How the scam works:
After every major disaster, such as the Connecticut shooting, Hurricane Sandy, Japanese Tsunami, the Chilean earthquake, Katrina, etc, several scammers set up funds for worldwide donations, claiming to be charitable organizations.
Using similar names to the real ones (United Nations, Red Cross, United Way), the crooks create viral campaigns on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, using all kinds of tricks – fake ads, hot-lines, online donation opportunities, etc.
Sometimes the scammers carry a hand-held debit machine, to look more legitimate!
How to avoid:
It is often possible to donate to a central fund through your bank. Otherwise, do not donate anything until you are sure the company is legitimate. Look online in the search engines by typing the name of the organization followed by the word “scam” or “fraud”.
Make your friends and family aware of this scam by sharing it, using the buttons above.
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Watch out for this scam email claiming to ask for help for the new country of South Sudan:
"The Presidency
Office of the Director General of Information
Government of Republic of South Sudan
Headquarters, Juba South Sudan.
Our Ref.: GRSS/IT060/A/3/15B.
Dear Sir/Madam,
RE: OFFICIAL INVITATION TO TENDER
The Republic of South Sudan is the worlds youngest nation. It is the 193rd member state of the United Nations and the 54th member state of the African Union. The country gained independence on 9th July 2011 following a self determination referendum in which the citizens overwhelmingly voted for total autonomy from the then Sudan.
The Government of Republic of South Sudan formally advertise and invites reputable and interested person(s), contractors/suppliers with relevant experience and evidence of performance for the procurement/supply of the various goods/equipments and works specified below.
Ref.01 Trucks/ Cars/ SUVs/ Buses & Motorcycles
Ref.02 – Agriculture/ Forestry Machinery & Utility Equipments
Ref.03 – Earth Moving & Construction Equipments
Ref.04 – Constructions of plants, Road, Buildings & Infrastructural Developments.
Ref.05 – Medical & Hospital Equipments.
Ref.06 – Computers & Accessories, Security devices.
Ref.07 – Generating sets (Generator) & Electrification Equipments.
Ref.08 – Office Equipments/ Air conditions/ Furniture.
SUBMISSION
Application for Expression of Interest, with your contact information stating the REF(s) from the above listed Refs which your company can tender for should be forwarded by email only and addressed to
The Presidency
Office of the Director of Procurement
Government of Republic of South Sudan
Headquarters, Juba South Sudan
Email: tender@govrss.org
CLOSING DATE
All submissions must be received at the above Office not later than 8 weeks from the date of this publication.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
a) This is not an offer letter. Full tendering procedure will be applied to Contractors pre-qualified and found capable of executing the contract.
b) Only Successful Contractors will be contacted for the tender process only if the contractor accepts the Government Contracts General Condition.
c) Nothing in the advert shall be construed to be a commitment on the part of the Government of South Sudan.
Thank you for your understanding.
Regards,
Mr. Koul Dau,
For: Director General of Information
Government of Republic of South Sudan"
Omeone is using my head shot picture and my emailaddress so they can’t get into my account. They are telling a story that they need $1200.00. I ave unblocked so users but I am not getting a lot of mail
Thank You
Mary Ann
barrucco
There is a new variant of the Nigerian letter scam capable of avoiding spam filters and shutting down the email accounts of intended victims who tell the scammers that they are aware of the scam.
The sender’s address is from one service and the reply address from another, such as yahoo.
So even if you flag the email as spam, yahoo will only block the sending address but the yahoo address is still open and undetected.
Even worse, if you tell the yahoo address that you know that they are scammers, they may report you and you get your account closed.
This variant of the scam that targeted me also claimed to be from the United Nations saying that my donation to them (which I never made) entitles me to alot of money and of course requires my personal info.
Needless to say I told them I was a gay stripper as a prank. They were not too happy…
So do alert other people and email providers so they can update their detectors and filters.