interpol,” if he really wanted to contact the police, he could have simply used a payphone outside the hotel!
Lastly, if I am to send him cash via Western Union, I’ll make sure the money is addressed to him exactly! “Mark Maria Montesa” is not his name!
Thus, the only explanation for this email is that this is a scam email.
How it happened
Most probably, my friend’s email account was compromised, becoming a victim of a phishing attempt and now the hacker is spamming the address book with this scam email.
If you received a similar email, make sure you don’t fall for it. This is clearly, absolutely, 100% for a fact, pure SCAM.
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January 26th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
Yikes, too many scams all around us these days. I just hope no one falls for this phishing attempt and I also wish antispam/antiphishing softwares would be able to recognize and block this soon.
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January 27th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
yah for sure victim ng phishing yung Mark.
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January 28th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
Thanks for this info, we must be carefull from this modus. Lots of frauds and scam are born here in the Philippines. Hope this brittle minded individual caught and jailed.
January 28th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
Nakakatakot naman pala kung kahit sa western union.
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January 29th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
The best thing to do is read thoroughly your emails. You will know it’s a scam if they are asking something from you… stay away from those.
Almost everybody gets scam emails nowadays that is why we should be careful.
February 2nd, 2010 at %I:%M %p
Most of those victims are people who decides carelessly on what they seen, heard and read… You should know how to focus on what is all about the message, how would it affect you, would it be beneficial or destructive on your part? Konting analysis lang lage… we should learn how to pause and analyzed everything…
February 4th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
I hope many people would simple determine which is true & not.Now a days people give their trust easily that’s why many people are scam by those people who doesn’t think what will be the effect of what they did to this people. My fellow country men stand & dont just trust those who promise such good things,good life & etc. They dont have heart they dont know how life gets hard for those who dreams to have a GOOD LIFE!!!!
February 4th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
Thanks for sharing this. Having common sense remains priceless. Let’s always take time to pause and see if everything is making sense to us.
February 10th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
With the rampant scammers nowadays because of the economic recession, we must arm ourselves with the right knowledge to be aware of these scams to prevent us from being a victim.
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February 12th, 2010 at %I:%M %p
The moment they ask you some money, you will know that they’re a scam!
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