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I thought I’d share a few more email scams I’ve come across lately. I had one end up in my inbox. Like usual don’t reply back to these or send any financial information.
Another version of the Beneficiary Scam
I shared a few versions of this scam recently. Basically it’s like an inheritance scam. Someone emails stating you are or were directed to be selected to be sent a set amount of money. You can see more about scams via the FBI Fraud page This one isn’t new but this was did differ from the prior emails I’ve been sent. This one states that you contact a Western Union agent who will handle the money transfer.
It states that I’d be sent $5,000 (USD) upon contacting the agent.
The full email
The message was sent to my blog email address.
michaelezeway@gmail.com
Reply-To“wwwpsmith788” <www.p.smith788@gmail.com>
Attention Beneficiary,
I am contacting you because we have concluded to effect your wining
payment through Western Union Money transfer, & We have sent the
first transfer the sum of $5,000 this morning from your Inheritance
Winning sum of $2.5 Million USD, Therefore you need to contact the
Western Union agent Kenneth Paul Igalo and ask him for all the
transfer payment information & the MTCN for pick up at of from any
nearby Western Union.
Contact Agent: Kenneth Paul Igalo
Email: www.p.smith788@gmail.com
PH: +229 61074526
Please do try and contact him today & ask him to furnish you with the
payment information for the $5000 that was sent this morning, Note
that our arrangement is that he will be sending you $5000 three times
daily, Please remember to Indicate the fund registration code of
WU-TR56005 as subject when Emailing or calling him, He will also be
needing below info to be reconfirmed.
Your Full Name:
Your Address:
Your Country:
Your City:
Your Phone Number:
Your Occupation:
Ensure to get in touch with us once you have received the transfer, &
remember to copy this email: www.p.smith788@gmail.com and paste
before replying to him or simply call him at his phone number: +229
61074526 to have him give you those information.
Sincerely,
Dr Mrs. Theresa Garrett
IMF MANAGER
What I found while searching
So like usual, I like to look up these scams. I found out that the +229 area code is for the West African country of Benin. I also found that the number has been listed in various scams from winner notices to lottery winner emails. I noticed that this seems to be a popular scam since October of 2019.
The Mystery Email
Now I’ve seen this one a few times before. It’s very random and has a bit of a mysterious tone. This one is also a financial scam. This one happened to use the name of a real bank from overseas.
The email
snu92@snuipp.fr
To“Recipients” <snu92@snuipp.fr>TagsReply-To“1933154744” <1933154744@qq.com>
Sorry to break into your privacy in this manner,
I’m Smadar Barber-Tsadik, Deputy Chief Executive Officer
of First International Bank of Israel Ltd (FIBI).
I am getting in touch with you regarding an extremely
important and urgent matter. If you would oblige me the
opportunity, I shall provide you with details upon your
response.
Faithfully,
Smadar Barber-Tsadik
What I found while searching
I found interesting that the original email was sent from a French domain. I also thought it was odd that qq.com was also used as a reply address. I’m familiar with qq.com thanks to Asian sellers who are asking for reviews.
The First International Bank of Isreal Ltd is a real banking organization and it seems that they use the name of a real bank official. What they want from you is yet to be explained. I assume it’s another money scam since the senders seems to need a reply quickly.
Transfer scam with a new twist
now this one is a bit interesting. It’s similar to many of the other wire transfer style scams yet this one I had to translate. It seemed to be in Danish (according to Google Translate). Again this one asks for help yet they want you to help partner with the sender to find ways to invest their millions of dollars.
The email (Translated)
I used Google Tranlaster so some of the spelling and grammar along with sentence structure may not be correct.
stephanie_deme@yahoo.com
Reply-To“stephanieleo2017” <stephanieleo2017@aol.com>
From Stephanie Leo! I am writing you this message with tears and sadness and I know this email may come to you as a surprise, I am Stephanie Leo. The only daughter. My father was a very wealthy cocoa trader in the Abidjan Ivory Coast (Cote Ivoire). My father was poisoned to death by his business associates on one of their business trips. My mom died when I was a baby and since then my dad took me so special. Before my father’s death in a private hospital here in Abidjan, he secretly called me on his bedside and told me that he has the sum of (7,500,000.00) seven million five hundred thousand American Dorella, left on fixed / voltage account in one of the international bank here in Abidjan, he used my name as his only daughter to the next of kin in depositing the fund. My late father instructed me to look for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I would transfer this money and use it for investment purposes such as real estate management or hotel management. I honestly seek your help in the following ways: (1) To provide a bank account to which this money would be transferred. (2) To serve as my guardian. (3) To arrange for me to come over to your country to continue my education. Note: I am willing to offer you 20% of the total amount as compensation for your efforts / input following the successful transfer of this fund to your nominated bank account. Expect to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Stephanie Leo
What I found while searching
First off I like how this email was sent from a Yahoo account and had a reply to an AOL account. I couldn’t quite find this exact scam but as you can see it’s a mix of a few. The sender needs someone to be their guardian along with find ways to invest their inheritance money. So it sort of runs the gambit for the scams.
It also is another wire transfer/money transfer scam. The sender asks directly for a bank account so they can send you 20% of their inheritance money.
All in all, this was an interesting mix of scams. I can say once again don’t reply back or send any financial information.
