Are the scammers getting smarter?

[underfoot]

Are the scammers getting smarter...or are their targets getting stoopider :?
Alrighty.. most users here have had the Nigerian scams..(My wealthy uncle prince....yada..yada)...
I just heard some statistics that Aussies are still getting ripped off to the tune of millions to these scams :?...surely not..
..then recently my emails start to include what appear to be legitimate enquiries (sp?)
but are obvious scams...is there anyone else wondering whether their B/S meters are being tested?...or is it just me :?

[TermiMonster]

I don't know about you, Underfoot, but I'm definitely getting stoopider.
TM

[lesmeyer]

I do not think that the scammers are getting smarter. The general populace have always been to some extent extremely stoopid and of late becoming very desperate. Some people just have to be separated from their finances. That is just the way it is. Nothing can be done about it. Just think about it - for years we have been warned on the TV about the scammers, but some folks just cannot comprehend. It is like a mathematical axiom - it just IS.
Sadly so
Les
PS!! So far I have passed ALL the tests that have come my way :D

[Grommett]

Look its just the shotgun approach. There will always be someone silly enough or desperate enough to give some credence to these things. I remember a scam that was popular some time back. The scammer sent invoices for services rendered to accounts departments. The number that paid on invoice without checking made it a useful earner.

[underfoot]

The scammer sent invoices for services rendered to accounts departments. The number that paid on invoice without checking made it a useful earner.
Ah yes, it was called the 75 dollar scam, if I remember correctly,
small enough to go through the system without anyone checking

[lightwood]

Are the scammers getting smarter...or are their targets getting stoopider :?
Alrighty.. most users here have had the Nigerian scams..(My wealthy uncle prince....yada..yada)...
I just heard some statistics that Aussies are still getting ripped off to the tune of millions to these scams :?...surely not..
..then recently my emails start to include what appear to be legitimate enquiries (sp?)
but are obvious scams...is there anyone else wondering whether their B/S meters are being tested?...or is it just me :?

For the most breathtaking of them all...
04-341 Melbourne financial planner pleads guilty to fraud over alleged $1m Nigerian investment - Australian Securities and Investments Commission (http://www.asic.gov.au/fido/fido.nsf/byheadline/04-341+Melbourne+financial+planner+pleads+guilty+to+fraud+over+alleged+$1m+Nigerian+investment?openDocument)

He got a maximum of 5 years & 3 months...
Financial Standard - Former financial adviser imprisoned (http://www.financialstandard.com.au/news/view/23040/)

Peter

[stuffy]

I think they are definitely getting sneakier.

My parents very nearly got caught in an overpayment scam. All of the negotiations made perfect sense until the last moment.

They were selling a caravan for $50,000. The buyer asked for all the details of the van, decided it was suitable, negotiated on price etc. over quite a few emails. Then comes the catch. "I'm working on an oil rig off shore and will need the van very soon in Darwin. I've been quoted $2,500 to have it delivered, I'll put the extra in your account, can you forward the $2,500 to the freight agent by money transfer."

A very official looking email arrived from paypal saying the money had been deposited.

The only thing that saved them was that they couldn't transfer that much online and had to wait for the bank to open. In the mean time they told the rest of the family about it and we said no way.
:(

[TermiMonster]

Look its just the shotgun approach. There will always be someone silly enough or desperate enough to give some credence to these things. I remember a scam that was popular some time back. The scammer sent invoices for services rendered to accounts departments. The number that paid on invoice without checking made it a useful earner.
I need to find out who those companies are, and start working for them. I put in legitimate invoices, and have to chase people up to get the money out of them.:doh:
Obviously, I'm working for the wrong people:cool:
TM

[hughie]

Yes they are. All they are doing is responding to your efforts to avoid them :)

[Ashore]

I think their are getting a bit smarter , The phone call with " we have detected a problem with your computer" was inovative but on the whole, when a scam doesn't get enough returnes for their time, they move on to the next one.
The other think is people are generally wising up, and they are finding it harder to get people to fall for their scams, so they need to get smarter or al least change from what they were doing.:cool:

[AlexHW]

I don't know, people manipulating others/stealing/lying has been around since the birth of humans, don't know if they're getting smarter or if there are just more humans, scammers and more victims.

[Grumpy John]

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh here, but scammers would not be so prevalent if there weren't so many people wanting "something for nothing". Remember, if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is.

[A Duke]

Remember the world owes you a living.
You just have to work bloody hard to collect it.
And to hang on to it.

For every man earning a honest Buck ,there are a thousand scheming how to get it off him.

Regards

[Sawdust Maker]

I've seen some sad, really sad, stories
pensioners sending thousands (and tens of thousands) of A$ to get the overseas lottery winnings etc etc

when asked did you buy a ticket in the *** lottery? No but I thought I'd won it seemed legal
'when do I get my money?'

The best the regulators can do is educate people - but people still think they are getting a great deal - high returns for f-all investment - Doesn't happen:no:

Prosecutions are difficult because most perpetrators are off shore and not traceable - Sometimes a local is found - They should be stoned, in stocks, in Martin Place, often :o

[rogerjenkins]

I worked for a local disabled guy some years ago,- never again,- instead of paying me,- he sent me a BILL for,- " Services Rendered !!! " yes it went all the way to court.- This guy actually told the Magistrate that He was the Service Provider, and that I had to pay him,- like one pays a Doctor, Dentist, Lawyer, etc., etc. He lost out,- got charged for, " attempting to obtain money under false pretences. ", which he appealed against,- and lost.
Anyway I did a bit of homework on him,- discovered he had tried the same stunt on heaps of locals who did odd jobs for him. After word got around, he was the loser as no-one would do anything for him,- result he has now moved to another area,- Northern Yorke Peninsula, ( for the curious ) ,- and he can stay there too.

** Overpayment scams,- I got one about a month ago,- Guy from Brisbane, or so he said, saw my Collector's Coffee Table photo on my website, and placed an order for an identical one, which I quoted him $495. plus $100. for delivery to his office in the Brisbane CBD, ( flat-pack, with some assemby required. ). No probs he said by return email,- he would send me a Bank Cheque for $600. addressed to my Port Vincent address. What arrived was, US$6. Grand in American Express Traveler's Cheques,- with a London, UK return address, and an English postage stamp on the envelope as well.- The client told me, he worked for, " Suncorp, as a Finance Accessor" in Brisbane,- and even included a SunCorp letterhead with the Traveler's Cheques. Anyway I got suspicious, and got my Bank to check the Traveler's Cheques,- every one was a Fake,- No watermark; no security thread, even the Hologram was fake, and as for the SunCorp letterhead,- that was a Fake too,- copied from the SunCorp Website !!!! He supplied several Australian Phone Numbers, which were on the SunCorp letterhead,- and turned out to be rented out by a Sydney-based Advertising Company to someone in London, UK. !! ( I rang Telstra directory assistance who were most helpful for a change . ) Bank security have all the Fake Traveler's Cheques plus the SunCorp letterhead, etc., but catching the scammer is slim.
Anyway its here now to warn everyone else.
They don't have to be from Nigeria to scam us.
I even get people from China, Japan, USA, etc., trying to order things from me,- all of whom turn out to be scammers !!
Roger