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View Full Version : new email scam (at least to me)



Michael Weber
11-24-2009, 6:38 PM
Second email I got soliciting for a job in the last week. I am not a painter

Hello,

Greetings to you.I will like to know if you will be available for House Painting. Kindly confirm your availability as soon as possible. Am looking for a House Painter.

Thank You .
xxxxxxxxxx

Certainly some kind of scam attempt but does anyone know how this is supposed to play out if it was responded to? Just curious how it works, not about to reply:eek:

Joe Pelonio
11-24-2009, 6:44 PM
Scammers always look for a new angle to take advantage of people. I'd guess
that you will have to put up some kind of payment in advance to ensure that
you will show up, and the job doesn't exist.

It's a new one to me too.

Jim Rimmer
11-24-2009, 9:22 PM
I'm no PC expert but have been told that you will often get emails like that and the reply confirms a valid email.

I don't know what else they could get. :confused: IP addresses :confused: plant cookies or whatever those things are called that live on your computer and provide info and possibly a hack track. I'm way over my head and just wondering.

Greg Crawford
11-24-2009, 9:59 PM
Many of those are simply to verify an email address. The best thing is to just delete anything you are a bit suspicious of. Depending on what program you use for email, just opening an email can execute a virus. If the "preview pane" is on in Outlook Express, you don't even have to open the email. Just highlighting it will open a preview, thus activating any attachment. Since it highlights the latest email by default, it can get you before you can even blink.

I got an email from a friend with an attachment that seemed very unusual for his style. I emailed him to see if he had actually sent it, which he had.

Just the old "better safe than sorry" philosophy.

Bill Cunningham
11-24-2009, 11:56 PM
I got one today that was a new twist on the old Nigerian scam.. This one said he was a soldier deployed in Iraq, and involved with the buying and selling of oil.. It seems he was desparate(sic) to find someone with a bank account who could help him out... How patriotic eh!

I get about 10-15 scam emails every week..Got quite a collection now..:p